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Committee reviews budget articles: leases, paint recycling reporting and museum bond question
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Summary
House Finance staff walked members through Article 3 (mandatory five‑year PaintCare plan resubmission), Article 9 (annual state leases including three large lease renewals) and the bond Question 6 package (a $45M Rhode Island History Center request plus $5M for preservation grants). Committee members asked for more lease cost detail; Secretary of State and preservation officials described the history center and the grant program.
House fiscal staff and agency witnesses presented a package of budget articles that the committee will review more fully in coming weeks.
Article 3 would require the PaintCare stewardship organization to resubmit its statewide plan every five years, even if the plan has not changed, and submit it to the Department of Environmental Management for review and approval. DEM staff and industry representatives told lawmakers the change would align Rhode Island with several other states that require periodic plan updates; PaintCare representatives said existing statute already requires reporting when program elements change and that routine five‑year resubmissions are unnecessary.
Article 9 is the annual state lease article. Staff described three substantial lease renewals before the committee: the Secretary of State’s West River property (about 12,000 sq. ft.), a roughly 20,000 sq. ft. public‑defender office on Pine Street and the Department of Environmental Management’s Promenade Street lease (current lease ~126,000 sq. ft., governor’s budget assumes ~115,000 sq. ft.). Several operating‑cost items and tenant‑improvement estimates remain under negotiation; DCAM acting director Marco Schiapa told the committee finalized numbers will be provided in advance of any action.
The presentation also covered bond Question 6. Secretary of State Amore outlined a downsized Rhode Island History Center proposal (roughly 24,600 sq. ft.) and a companion $5 million request to recapitalize the State Preservation Grants program, which provides matching grants for municipalities and nonprofits to preserve historic sites. Jeff (HPHC) enumerated the grants’ past rounds, the preservation easements the state holds on funded properties and options for distributing a new $5 million round.
Committee members asked how many leases expire in 2026 and the budget impact if several renewals coincide in one fiscal year; staff said DCAM will provide updated lease‑cost estimates. On PaintCare, lawmakers sought comparative models (Massachusetts was discussed as relying more on municipal depot systems); industry said PaintCare’s network model increases customer convenience and that DEM has authority to request plan updates under current law.
The committee took no final votes on these articles and asked staff to return with more specific fiscal numbers and any negotiated lease terms.
