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CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com

MIDDLETOWN — “THANK YOU!” TO STATE LEGISLATORS

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JUNE 27, 2022) – The Town of Middletown is extending a big “Thank you!” to local legislators for their heavy lift for the community this General Assembly session.

In addition to working hard to secure passage of special legislation to clear the way for school regionalization with Newport, there were several other items lawmakers were busy with.

Those include securing approval of language for the town’s new Tiered Residential Tax Program (TRTP) to save full-time residents money on their tax bills, changes to the town’s pension system to make municipal jobs more attractive and prohibiting commercial traffic on Chase’s Lane.

The town’s state legislators are State Senator Louis P. DiPalma and State Representatives Marvin Abney, Terri-Denise Cortvriend and Deborah Ruggiero.

“There was a lot on their plate this session,” Town Council President Paul M. Rodrigues said. “Obviously, regionalization required a really big lift but there was the change to the police pension, the TRTP and a couple other things. This was all spurred by the town and the direction we’re heading and it shows how important it is to work together. Without teamwork, it’s hard to accomplish anything.”

“We have a great group of legislators working for Middletown upstate,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown added. “This session in particular, we asked a lot and they more than delivered in each and every instance, taking some pretty complicated legislation and shepherding it through the process at the State House.”

Every General Assembly session, Middletown has requests for its legislators, ranging from tax relief to changes to existing regulations dealing with the environment, financing, infrastructure and a number of other areas.

However, this year’s asks were more than in decades — and possibly ever. The effort around regionalization with Newport came about unexpectedly in mid-March and required almost round-the-clock work to complete and get approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

But with each item before the General Assembly, Brown said there were intricacies and having an experienced group of legislators to make sure everything is handled properly was critical.

“Regionalization came together quickly and it was complicated,” Brown said. “Without the work of our legislators, who were there at every turn, I don’t think things would have gone nearly as smoothly. It was a big accomplishment and I know we’re looking forward to getting it before voters in November.”

Rodrigues credited Brown and his team for their work, saying without their efforts, the outcome on many of the items would likely have been far different.

“Shawn and his staff did a tremendous amount of work to get us here today,” Rodrigues said. “Trust me, that’s not lost on any of us and we’re really appreciative of everything that’s been accomplished so far.”

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