Since our last update, even more troubling bills that will negatively impact small businesses continued making their way through the legislative process.

The House Committee on Labor heard several bills to raise the state minimum wage. While some proposals were outlandish enough to suggest a $24 per hour wage, others would set the increases on autopilot by indexing it to inflation. The indexed wage would continuously rise but never decrease in years of economic distress. NFIB took the opportunity to support a bill ending Sunday/holiday premium pay for food service workers, but recommended the committee amend the bill to end the outlier premium pay law completely. No other state in the country requires time-and-a-half premium pay on Sundays/holidays after Massachusetts phased it out in 2023. NFIB also submitted testimony in opposition to legislation demanding more salaried workers qualify for overtime pay.

Though Rhode Islanders energy bills are skyrocketing right now, some lawmakers actually filed bills to make the problem worse. NFIB provided opposition testimony against bills to create a “climate super fund” that will impose fines on fuel producers that will likely be passed along to consumers. What is most chilling about the bill is that it allows the state to retroactively hold fuel producers accountable for a period of time extending to 1990. That could mean companies will be held financially liable for a legal product decades later. NFIB also proposed legislation calling for a clean heat standard. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey recently delayed implementation of a similar law in that state until 2028 because of the cost impact to consumers. NFIB supported a proposal that would repeal the carbon reduction mandates that are resulting in higher costs for Rhode Island ratepayers.

Finally, NFIB supported a bill that would prohibit banks from charging businesses credit card processing fees on taxes and tips. These fees are a growing part of small businesses’ budget, and this proposal would provide modest relief for those businesses required to pay fees for simply collecting taxes for the state and for employing tipped workers.