RI Democrats appear to be trying to split the difference between the beneficiaries bill approved by local Bishop Tobin and a NJ-style civil unions bill, as ProJo reports:

State Rep. Peter Petrarca said on the floor of the state House of Representatives on Wednesday that he will introduce legislation as early as Thursday granting gay couples the right to "civil unions."

The proposal, he said, would borrow heavily from a bill that the Lincoln Democrat has already introduced this year that would give gay couples access to "reciprocal beneficiary agreements."

Stay tuned.