STATE HOUSE — Lawmakers moved swiftly this week on a series of bills touching everything from hospital stability and property taxes to vaccine access and ranked-choice voting.

Topping the list: a last-minute backstop to secure the sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Fatima Hospital. The General Assembly approved — and the governor signed — legislation setting aside $18 million from the state’s supplemental rainy day fund to reassure bondholders if the nonprofit Centurion Foundation defaults. Supporters say the move is critical to protecting the two safety-net hospitals and the patients who rely on them.

On the criminal justice front, House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy introduced a bill to make deed theft a felony. The proposal would target scammers who use forged documents, including fraudulent quitclaim deeds, to steal homes by recording fake property transfers.

Health care also took center stage. Sen. Linda Ujifusa and Rep. Susan Donovan filed legislation requiring state-regulated insurers to cover vaccines recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Health without cost-sharing, aiming to safeguard access amid federal uncertainty. Separately, Rep. Enrique Sanchez introduced a bill to guarantee health care workers earn overtime pay for Sundays and holidays.

For seniors, Rep. Megan Cotter proposed allowing homeowners 62 and older — as well as permanently disabled residents and disabled veterans — to defer property taxes until their home changes hands. Rep. Marie Hopkins introduced a measure to ensure seniors who pay by paper check can receive the same automatic payment discounts offered to others.

Lawmakers also hosted a “candy election” to demonstrate how ranked-choice voting works, as companion bills are introduced to bring the system to presidential primaries and local elections.

Other proposals would allow residents to use an app to report vehicles illegally parked in accessible spaces, permit nurses to provide routine foot care to homebound patients, and require crisis hotline numbers on student ID cards.

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• Three people in Rhode Island have died so far from cold-weather exposure this winter.
• The deaths occurred despite a new program by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches called “Operation No One Dies,” aimed at providing shelter.
• Advocates say more beds and better coordination between organizations are needed to protect vulnerable people.

A missing Narragansett man died on a downtown Providence street, in freezing temperatures, in late January.

Police had found his body under a blanket near Dunkin’ and The Strand Ballroom & Theatre.

Ryan Boisvert’s death came during the first winter of “Operation No One Dies” – a new effort by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches to provide beds to people who need them when the forecast calls for “real feel” temperatures of 22 degrees or below.

The circumstances underscored a message expressed at the time by the council’s warming center coordinator, Harrison Tuttle: Rhode Island must do a better job protecting vulnerable people from dangerous temperatures.

Then, on Friday, Feb. 13, police announced two more wintertime deaths, both “weather-related with possible health complications,” saying that investigators believe Stanislaw Kozav, 49, and his mother, Irina Kozav, 75, were living in the car where their bodies were found, which was in a lot at Miriam Hospital.

Barriers to finding warm beds for homeless Rhode Islanders

It wasn’t clear, based on the information provided by police, if Boisvert or either one of the two Kozavs had tried and failed to find one of the beds offered by the council or any other bed that might have been available.

But Tuttle, who has some expertise, says he’s often unable to hurdle the barriers he runs into when trying to find beds for people who need them.

Such efforts tend to happen in situations where the 51 beds offered in three Providence churches, through the council’s program, have already been taken, he says.

Tuttle says he believes the right coordination between the right organizations can open up other resources.

He says he doesn’t want to lay blame on any particular entity or person.

He just wants to sound an alarm that finding beds for people, even when the temperatures outside are below freezing, can be extraordinarily difficult. Not everyone meets the criteria for admittance to certain facilities.

He emphasizes that Operation No One Dies has resources, including some transportation, for moving people to places with available beds, including facilities outside Providence.

Some of these volunteer drivers are already patrolling local streets in search of people who need shelter on frigid nights.

A call for collaboration to prevent cold-weather deaths

The availability of the beds provided by the council is a new program, funded through a $200,000 grant from the Executive Office of Housing, and it’s an accomplishment of sorts.

But people are still freezing to death. And more beds are needed.

Tuttle says he just wants more responsiveness from organizations that can help, that can “come together to have a conversation around solutions to prevent freezing deaths in the community.”

“Can we patch up a system here for the remainder of the winter?” he asks.

Tuttle had made an appeal after Boisvert’s death, calling for “immediate, concrete collaboration.”

“No single organization can solve this alone,” he wrote. “It is only through committed partnership and shared accountability that we can build a system strong enough to prevent future deaths.”

On Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, each of the beds provided by Operation No One Dies were taken.

The Kozavs were found at 6:28 p.m. on Feb. 11.

The incident happened Wednesday

• An 18-year-old involved with the state childcare system has died, according to Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth & Families.
• The incident occurred on Wednesday, February 11, but confidentiality laws prevent the release of further details.
• The Office of the Child Advocate has been notified of the fatality as required by state law.

The Department of Children, Youth & Families has disclosed the fatality of an 18-year-old youth who was involved with the state childcare system.

The incident happened on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

The DCYF said it has notified the Office of the Child Advocate, as required by law. The Office of the State Child Advocate’s mission is “to protect the legal rights of children in State care and to promote policies and practices which ensure that children are safe, that children have permanent and stable families, and that children in out of home placements have their physical, mental, medical, educational, emotional, and behavioral needs met,” according to its mission statement.

The DCYF said confidentiality laws prohibit it from disclosing additional details.

“We encourage any family needing support to reach out to our Family Support Line for information on resources and support at 1-888-RI-FAMLY (1-888-743-2659),” the agency said.

“DCYF’s highest priority is the safety and well-being of all children,” the state agency said.

Rhode Islanders are required by law to report known or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to DCYF within 24 hours, the agency said. Call 1-800-RI-CHILD (1-800-742-4453) to report known or suspected cases of child abuse.