Because the RI General Assembly website was down all weekend and then again for at least some period of time of Monday night, I wasn’t able to produce my summary of bills on the usual schedule, and a few other commitments this week are preventing me from catching up in a timely fashion, so in order to provide a brief update on what is happening on Smith Hill (beyond the passage of the civil unions bill in House committee last evening) I will pass along the Rhode Island Tea Party‘s alerts on what’s happening in legislative committees this week…

S0896:
A Bill to lock down retired employee benefits as property rights…[and] end-run around the unsettled matter of law regarding property rights of retiree benefits. (Senate Labor Committee, May 18)
S0147:
A Bill to Exempt $2 Million from Estate Tax. (Senate Finance Committee, May 19)
S0058:
A Bill to increase estate tax exemption from $850,000 to $1,500,000 (Senate Finance Committee, May 19)
H5738:
A Bill to combine corporate tax reporting with other states (House Finance Committee, May 19)