No itemized deductions in RI?

Perhaps I missed something in the Projo, or I just don’t want to pay $2.95 each to read a couple of letters to the editor that may or may not pertain. Anyway I don’t go to local bars where complaints are likely. I haven’t heard a peep about the state of R.I. eliminating itemized tax deductions for the 2011 return due in just a few days. I learned about this change from my accountant, John Parmelee in Warwick, in February. And he learned when an itemized e-return was rejected by the state. “They didn’t even tell the state’s accountants.”

Am I just not paying enough attention to state government or was this change deliberately low keyed? My anger over this tax provision lingers two months later as I pay the state what I would have typically received in a refund. I am just one of those people, subsequent to major surgery, who has a lot of medical expenses.  And one of those people who likes to contribute to charities that matter to me, like a family service agency in the Pacific Northwest whose rabbi and director went to the hospital several times to sing to my sister before her death came at me like a riptide.