Rhode Island Politics
There are probably more than a couple reasons why this is just not a good idea: Require health-insurance policies to cover infertility treatment regardless of a woman’s marital status. State law requires that insurers cover 80 percent of the cost of such treatments, with no limit on the total treatment cost. But they are currently…
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted yesterday to “hold for further study” the bill introduced by Senators June Gibbs (R-Little Compton/Middletown/Newport/Tiverton) and David Bates (R-Barrington/Bristol) that would abolish straight-ticket party voting in Rhode Island general elections. The House tabled a similar bill at the end of March. Apparently, Rhode Island Democrats are afraid that they can’t…
Despite the fact that prostitution can occur behind closed doors in Rhode Island, prostitution actually is illegal in the state. AG Lynch and many others have long sought to close that loophole. But, somehow, for some reason, they continue to meet with opposition. Rep. Joanne M. Giannini, D-Cranston has done yeoman’s work in presenting a…
Many were surprised when Common Cause of Rhode Island flipped on the question of Voter Initiative and became an opponent. That happened under Phillip West, but Common Cause, under new executive director Christine Lopes, still opposes Voter Initiative. In this, they share a position with the state Association of Fire Fighters, the AFL-CIO, National Education…
Scott MacKay’s immigration piece in the Sunday ProJo was a good piece of historical writing. However, and inevitably, it will be used by some as proof for their arguments in the contemporary illegal immigrant debate. Namely that the U.S. has “historically” allowed all immigrants, whether illegal or not. My first thought after reading the piece…
Both of these proposed election reforms seem like “no-brainers,” don’t they? Well, maybe not to everyone…(via ProJo’s Michael P. McKinney) Requiring voters to provide identification at the polls is either a needed safeguard against recent voter fraud or a way to disenfranchise minorities, the poor, elderly, disabled and the homeless from exercising their right to…
As our esteemed legislators consider ways in which to dictate business practices (including a bill that would put a minimum duration on coupons), warn Rhode Island students that the flattering and charming seamen whom they meet at weddings may deceive and murder them, and ensure healthier diets, I can’t help but wonder whether we oughtn’t…
H 5237, promoted by the ACLU and the Rhode Island Civil Rights Roundtable and sponsored by Reps. Almeida, Diaz, Ajello, Handy, and Slater, will create the “Immigration Status Protection Act” and change the “Racial Profiling Prevention Act” of 2004. It is a true gem of self-contradiction. But I’ll get to that. First, though, as the…
Last week, in regards to Patrick Kennedy’s revelation that he had been addicted to OxyContin, I asked, “Wonder which doctor he had? Or was there more than one? Could he have been doctor shopping?” Well, WPRO’s Colleen Lima attempted to ferret out of Rep. Kennedy the who, where and how he got enough OxyContin to…
A week and a half later, the ProJo concurs with us: …the problems of Rhode Island are many, deep and largely unaddressed….state legislators lack both the time and the expertise to seriously consider the complexities of Iraq. Any resolution they might pass would be entirely predictable and totally ineffective: Does Rhode Island need a foreign…