Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hospital Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House Committee on Finance approves H 7408 Sub A to back sale of two hospitals with $18 million reserve
Summary
The House Committee on Finance moved and approved H 7408 Sub A at a special meeting, authorizing state financing support for the sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and establishing an $18,000,000 debt service reserve from the supplemental rainy day fund.
A special meeting of the House Committee on Finance voted to approve H 7408 Sub A, a measure that authorizes the state to provide financing support and assist the sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and establishes a debt service reserve funded by an $18,000,000 transfer from the supplemental rainy day fund.
The committee summary presented at the meeting said the state’s maximum obligation under the Sub A is $18,000,000 and that the amendment removes a prior option to use a credit facility to fund the debt service reserve. Committee staff described the remaining changes in the Sub A as technical — typographical fixes, formatting, and revisions to affected budget grand-total lines — with one additional technical correction to be handled in a floor amendment that would remove a duplicative final line in the bill.
During the meeting an unidentified committee member formally moved to indefinitely postpone H 7408 and pass H 7408 Sub A; another member seconded the motion. A roll-call vote was held and the clerk initially announced that the motion passed "7 to 1." Committee staff then corrected the tally verbally, recorded the late arrival and vote of Representative Tansy/Tansey in favor of the Sub A, and the meeting record in the room reflected additional yes votes following that correction. The transcript of the meeting records the motion as having passed; the transcript does not provide a fully consistent single numeric roll-call record for every member, and does not identify which member cast any recorded no vote.
The Sub A, as explained in the meeting, applies only to the currently approved transaction for the sale of the two hospitals. The meeting record notes that the Sub A eliminated the earlier credit-facility funding option from the bill and left the $18,000,000 debt service reserve funded from the supplemental rainy day fund. Committee staff also said a single technical floor amendment would eliminate a duplicated line in the bill.
After the vote the committee chair closed the meeting, members exchanged brief thanks, and the committee adjourned.
