Projo Politics Blog

As House members prepared to vote last Tuesday on a resolution to discourage the use of trans fats in Rhode Island restaurant food, they found something peculiar.

Logging into their computers to read the text of the bill, they found the description of the measure had disappeared. The description, which originally consisted of two long sentences and began, “This act would restrict the use of artificial trans fats…” had been replaced with just two words: “throw away.”

Rep. Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry, explained that he wanted to vote for the words “throw away,” and against the rest of the resolution, which would urge the Department of Health to create an education program about the health risks associated with consuming trans fats. “Can we vote in sections, Mr. Speaker?” asked Gorham. “Is it divisible?”

“Not in this case, no,” Speaker William J. Murphy replied.

The House passed the legislation, “throw away” and all. (The descriptions are unofficial summaries that aim to explain bills; they do not become part of state law.)

The mix-up likely happened during redrafting of the resolution, which started out as a bill that would have banned trans fats in restaurants.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, had his own theory about the puzzling description: “It could have been that someone broke into legislative data systems,” McNamara, D-Warwick, said the next day. “Maybe it was those pranksters on the other side,” he added, referring to Gorham’s party. “I don’t think they have enough to do.”

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