2. On Tuesday, April 30, the House Judiciary Committee will hear the same-sex marriage bill with improved (but not perfect) “protections for freedom of religion in marriage”.

3. S0029: Mandates state use of “data verification and provider screening technology solutions” and “state-of-the-art predictive modeling and analytics technologies in a pre-payment position within the healthcare claim workflow” to reduce Medicaid, RIte Care and RIte Share fraud and waste. (S Health and Human Services; Tue, Apr 30) This bill is back for a second time, under the “scheduled for consideration” section, which means the committee may be thinking of passing it.

4. S0046/S0567: Two different bills that create an online system to verify that all vehicles registered in Rhode Island have insurance. S0562 goes a step further, establishing an electronic registry of previously uninsured motorists, having the division of motor vehicle randomly pick names out of the registry and requiring the selectees to provide proof that they are now insured. (S Judiciary; Thu, May 2)

5. H5736: Creates a tax-credit program for employers that establish “wellness programs” at work. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30) A classic example of how progressives will support policies that favor big, corporate employers, because it lets them impose programs on individuals that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

6. H5359: FY2014 will be year 3 of a 7-year phase-in for the new education “funding formula”, for the communities scheduled to receive more aid under the new system relative to the old. (a 10-year period is used, for communities undergoing an aid reduction). This bill gives those communities their entire new “formula” aid total beginning immediately in FY2014 and, in cases where community is spending more per-pupil on education than the state average, allows all of the money from the acceleration to be used to reduce the maintenance of effort obligation by an equivalent amount. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30) The bill says that if a community is spending $1 more than the state average, but is due to receive more money under the “funding formula”, it can choose to start making the rest of the state pay a larger share of its education costs without changing anything about its education programs. It’s a bill that, more honestly than usual, shows how many Rhode Island legislators think of the education “funding formula” as property tax subsidy for politically favored communities that’s independent of any particular usage of state aid.

7. S0473: Gives the governor the power to appoint judicial system magistrates, from lists of candidates created by the judicial nominating commission (Currently, magistrates are appointed by various top-level judges). (S Judiciary; Tue, Apr 30)

8. H5456: Requires wireless communication carriers to provide location information of users, if requested to do so by a law enforcement agency in an emergency situation. (H Corporations; Tue, Apr 30) Note that this is different from the bill heard in earlier in the session, which would require that a warrant be issued in order for location information to be compelled.

9. H5750: Creates an “office of health planning” to study and make recommendations on “the rational allocation of resources to balance the supply and demand of healthcare services”, “in order to pursue the complete physical, mental and social well-being of Rhode Islanders”. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

10. H5018: Limits rate increases that may be approved by the Public Utilities Commission to “2.5% within any consecutive 24 month period”. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

11. S0201: Prohibits medical health insurance premium rates from varying based on gender (excluding policies for “disability income, long-term care, and insurance supplemental policies which only provide coverage for specified diseases or other supplemental policies”). (S Health and Human Services; Tue, Apr 30) Will a similar bill that applies to automobile insurance rates be following?

12A. H5449: Assesses a $50-per-semester fee on Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Johnson and Wales University students, who are not legal residents of Rhode Island “to be placed in a restricted receipt account to be used exclusively by the I-195 redevelopment commission”. (H Finance; Wed, May 1)

12B. H5636: Assesses a $50 per semester public transportation fee on all students “attending a Rhode Island institution of public higher education”. In return, students would receive a RIPTA pass for the semester which they paid the fee. (H Finance; Wed, May 1)

13. H5309: Repeals the 2% surcharge “upon the net patient services revenue received each month by every outpatient health care facility”. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

14. H5073: Mandates that by 2017, 100% of automobile and light-truck registration fees “be transferred to Rhode Island highway maintenance and public transit trust fund”. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

15. S0538 Extends a moratorium on licensing of new nursing facilities that was supposed to expire on July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2016. (S Health and Human Services; Tue, Apr 30)

16. H5312/H5976: Repeals the 2% surcharge on net patient revenue from Medical Imaging Services. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

17. S0136: Adds Federal military installations to the list of properties eligible for payments-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) paid to their hosting communities. Note that PILOT amounts are computed as a percentage of taxable value, so this would impose an additional cost on state taxpayers, not simply redistribute existing payments.(S Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

18. The next round of Rhode Island’s continuing battle of auto insurers versus auto body shops: S0465 prohibits totaling a vehicle if it can be repaired for less than 75% of its market value; S0472 mandates that a claimant gets to pick the auto-body shop and that insurance company must negotiate with the claimant’s choice; S0764 “the automobile body repair shop shall document any agreement with a consumer whereby repairs detailed in an appraisal, and paid for by an insurer have not been made” and S0762 repeals the section of the law requiring auto insurers to conduct “auto body repair labor rate surveys”. (S Judiciary; Thu, May 2)

19. H5362: Reduces the cigarette tax from 173 to 123 mills per cigarette, which the official description says results in a reduction of $1 per pack. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 30)

20. H5302: Reduces the income taxes paid by a business by a quarter of a percentage point for every 10 people hired by “eligible companies which are small business concerns” or for every 50 people hired by “eligible companies which are not small business concerns”. (H Finance; Wed, May 1)

21. S0840: Allows antitrust lawsuits by persons or public bodies “who have not dealt directly” with the party being sued. (S Judiciary; Tue, Apr 30)

22. H5454: Removes wireless service from the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission. (H Corporations; Tue, Apr 30)

23. S0227: Creates an underground utility contractor licensing process (and fee) where none currently exists. (S Labor; Wed, May 1)

24. S0270: The substance of this bill states that the “reimbursement rate for direct support professionals employed by private development disability organizations shall be increased from $11.30 to $12.03 per hour… (S Finance; Tue, Apr 30) …but the part that caught by initial attention reads “The director shall adopt a state reimbursement system for community and nonprofit agencies that will encourage the hiring and retention of competent, qualified, and caring individuals”. Is it a policy elsewhere in government to hire incompetent, unqualified, and uncaring individuals?

25. S0803: Requires the Director of business regulation to respond to all complaints within 30 days. (S Judiciary; Thu, May 2)

Inobvious Priorities: H5224 >> Applies sales tax to vending machine items that cost $3.50 or more; H5445 >> Licensing of music therapists.

Local Impact: East Greenwich, Middletown, North Providence, Portsmouth, Richmond.