Rhode Island sent three state lawmakers to Washington, D.C., last month for a conference put on by the Center for Policy Alternatives.

Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence; Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston; and Sen. Juan M. Pichardo, D-Providence; attended the three-day conference Dec. 8 to 10 at the Capitol Hilton. Seminar topics included same-sex marriage, mortgage foreclosure laws and predatory lending, stem-cell research and divestment from Sudan.

Also part of the trip was a day-long seminar put on by Catholics for Free Choice, in conjunction with the Center for Policy Alternatives. Besides abortion rights, discussion topics included preventing pregnancy through age-appropriate sex education in schools, Ajello said.

Ajello described the Center for Policy Alternatives as "A progressive organization that works on public policy issues at the state level, providing information and model legislation on this range of issues."

She said she didn’t come back with specific bills she plans to file, but rather that the conference provided an opportunity to consider ways to frame the issues during discussion back in Rhode Island.

She said Rhode Island won kudos with attendees from other states for restoring voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their prison sentences and are on parole or probation, a change voters approved in November.

The cost to taxpayers was $490.60 per person for airfare and registration fees for Ajello and Handy. As of late last week, Pichardo had not yet applied to the Joint Committee on Legislative Services for reimbursement.

In the year that ended June 30, 2006, $58,480 was expended on legislator travel. In the current fiscal year, $57,000 has been budgeted for legislator travel.

-- By Journal staff writers Katherine Gregg, Scott Mayerowitz, Scott Mackay and Elizabeth Gudrais