Well, to close this issue for all who may come after me with the same issue,,,here's how i solved it (with a little help from tech support).
In the Step1.ascx file, comment out this:
<!--<script type="text/javascript">
$.noConflict();
// Code that uses other library's $ can follow here.
</script>-->
WARNING!!! I don't know what else commenting this out does, but it fixed the conflict Reg Pro was having with my DNN skin (a purchased one).