With a nod to former Senate president and avid horse racing fan Dominick Ruggerio, Rhode Island lawmakers are entering the home stretch of the legislative session.

New revenue estimates are in, there’s new leadership in the Senate, and a ban on assault-style firearms is taking shape.

Here’s what to watch before the General Assembly goes on summer break in late June or early July.

Budget breathing room
State budget crunchers are now projecting nearly $61 million more than expected will flow into the state before the fiscal year ends June 30 – plus an additional $19 million next year – which should make it easier to close a projected $250 million shortfall. However, House and Senate leaders remain concerned about Governor Dan McKee’s budget proposal, especially with uncertainty with federal funding.

Speaker Shekarchi’s future
There are far more important issues to address, but all eyes are on House Speaker Joe Shekarchi’s next move. He’s raising money hand over fist – with another big-dollar fundraiser set for tomorrow – and he isn’t ruling out a run for governor next year. But his approach in the final weeks of the session could offer clues about his future. How much criticism will he throw at McKee? How much credit will he seek if lawmakers ban assault-style weapons? 

Guns
Governor McKee set the table for an assault weapons ban, and Ruggerio all but blessed the idea before he died. Newly elected Senate President Val Lawson is a strong supporter of a ban, but she needs to get the proposal through an evenly split Judiciary Committee (or use a different strategy to bring the bill to a vote in the full Senate). Majority Leader Frank Ciccone is seen as an avid gun rights supporter, but all signs suggest the bill will get a vote this year.

Health care crisis
McKee, Shekarchi, and Lawson all know Rhode Island is facing a primary care provider crisis – on top of financial concerns at several hospitals – but it’s not clear whether there will be enough revenue – or appetite for cuts in other areas – to truly address the problem. That could open the door to legislation that would raise income taxes on the wealthiest Rhode Islanders, although McKee and Shekarchi are not as keen on the idea as Lawson.

Everything else
The hire-every-possible-lobbyist issue of the year seems to be a couple of recycling-related bills – most notably the creation of a beverage container redemption program – but there is fierce pushback from liquor stores and beverage companies. Legislation that would benefit insurance giant FM appears to be on the fast track. There is still some question about what will happen with the state takeover of Providence schools. There is also a growing push to schedule a special legislative session in the fall just in case there are cuts to federal funding (think Medicaid).