12. H5133: Repeals the prohibition against “classified” state employees from running for state office. (House Labor, June 7)
11. S0858: All agencies, authorities, commissions, boards, municipalities, political subdivisions, and other public units of the state would be able to contribute funds to a pool that the General Treasurer would invest for them. Introduced at the request of the General Treasurer. (Senate Finance, June 7)
10. S0699/H5944: Exempts members of the “International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers and its signatory contractors jointly participating in the IMPACT National Substance Abuse Program” from state job-site drug testing laws. (Senate Labor, June 8)
9. H6098: Tax credits for expenses incurred in the substantial rehabilitation of “a certified historic structure, provided the rehabilitation meets standards consistent with the standards of the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior for rehabilitation”. (House Finance, June 7)
8. S0770: A pilot project for “Patient Centered Medical Homes”. This bill appears to be founded on the assumption that system failures created by regulation can be fixed by piling new regulations on top of the broken ones. (House Corporations, June 7)
7. H6176: A study commission on a system for determining “the winner of [an] election by majority vote” including but not limited to “instant runoff voting, approval voting, range voting, and proportional voting”. (House Judiciary, June 7)
6. H5225: Prohibits the state and any RI municipality from requiring an “employer to use an electronic employment verification system…as a condition of receiving a government contract or applying for or maintaining a business license”. (House Labor, June 7)
5. H6193/H6209: Reduces a municipal disability pension in a given year to an amount where the sum of the pension and the other income does not exceed “the base salary rate of compensation in effect for the classification that the disability recipient held prior to retirement”, and allows a disability pension to be revoked if the pensioner works a job similar to the one he or she is disabled from. (House Finance, June 8)
4. H6116: Medical contracts that include a rate of payment for a service that exceed a percentage of what Medicaid pays for the same service, said percentage to determined by the State Health Insurance Commissioner, “shall be presumptively disapproved”. (House Corporations, June 7)
3. S0492/S0927: Authorizes a statewide referendum and a local referendum in Lincoln to be held as part of the 2012 general election to approve or reject adding table games to “the facility known as ‘Twin River'”. (Senate Special Legislation and Veterans’ Affairs, June 8)
2. H5659: Joins Rhode Island to an interstate compact where the RI legislature agrees to disregard the choice for President made by Rhode Island voters, and allocate RI’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote instead. (House Judiciary, June 7 and it’s already passed in Senate Committee)
1. H6194/H6210: “Every state or municipal retiree shall, as a condition of receiving or continuing to receive retirement payments and benefits, enroll in Medicare as soon as he or she is eligible”… (House Finance, June 8)