Allows local government recipients of grant funds from the Rhode Island infrastructure bank's OSCAR fund and resilient Rhode Island infrastructure fund to use monies for insurability planning.

Plain-English Summary

This bill expands how local governments in Rhode Island can spend money they receive from two existing grant programs managed by the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank: the OSCAR fund and the Resilient Rhode Island Infrastructure Fund. Currently, these funds are designed to help communities pay for infrastructure and environmental resilience projects. This bill would add a new allowed use — insurability planning — meaning towns and cities could use the grant money to figure out how to keep their properties and infrastructure insurable, or to improve their ability to obtain affordable insurance coverage.

Insurability planning generally involves assessing risks (like flooding, storms, or climate-related hazards) and taking steps to reduce those risks so that insurance companies are willing to provide coverage at reasonable costs. As climate-related events become more frequent and insurers increasingly pull back from certain markets, some communities are finding it harder and more expensive to get insurance for public buildings, utilities, and infrastructure. This bill would allow local governments to use existing grant dollars to proactively address that challenge.

The bill directly affects Rhode Island towns and cities that receive grants from these two programs. It gives local officials more flexibility in how they use the money, without creating a new program or requiring new spending. Residents could indirectly benefit if their local government is better able to secure and maintain affordable insurance coverage for public assets. The bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee for review.