Rep. Chippendale to Chair Two House Commissions

Rep. Michael W. Chippendale has been appointed to chair two Special House Legislative Commissions this off-season.

One commission will “create a strategic plan for collaboration within Rhode Island’s public health system, specifically the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline,” according to a State House press release.

The other “will develop recommendations to provide Internet services to underserved communities will meet in the months while the legislature is in recess.”

The BMLD-focused commission will “investigate the rules and regulations” of the board, Chippendale said, and is part of a larger effort to look into the “myriad boards and agencies in state government” that “often operate unchecked.”

“In other words, they are supposed to be operating under rules and regulations created by the overseeing State Department. However, without any outside oversight, we really don’t know how they function in many cases. Republicans believe several state agencies and departments have so much leeway and in-fact do operate without any true oversight, that the very real possibility of ‘straying’ from the rules and regulations of the department is not something altogether impossible. This commission is the first of what we hope will be many that are charged with taking on a role of oversight to ensure that all rules are being followed properly.”

The BMLD Commission should start in early August.

The other commission dealing with Internet access was inspired in part by a lack of broadband in some houses located in the Ponaganset School District. While the schools are using the latest technology to educate students, many don’t have the right access to fully take advantage of it.

Chippendale said ”students use laptop computers for schoolwork and homework. Having no access to broadband internet is quite literally depriving them of an education. When a student doesn’t have internet access and the library is closed, they don’t really have any option other than not doing their homework and other projects that require research or access to the school’s server where they use advanced technology to interact with teachers and other classmates.”

” The Ponaganset Broadband Commission should also start in August.

Chippendale (R-Coventry, Foster, Glocester) is serving his third term in the House of Representatives.