Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

Reapportionment Commission to begin work on Sept. 9

 

STATE HOUSE – The Special Commission on Reapportionment will hold its first meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. in Room 313 of the State House.

It will be an organizational meeting that will include the election of the co-chairs, one from the House and one from the Senate. A presentation will be made by Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Service Inc., a consulting firm from Virginia that will assist the commission.  Public comment will also be taken.

The state constitution calls for the General Assembly to reapportion its districts as well as the two congressional districts after each 10-year federal census.

The 2020 census data was made public on August 12, 2021, which is several months later than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the late release, the commission is organizing earlier than in the past – the first meeting 10 years ago was October 4, 2012. 

The 18-member commission will use the results of the census to redraw district lines to reflect population shifts. It must make its recommendations to the General Assembly by January 15, 2022. According to the legislation (2021-S 0852A, 2021-H 6222A) signed into law by the Governor, the commission is comprised of six House and six Senate members, requiring each chamber to have four members from the majority party and two from the minority party. Three members of the public are appointed by each chamber as well.

Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi has appointed Representatives Arthur J. Corvese (D-Dist. 55, North Providence), Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence), Katherine S. Kazarian (D-Dist. 63, East Providence), Brian C. Newberry (R-Dist. 48, North Smithfield, Burrillville), Robert D. Phillips (D-Dist. 51, Woonsocket, Cumberland) and David J. Place (R-Dist. 47, Burrillville, Glocester). From the general public, he has appointed Antonio Lopes, the CEO and founder of TILT Communications; Kaprece Ransaw, a real estate agent; and former State Rep. Stephen Ucci, who co-chaired the reapportionment commission 10 years ago.

President Dominick J. Ruggerio has appointed Senators Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston), Walter S. Felag, Jr. (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton), Ana B. Quezada (D-Dist. 2, Providence), V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown, New Shoreham), Jessica de la Cruz (R-Dist. 23, Burrillville, Glocester, North Smithfield) and Gordon E. Rogers (R-Dist. 21, Foster, Coventry, Scituate, West Greenwich). From the general public, he has appointed Maria Bucci, a former Cranston City Council member; Alvin Reyes, an organizer with IBEW Local 99; and Harold M. Metts, a former state senator, retired school administrator, and community leader.

All meetings will be live streamed at http://rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx and televised on Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox Channels 15 and 61, on Full Channel on Channel 15 and on Channel 34 by Verizon subscribers.

 

 

 

The U.S. is telling Americans to immediately leave Iran as major anti-regime protests rage on. The State Department bulletin is asking its U.S. citizens to leave Iran, prepare for communication blackouts, avoid demonstrations, stock up on essential equipment, and consider leaving by land via Armenia or Turkey. The bulletin comes just as President Trump is reportedly reviewing military options if the regime kills more protesters.        Democratic leaders in Minnesota are announcing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is over the surge of additional ICE agents to Minneapolis following the deadly shooting involving an ICE agent. The state's Attorney General Keith Ellison says the agents are untrained and are making illegal arrests, causing chaos, and targeting people based on the color of their skin. Protests in Minneapolis have been ongoing since the shooting in Minneapolis last week.        The Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on cases involving transgender athlete bans in two states. The justices will consider challenges out of Idaho and West Virginia on whether states can ban transgender girls should from participating in girls' and women's sports. The decisions on those cases will impact similar bans already enacted in about half of the U.S.        The Clintons could be slapped with a contempt of Congress charge if they don't show up for a House committee hearing in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were originally ordered to appear before the GOP-led committee in December, but asked that the date get pushed back to January 13th. Now a committee spokesperson says neither has confirmed they will appear, and Congressman James Comer, the chairman of the panel, said he'll slap them with contempt if they don't show.        The Eastern U.S. is bracing for a mid-week snowstorm. The Tennessee River Valley, the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast could all see significant snowfall totals. Meanwhile, arctic air is set to travel down from Canada starting today, which could create the right environment for large snow totals.        The first trailer is out for Lee Cronin's "The Mummy" ahead of its April 17th release. The film is a reboot of the horror franchise and follows a journalist searching for his daughter, who disappeared in the desert. When she reappears eight years later, something isn't quite right with her. In 2024, Cronin said this film will be unlike any "Mummy" movie "you ever laid eyeballs on before."       

Old News Archives