We, the people of this State which state shall henceforth be known as the state of Rhode Island, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution of government.
OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the state, and any law inconsistent therewith shall be void.
The general assembly shall pass all
laws necessary to carry this Constitution into effect.
The
legislative power, under this
Constitution, shall be vested in two
houses, the one to be called the senate, the other the house of representatives; and both together the
general assembly. The concurrence of the two houses shall
be necessary to the enactment of laws. The style of their laws shall be, It is enacted
by the general assembly as follows:
There
shall be a session of the general assembly at
Providence commencing on the first Tuesday of January in each year. Commencing in January 1995, senators
and representatives shall
be compensated at an
annual rate of ten thousand
dollars ($10,000). Commencing in 1996, the rate of
compensation shall be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, as determined by the United States government, during a twelve (12) month period ending in the immediately preceding year. Commencing
in 2003, the president of the senate and the
speaker of the house
shall be compensated at an annual
rate double that of other senators and representatives.
Senators and representatives shall
receive the same health insurance benefits as full-time state employees.
Senators
and representatives shall be reimbursed for traveling
expenses in going to and from the general assembly
at the same mileage paid to state workers
as of the 31st day of December
in the year preceding each session.
No senator
or representative shall
be eligible for any pension
on account of service in the general assembly after 1994; provided, however, that those senators and representatives first elected before 1994 who elect to receive
compensation for legislative service in 1995
and thereafter, at the rate of five dollars ($5.00) for every day of actual attendance and eight cents
(.08) per mile for traveling expenses in going to
and returning from the general
assembly, for a maximum
of sixty (60) days in any
calendar year, shall be eligible for
a pension on account of service in the general
assembly after 1994. The amount of such pension
shall be based upon the pension program
in effect for legislators on January 1, 1994.
The
general assembly shall regulate the compensation of the governor and of all other
officers, subject to limitations contained in the Constitution.
No member
of the general assembly shall
take any fee, or be of
counsel in any case pending
before either house
of the general assembly, under penalty of forfeiture of seat, upon proof thereof
to the satisfaction of the house in which the member sits.
The
persons of all members of the general assembly shall be exempt from arrest and
their estates from attachment in any civil action, during the session of the
general assembly, and two days before the commencement and two days after the
termination thereof, and all process served contrary hereto shall be void. For
any speech in debate in either house, no member shall be questioned in any
other place, except by the ethics commission as set forth in Article III,
Section 8.
Each house shall be the judge of the elections and qualifications of its
members; and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day
to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties, as may be prescribed by such house or by law. The organization of the two houses may be
regulated by law, subject to the limitations contained in this Constitution.
Each house
may determine its rules of proceeding, punish
contempts, punish its members for disorderly
behavior, and, with the concurrence
of two-thirds, expel a member;
but not a second time for the same cause.
Each house shall keep a journal
of its proceedings. The yeas and nays of the members of either house shall,
at the desire of one-fifth of those
present, be entered on the journal.
Neither house shall, during a session,
without the consent
of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place
than that in which it may be sitting.
Section
11. Vote required to pass local or private appropriations.
The assent
of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly shall be required to every bill
appropriating the public money or
property for local or private purposes.
The general
assembly shall, from time to time, provide
for making new valuations of property,
for the assessment of taxes, in such manner as it may deem best.
The general
assembly may provide
by law for the continuance in office of any
officers of election or appointment, until other persons are qualified to take their
places.
The general
assembly may provide
by general law for the creation
and control of corporations; provided, however,
that no corporation shall be created with the power
to exercise the right of eminent domain, or to acquire franchises in the streets
and highways of towns and cities,
except by special act of the general
assembly upon a petition for the
same, the pendency whereof shall be notified
as may be required by law.
All
lotteries shall be prohibited in the state except lotteries operated by
the state and
except those previously
permitted by the general
assembly prior to the adoption
of this section, and all shall be subject to the proscription and regulation of the
general assembly.
The general
assembly shall have no powers,
without the express consent of the people, to incur
state debts to an amount exceeding fifty
thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of insurrection or invasion; nor shall it in any case, without such consent, pledge the faith of
the state for the payment
of the obligations of others.
This section shall not be construed
to refer to any money that may be deposited
with the state by the government of the United States.
Notwithstanding
the provisions of Section 16 of this article
the general assembly may provide by law for the state to borrow in any fiscal year, in anticipation of receipts from taxes, sums of money not exceeding twenty percent of the receipts
from taxes during the next prior fiscal year, and, in anticipation of receipts from other sources, additional sums of money, not exceeding ten percent of the receipts
from such other sources
during the said next prior fiscal year; provided, that the
aggregate of all such borrowings shall not exceed
a sum equal to thirty percent
of the actual receipts from taxes during the said next
prior fiscal year. Any money so borrowed in anticipation of such receipts shall be repaid within the
fiscal year of the state in which such
borrowings take place.
No money shall
be so borrowed in anticipation of such receipts in any fiscal
year until all money so borrowed in all
previous fiscal years shall have been repaid.
The
clearance, replanning, redevelopment, rehabilitation
and improvement of blighted and
substandard areas shall be a public use and
purpose for which the power of eminent domain may be exercised, tax moneys and other public
funds expended and public credit
pledged. The general assembly
may authorize cities, towns, or local redevelopment
agencies to undertake and carry
out projects approved
by the local legislative body for such uses and purposes
including the acquisition in such areas of such properties as the local
legislative body may deem
necessary or proper to effectuate any of the purposes of this article, although temporarily not required
for such purposes, and the sale or
other disposition of any such properties to private persons for private uses or to public bodies for
public uses.
The general
assembly may authorize the acquiring or taking in fee by the state, or by any cities or towns,
of more land and property than is
needed for actual construction in the establishing, laying out, widening, extending or relocating of public highways, streets, places, parks
or parkways; provided, however, that
the additional land and property so authorized to be acquired
or taken shall
be no more in extent
than would be sufficient to form suitable
building sites abutting
on such public highway, street,
place, park or parkway.
After so much of the land and property has been
appropriated for such public highway, street, place, park or parkway as is needed therefor, the remainder may be held and improved for any public purpose or purposes, or may be sold
or leased for value with or without suitable restrictions, and in case of any such sale or lease, the person or
persons from whom such remain- der
was taken shall have the first right to purchase or lease the same upon
such terms as the state
or city or town is willing to sell or lease the same.
The general
assembly may authorize
cities and towns to acquire property by eminent domain,
or otherwise for the establishment and construction of off-street parking facilities and to maintain
and operate or lease
the same. Without
limiting the generalities of the foregoing, any of the powers or
authorities consistent with the provisions of
this article for the provision of off-street parking
now vested in public bodies by law, shall continue in existence and may be exercised by said public bodies, except as such powers and authorities may be modified, or repealed by the general assembly.
The
general assembly, in order to insure
continuity of state and local
governmental operations, including the judicial functions, in periods of emergency resulting from disasters caused by enemy
attack, shall have the
power and the immediate duty to provide
for prompt and temporary
succession to the powers and duties of public offices,
of whatever nature and whether filled by election or appointment, the incumbents of which
may become unavailable for carrying on the powers and duties of such offices, to enact legislation permitting the convening of the general assembly at any place
within or without
the State of Rhode Island,
and to adopt such other measures
as may be necessary and proper for insuring the continuity of governmental operations during the period of
said emergency. Any law enacted
under this section shall apply to all
cities and towns regardless of their form of charter.
During said period of
emergency the general assembly shall have the power to incur state debts exceeding the limitation set forth in Sections 16 and 17 of this article. The powers granted
and the laws enacted under this section shall not be effective
after two years following the inception of an enemy attack.
No act
expanding the types or locations of gambling which are permitted within the state or within any city or town
therein or expanding municipalities in which a particular form of gambling
is authorized shall take effect until it has been approved by the majority of those electors voting in a
statewide referendum and by the majority
of those electors voting in said referendum in the municipality in which the proposed
gambling would be allowed and, having been so
approved in said referendum in any city or town on or after November
4, 2014, the location where the gambling is
permitted in any city or town shall not
be changed within said city or town without approval of the majority of those electors voting on said proposed
change in a referendum in said city
or town.
The secretary of state shall certify the results of the statewide referendum and the local board of canvassers of the city or town where the gambling is to be allowed shall certify the results of the local referendum to the secretary of state.