PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island state Senate leaders have adjusted proposed rule changes that some lawmakers complained would consolidate power with the Senate president.
The Providence Journal reports the rewritten rules would not give the Senate president complete power to remove senators from committees.
Instead, the Senate president would be allowed to reassign lawmakers only “for cause.” What qualifies as a cause was not defined.
The new Senate rules bill also leaves off a proposal to let lawmakers change their votes after they are cast and cuts out a plan to make it easier to suspend the rules.
Democratic Sen. Sam Bell says the rule changes are still a “massive power grab.”
The Senate Rules, Ethics and Oversight Committee has a hearing scheduled on the new rules bill Wednesday.
