PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate next week will consider hiking Rhode Island's payroll tax for temporary disability benefits in order to expand the program to residents who leave work in order to care for a newborn or a sick relative, following passage Thursday of legislation by the Senate Finance Committee.

Committee passage comes as House leaders unveiled a version of the state budget this week that, they say, includes no increases in state taxes or fees.

The state's Temporary Disability Insurance program, or TDI, currently only covers those who suffer a non-work-related illness or injury.

It provides up to 30 full weeks of benefits, ranging from $72 to $736 a week through a tax of 1.2 percent on a worker's first $61,400 in earnings. Rhode Island is one of just five states in the nation with a mandatory TDI tax.

The proposal approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday would grant those who leave work in order to care for a newborn or a sick relative up to 4 weeks of paid leave in the program's first year, up to 6 weeks in the second year and up to 8 weeks in the third year.

That should result in the average Rhode Island worker's weekly TDI tax increasing from $10.26 to about $10.90 in 2014, $11.54 in 2015 and $12.19 in 2016, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington D.C.

Sen. Gayle L. Goldin, a Providence Democrat who introduced the bill, has said her paid family leave proposal is modeled after laws in California and New Jersey. The other states with a mandatory TDI program are New York and Hawaii.

VIEW BILL HERE: 2013-S-0231Sub A2 Temporary Disability Insurance.pdf

By LYNN ARDITI and AMANDA MILKOVITS
Journal Staff Writers

CRANSTON, R.I. -- The Cranston police are investigating the death of a 2 1/2 year-old girl who died while in foster care Wednesday evening.

The girl was found unresponsive in her bed on Imperial Avenue at 6:20 p.m. The girl had just come home from daycare and her foster mother had thought she was taking a nap. When she found the child unresponsive she called for help, Janice E. DeFrances, director of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families said Thursday.

The department placed the girl's 4-year-old brother, who was also at the home, in another foster home, DeFrances said.

Preliminary findings form the autopsy showed no sign of trauma, DeFrances said. Investigators are waiting for toxicology reports to come back, which may take several weeks, she said.

The foster mother, who was licensed by the DCYF, had the siblings for "less than a month," DeFrances said.

Children placed in foster care are generally supposed to be seen by a doctor within 30 days, she said. DeFrances couldn't immediately recall whether the child had been evaluated since she was placed at the home.

"It's a very unfortunate situation, a very traumatic situation,'' DeFrances said. "We feel badly for all the families involved with this child because she's touched everyone."

An earlier version of this report was posted at 2:18 p.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --- The Rhode Island House of Representatives delayed a debate and vote Thursday on legislation that proposes halting a new requirement for voters set to take effect in 2014: showing a valid picture identification at the polls.

Currently, Rhode Islanders must show an ID before voting, but there is no requirement that the ID have a person's picture on it. That requirement is to start next year.

But House spokesman Larry Berman said the bill is being reworked to reflect concerns raised by the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In a statement Thursday, the ACLU said the bill would eliminate numerous forms of ID currently accepted at the polls such as utility bills, bank statements, a student ID or an insurance card.

It would mandate that only three forms of non-picture ID be accepted: birth certificate, social security card or government-issued medical card. (IDs with pictures, such as a driver's license or passport, would still be accepted.)

"The bill is thus likely to have little positive impact on the people and groups facing the greatest possibility of disenfranchisement next year, and may negatively impact others whose currently legitimate forms of ID, photo and non-photo, will now be deemed invalid."

Berman said the House is expected to consider the bill next Wednesday, the day after it is slated to approve its version of the state budget.

CRANSTON, R.I. -- The police are searching for the person who stabbed a 15-year-old boy in the abdomen behind Stone Hill School late Wednesday night.

Cranston Maj. Robert Ryan said officers and rescuers found the boy around 10 p.m. behind the school at 21 Village Ave., and rushed him to Hasbro Children's Hospital. His injuries were believed to be non-life-threatening.

The boy told police he was out for a walk when a stranger wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, red basketball shorts, and winter gloves grabbed him from behind and stabbed him, Ryan said. The boy told police he didn't know the assailant, who concealed his face with the hooded sweatshirt.

Police seized the weapon and other evidence, according to a news release.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- One beach has closed and another reopened to swimmers because of bacteria levels in the water, the Rhode Island Department of Health announced Thursday.

The reopened beach is Oakland Beach in Warwick. The newly closed beach is Hazard's Beach in Newport. Sandy Point Beach in Portsmouth also remains closed to swimming.

During beach season, the R.I. Department of Health's beach monitoring program routinely tests water quality at all state beaches. For up-to-date information about beach use, call (401) 222-2751 or visit health.ri.gov/news/beaches/ to use the Health Department's interactive beach map.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- House and Senate leaders have restored $100,000 in funding in the state budget for the Court Advocacy Program that helps victims of domestic violence navigate their way through the judicial system.

Deborah DeBare, executive director of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said this infusion will allow the program to resume providing five-day-a-week services, starting next week, in the Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence and in the Noel Judicial Complex in Warwick, the counties where the bulk of the restraining orders are issued.

The program -- which operates in all four of the state's District and Family courts -- helped 8,316 victims of domestic violence last year. But starting June 3, because of severe budget cuts, court advocacy offices have been closed on Mondays.

It is unclear whether Monday service in Washington and Newport counties will
be restored.

PROVIDENCE - The city will not be opening the pool at the Davey Lopes Center this summer or ever.

Beth Charlebois, director of recreation services, said the pool, which has had its deep end fenced off for the past five or six years, is being closed for good because of the cost of keeping the pool open and dwindling number of children who use it.

All of Providence's outdoor city-owned pools had deep ends and all were filled in about 10 yrs ago, with the exception of Davey Lopes. The city's remaining 4 pools go from 3 feet to 4 feet deep.

Charlebois said city officials have been talking about getting rid of pools and going to water spray parks due to safety, liability and cost issues.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The cost of getting married in Rhode Island may go up, if the House and Senate go along with a surprise move by a legislative committee on Thursday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to tack a $46 surcharge on the $24 current cost of obtaining a marriage license.

The first $2 (an estimated $9,000 a year) would go to the city or town clerk and the other $44 (an estimated $200,000 a year) to the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence to fund prevention programs.

No one was more surprised than the sponsor, Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin, that the bill won the committee's approval on the day of its first public hearing.

The lawmakers were swayed by the half-dozen people who signed up to vote, and the 12 letters of support presented to them, by the coalition, from the mayors of Warwick, Pawtucket and Johnston, among others.

"The $46 increase -- less than a night out to dinner and a movie for a couple -- is not unreasonably burdensome for a one-time fee around a carefully considered life event,'' Deborah DeBare, executive director of the RI Coalition against Domestic Violence told the lawmakers.

SCITUATE, R.I. -- A bomb-sniffing dog will be reunited with his former handler, a Marine who received a Purple Heart for his injuries in Afghanistan, at a 2:30 p.m. ceremony Friday at the Rhode Island State Police headquarters.

Former Lance Corporal Bradley O'Keefe is traveling from his hometown in the Rochester, N.Y., area to be reunited with Earl, his former partner, whom he hasn't seen since the day the black Labrador retriever alerted O'Keefe to the presence of an explosive right before it blew up.

Earl has been working as an explosives-detection dog for the state police. He will be retired from that work at the ceremony.

O'Keefe knows about the reunion. For Earl, it's a surprise.

The public is invited.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island Democratic senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse told local business leaders they believe the bipartisan immigration reform bill will pass the Senate next week, but a fight lies ahead in the House.

The bill calls for a path to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.; added border security, and a new visa program to expedite entry of foreign entrepreneurs.

The senators said the reforms will boost the state and national economy.

"We do think we're at a good place, but it's not over till it's over," Reed said at a roundtable at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce attended by representatives of the hospitality and small business sectors, chambers of commerce and start-up companies.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Family Court Chief Judge Haiganush Bedrosian has selected a state prosecutor, a court-appointed special advocate and a lawyer who represents the city Board of Licenses to serve as magistrates in the court she oversees.

Bedrosian has nominated Paul T. Jones Jr., licensing board lawyer; Assistant Attorney General Feidlim Gill; and Rossie Lee Harris Jr., former counsel for the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

All the nominees will go before the state Senate for consideration. If approved, Harris would become the first African-American Family Court magistrate.

The senate will also in the coming weeks weigh Supreme Court Justice Paul Suttell's selection of Providence Municipal Court Judge Joseph A. Abbate as a Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal magistrate.

The starting salary for magistrates, who serve 10-year terms, is $139,897.

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Several media outlets have reported that there are warrants for the arrest of Aaron Hernandez, a star tight end of the New England Patriots who has been linked to a murder investigation near his home in North Attleboro.

Turns out the reports are wrong.

Mark E. Sturdy, clerk magistrate in Attleboro (Mass.) District Court, said Friday that no warrants for Hernandez have been issued from his courthouse or anywhere else in Massachusetts. Sturdy and other state clerks have the ability to check on active warrants throughout the state.

Sturdy also said that no warrants have been returned from a search of Hernandez's $1.3 million home in Westwood Estates where several Patriot players live. The body of Odin L. Lloyd, a semi-pro football player was found in an industrial park about a mile from the Hernandez house.

CytoSport, the company that makes Muscle Milk as well as some other products, has announced that it is terminating an endorsement deal it had with Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.

Hernandez is a figure in the investigation of a murder near his North Attleboro home.

"In light of the investigation involving Aaron Hernandez, CytoSport is terminating its endorsement contract with Mr. Hernandez, effective immediately," the company said.

Around 2 p.m. today, a picture of Hernandez that had been on the company's web site was removed.

Hernandez was wearing a Muscle Milk hat yesterday when he stopped at a gas station near Gillette Stadium and was surrounded by reporters. He also has a deal with Puma, but that company is not making any comment on Hernandez, reports ESPN.

PROVIDENCE - Rhode Island has gotten grades ranging down to wretched in a national study of factors the authors say underlie success in manufacturing.

""Rhode Island remains one of the least hospitable places to manufacture goods in the United States," said Michael Hicks, an economics professor and director of Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

With "below average human capital scores, a tiny logistics industry, a dismal tax climate with very heavy pension liabilities, it appears policymakers in Rhode Island have largely dismissed manufacturing growth as a viable component of the state's economy," he said. Logistics refers to the ability to move and store goods.

The study's authors said they chose the categories "most likely to be considered by site selection experts for manufacturing and logistics firms."

PROVIDENCE -- The murder investigation surrounding Aaron Hernandez, a star tight end on the New England Patriots, touched down in Providence this week.

Providence police Det. Capt. Michael E. Correia confirmed that, on Thursday, his department assisted detectives from the Massachusetts State Police and North Attleboro police who wanted to retrieve a video from Club Desire, a strip club at 1 Franklin Sq., off of Eddy Street.

Correia said the video captured several nights of footage at the club. Hernandez was a frequent visitor at the club and presumably investigators want to see if the football player was there last weekend and who was with him.

Hernandez also was known to frequent other strip clubs in Providence, like the Cadillac Lounge.

"He's a customer at the Cadillac, a good customer," said owner Dick Shappy. "They all come. Some I've never heard of. Well, (quarterback Tom) Brady never showed up."

On Monday, a jogger discovered the body of Odin L. Lloyd, 27, a semi-pro football from Boston, at a industrial park about a mile from Hernandez home in North Attleboro. Hernandez and Lloyd knew each other.

This entry was first posted at 3 p.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The House Finance Committee has cut $1 million from the Office of Higher Education -- 43 percent of its operating budget.

Mike Trainor, a spokesman for the state Board of Education, confirmed the reduction to the office's $2.3 million operating budget. The office oversees the state's three public colleges and includes 12 staff, including higher education Commissioner Raymond M. DiPasquale.

Board Chairwoman Eva-Marie Mancuso was traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment. "She and the board are working closely with the state budget office to understand the rationale for this cut," Trainor said. "we hope there is restoration of that money."

Trainor would not speculate on the impact this cut would have on the office. The office is scheduled to be abolished in June 2014.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Cumberland has moved closer to legislative approval for merging its four fire districts into one, after a bill won endorsement from the House Municipal Government Committee Thursday.

In a November 2010 referendum, voters -- by a 4-to-1 ratio -- approved going to one fire service in 2013. That approval afforded flexibility: by creating one municipal fire department, one independent fire district or a regional service.

The Cumberland Town Council in May voted 5 to 2 for a resolution seeking General Assembly passage of one fire district.

Rep. James N. McLaughlin, D-Cumberland and prime sponsor of the bill that cleared the House committee, said making the change "will serve the taxpayers."

Meanwhile, the Senate version of the bill is on Tuesday's Senate floor calendar.

Providence, R.I. -- Rhode Island's capital city has joined a growing movement to fight climate change with a City Council vote to withdraw all investments in fossil-fuel companies.

The council on Thursday voted 11-1 in favor of the resolution put forward by majority leader Seth Yurdin, who described it as an effort to address the effects of climate change, such as ocean acidification and rising sea-levels, to which Rhode Island is particularly vulnerable.

"It's really a local issue on top of the big-picture issue," he said in an interview.

The resolution directs the city's Board of Investment Commissioners to pull all investments in the world's largest coal, oil and gas companies within five years and stop making any new investments.

It comes amid divestment campaigns at Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design and other higher education institutions in the state.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - With the state House of Representatives slated to vote on Democratic leaders' version of the budget Tuesday, Republicans say they hope to introduce amendments dealing with hot button issues such as paying the 38 Studios debt, dropping state healthcare coverage for low income families and reviving the historic tax credit program.

House Minority Leader Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, says Republicans -- by far the minority in the chamber -- want to strike from the budget a plan to pay $2.5 million next year towards the state debt left after the video game company 38 Studios went bankrupt.

He says Republicans will propose shifting that money to other uses, such as bolstering the state's retirement system, restoring funding to cities and towns or providing additional state support for the developmentally disabled.

Those proposals are among 46 budget amendments submitted to Assembly staff as of Friday afternoon, according to House spokesman Larry Berman.

Many, he noted, are duplicate proposals. And if past budget debates are any indication, many will ultimately not be introduced for debate and consideration on the House floor.

Lawmakers have until 2 p.m. Sunday to submit their proposed amendments, in accordance with chamber rules. The House debate and vote on the budget takes place 2 p.m. Tuesday.

WARWICK, R.I. -- T.F. Green Airport posted significant gains in the number of passengers traveling through the airport in May when compared with the same month a year ago, the state agency that runs the airport announced Friday.

The number of arriving plus departing passengers rose 7 percent from May 2012 to May 2013, accord to the state agency, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

This May, 340,639 passengers used the airport. Last May, that figure was 317,482.