Speaker of the House William Murphy takes up bills covering a variety of topics from peanut butter allergies to bridge weight limits yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE — Peanut butter sandwich lovers take heart. The lunchtime staple may soon return to Rhode Island schools.

A law passed last summer banned the sticky spread from elementary and middle school cafeterias in schools where students suffer from dangerous peanut or tree nut allergies. Administrators were required to post warnings and designate nut-free classrooms when necessary.

But the complaints that soon came from parents and teachers prompted legislators to reconsider a less stringent version of the rule.

Yesterday the House passed a revised peanut law that Rep. Joanne Giannini, D-Providence, called “a much better bill” that addresses the needs of individual students.

If adopted by the Senate, the new proposal would give Rhode Island schools more autonomy in how to handle allergic students. Affected schools would be required to develop policies that provide “a safe environment for students with peanut/tree nut allergies.” The bill would also repeal the mandate that notices be posted warning of the presence of allergic children.

Supporters last night agreed that schools are better off dealing with the problem on a case-by-case basis. Buildings where a student suffers from a life-threatening allergy will likely take more serious precautions than those in which a child might have a low-level aversion.

Rep. Elaine A. Coderre, D-Pawtucket, whose grandson contends with a major peanut allergy, lent her support to the modified bill saying it offers the necessary protections.

But House Minority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, lamented a childhood with no peanut butter. The proposal, he said, does not go far enough. “I’m going to speak up for those individuals who do want the ability to bring peanut butter sandwiches to school if they so choose,” he said.

The bill passed 58 to 2 and is now on its way to the Senate. A second peanut-related bill on the Senate side is scheduled for a hearing this afternoon. That proposal would only slightly modify the current law, designating certain peanut-free classrooms.

Also on the House floor yesterday, lawmakers passed a bill allowing women to breast feed in any public place and OK the Rhode Island court system to award compensatory damages for any violation of that law. There was little opposition to the proposal, though Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, R-Warwick, questioned the need for such a law. It too heads to the Senate.

After a lengthy debate, the House put off a vote on a bill sponsored by Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, that would require all state public works projects with price tags of $100,000 or more to be performed by contractors who pay apprentices in an on-the-job training program.

Supporters including House Labor Committee Chairman Arthur J. Corvese, D-North Providence, said the bill ensures that the construction industry prepares a future generation of laborers to replace what is now an aging work force.

But Republicans slammed the legislation as excluding smaller contractors and wasting money in a year when the state is struggling to cut costs.

House Minority Whip Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry, said lawmakers need only look to a strongly worded letter from the state’s Division of Purchases to get a whiff of the proposal’s flaws:

“By requiring contractors to have apprentice programs in order to bid, the bill essentially knocks [small contractors] out of the bidding process which favors larger contractors that have apprentice programs already in place,” the state’s acting purchasing agent Lorraine A. Hynes wrote in a March 25 letter to Corvese. “Further, by decreasing the number of bidders, the bill will drive up the cost of State contracts which will hurt Rhode Island taxpayers.

“At a time when the State is facing large budget deficits, it is unwise to consider measures that potentially increase costs,” she wrote.

House leaders elected to bump the vote to this afternoon’s calendar.

cneedham@projo.com