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House committee hears bill letting Barrington offer property tax credit for legally blind residents
Summary
Rep. Jennifer Boylan introduced H 7005 to authorize the Town of Barrington to adopt a real‑property tax credit for legally blind persons; a witness from the Developmental Disabilities Council urged broadening the language to cover other significant disabilities rather than single‑condition fixes.
Representative Jennifer Boylan introduced H 7005, a local bill that would allow the Town of Barrington to adopt an ordinance providing a real‑property tax credit for legally blind persons and would replace Barrington‑specific statutory language with broader enabling language. The chair noted the bill is a duplicate of Senate bill 2037 and that a Barrington resolution accompanies the filing.
Bob Marshall of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council testified in support of the policy goal but urged the committee to consider wording changes. "When we see bills like this, we tend to ask that the town consider making one amendment so that it would cover other persons with significant disabilities instead of handling things one at a time," Marshall said, arguing that broader language would avoid leaving people out while successive single‑condition amendments are processed.
Committee members asked no further questions after the testimony. Chair moved to close the hearing on H 7005 and the committee proceeded to the next agenda item. There was no committee vote on the substance of the bill during this session; earlier in the meeting the committee voted procedurally to hold all bills for further study.
