Issue Position: Education, Health & Environment

Issue Position

Senator Paiva Weed top priorities include strengthening the education system, ensuring access to quality, affordable health care, and protecting our natural resources.

A strong education system lays the foundation for a solid economy. Education not only improves quality of life, it produces a strong workforce and helps attract entrepreneurs and residents. Senator Paiva Weed has striven to align education and workforce development programs with business needs, and strengthen education from early childhood through postsecondary learning.

She has worked to ensure that Rhode Islanders have access to quality health care, while also addressing costs.

A lifelong resident of Newport, she shares with her constituents in Newport and Jamestown a deep appreciation of the bay that surrounds the islands. She has developed legislation to protect Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island's natural resources, which greatly enhance quality of life for Rhode Islanders and also help to drive our economy.

Quality Education to Support the Future of Rhode Island

Senator Paiva Weed has:

*made education a centerpiece of economic development efforts;
*established a School Building Authority to provide state funding to repair or replace Rhode Island's crumbling school buildings;
*provided state funding for full-day kindergarten -- a proven foundation for educational success throughout schooling -- in all Rhode Island school districts;
*supported increased investment in education at all levels, from pre-kindergarten through higher education, with increased state aid to school districts, and additional state aid to URI, RIC and CCRI, in addition to capital investments;
*set in motion work to establish a funding formula for higher education as well as improving outcomes in targeted areas such as degree completion in fields that are in demand;
*allocated $350,000 grant to the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership which will be used, in part, to offer training important in the manufacturing sector;
*ensured that low-income parents can qualify for child care assistance while participating in work readiness programs;
*called for reverse transfer of credits into CCRI to help Rhode Islanders with some college education but no degree achieve an academic credential;
*called for the very successful outreach by colleges to students with some college education but no degree -- almost 20 percent of the Rhode Island workforce -- to help them finish what they started;
*provided for better coordination of workforce and education policy;
*sought increased professional development opportunities for school counselors in workforce readiness;
*supported a dual enrollment program allowing high school seniors to take college credit courses;
*worked to enact legislation to improve school safety plans;
*coordinated with education officials and others to help Rhode Island secure federal Race to the Top funds for elementary and secondary schools, and another round of federal funding for early learning centers;
*supported legislation to reserve half of charter school slots in the state for at-risk youth;
*supported the "Safe Schools Act" to prevent and address bullying and cyberbullying in schools through educational programs;
*sponsored a bill to bolster after school and summer learning programs for elementary school children;
*changed the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 years;
*invested in adult education programs, workforce development programs, and the expansion of the CCRI campus in Newport;
*redefined CCRI's mission to include its role as a workforce development center and provided funding to meet that goal.

Affordable Coverage and Access to Quality Healthcare for Everyone

Access to quality healthcare is critical for all Rhode Island residents. From her first day in office, Senator Paiva Weed took charge to ensure Rhode Islanders have affordable healthcare options.

Senator Pavia Weed has:

*worked to contain costs and ensure Rhode Islanders can access health care;
*worked to "Reinvent Medicaid" to provide improved health outcomes through smarter use of resources;
*better integrated behavioral health and primary care;
*passed a package of overdose prevention drugs to address an overdose epidemic, including a new law that strengthens parity in coverage of mental health and substance use disorders, and promotes effective use of the electronic prescription drug monitoring program;
*supported comprehensive health care cost containment legislation to increase transparency, empower consumers, provide for innovative reimbursement models and improved quality of care;
*championed Rhode Island's investment in RIte Care;
*enacted the Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act, known as the CARE Act, to provide information and training to caregivers about how to tend to patients' needs at home upon discharge from a hospital;
*passed legislation establishing ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts, tax free savings accounts similar to 529 college savings plans to support services for disabled Rhode Islanders when they reach adulthood;
*required the development of transition plans by DCYF for all children under the jurisdiction of the Family Court who are developmentally delayed or seriously emotionally disturbed prior to the child turning 21 and aging out of the system;
*passed legislation to allow for increased beds and innovative models of nursing home care being utilized at St. Clare -- Newport;
*been recognized for her efforts to ensure responsible nursing home reimbursement models that provided for quality of care;
*called for a plan to better enable the state's elderly population to remain living in their communities;
*advocated for a cap on premiums for small employer groups;
*improved financial protections for cancer patients on oral chemotherapy treatment, putting chemo pills and related treatments on a par with intravenous treatment;
*passed legislation providing for electronic prescriptions, improving efficiency and reducing errors;
*promoted insurance for disabled citizens and a waiver for individuals with pre-existing conditions;
*co-sponsored requirement that health insurers cover autism diagnosis and treatment;
*supported establishment of a cardiovascular disease screening and lifestyle intervention pilot program for at-risk women in the state's urban communities;
*supported enactment of the "Rhode Island All-Payer Patient-Centered Medical Home Act," a model of health care that promotes more efficient payment to physicians and better value, accountability and transparency to patients;
*supported the RIPAE program to assist seniors in the high costs of prescription drugs.

Healthy Residents Sustain a Healthy Environment

The health and safety of Rhode Island's citizens go hand in hand with the health of the surrounding environment. Senator Paiva Weed has worked diligently to ensure open spaces and the beautiful bay are protected, while advocating for greater energy independence and a reduced carbon footprint. District 13 overlooks Narragansett Bay, and Senator Paiva Weed is noted for her work to protect the surrounding water so it may remain healthy and safe for citizens and families in her community.

In the Senate, Senator Paiva Weed has:

*supported efforts to increase reliance on renewable energy, including enactment of legislation that has become a national model;
*made reforms to drive down the cost of renewable energy produced by smaller projects and bolster the creation of green jobs;
*supported innovative law to allow homeowners to access low-cost, fixed rate loans for energy upgrades in their homes which become an assessment on their properties;
*passed law to phase out cesspools by replacing them upon sale of a home, helping to protect wetlands and Narragansett Bay from this inadequate means of waste disposal;
*passed legislation to establish a single, statewide set of regulatory standards for freshwater wetland buffers and setbacks, better protecting the environment while also improving the regulatory climate;
*created state infrastructure bank, seeded with $5 million from federal and other sources, to loan cities and towns funds to make buildings more energy efficient;
*supported creation of a Climate Change Council;
*supported program to divert food scraps away from the landfill and towards beneficial uses;
*supported requirement that heating oil include bio-based product;
*worked to provide that inherited farmland be assessed at its use value in order to prevent family farms from being sold or driven out of business when one generation passes it to the next;
*sponsored legislation creating the Habitat Restoration Fund and rewarding local companies that assist in the effort to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Among the restoration projects funded through this program is the Gooseneck Cove Salt Marsh in Newport;
*supported legislation providing that waste cooking oil generated by restaurants be recycled;
*established a council for the proper recycling, reuse and disposal of mattresses.

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