By WPRO News

Leaders of the Rhode Island General Assembly have settled a lawsuit in which Republicans challenged the Democrats control of the committee that oversees legislative operations.

The 2020 lawsuit, filed by then House Minority Leader Blake Filippi against then House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, complained that the Joint Committee on Legislative Services was not meeting, giving the minority no say over the operations of General Assembly, which oversees a budget of more than $53.9 million.

In a statement on Friday, current leaders said that a stipulation of dismissal was filed in Superior Court, after current Speaker Joseph Shekarchi, who chairs the JCLS, agreed to take part in quarterly public meetings of the committee, “which functions as the administrative arm of the General Assembly”.

Current leaders, including Republican House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale, and Democratic Senate President Dominick Ruggerio praised the settlement.

“I’m thrilled Leader Chippendale and Speaker Shekarchi have agreed to regular meetings of the JCLS – which was the goal of the lawsuit I filed in 2000,” Filippi tweeted on Friday.