Legislation

Every year, the ACLU of RI lobbies on hundreds of bills during Rhode Island's annual Legislative Session. Below are some of the bills we have tracked and testified on before the General Assembly. For more info on advocating for the issues you care about, check out our Advocacy 101 Guide. To see how your Reps and Senators voted on various bills over the past few years, visit our Legislative Scorecards page.

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Feb 28, 2015

Voter ID Repeal (S 0343)

Voting Rights
Status: Died

Senator Gayle Goldin introduced legislation (S 0343) to eliminate the state’s harmful photo ID requirement...

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Feb 28, 2015
H 5754, S 0318
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Metal set of scales
Feb 28, 2015
H 5754, S 0318

Gender Rating in Health Insurance (H 5754, S 0318)

Gender Equality
Position: Support
Status: Died

Nationwide, women have historically been charged more for the same health insurance as men, solely because of their gender. This practice, known as gender rating, became illegal for certain health care...

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Feb 28, 2015
H 5593, S 0241A
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Metal set of scales
Feb 28, 2015
H 5593, S 0241A

Military Status Housing Discrimination (H 5593, S 0241A)

Racial Justice
Position: Support
Status: Passed

Rhode Island’s veterans have recently begun reporting facing such discrimination, and current law leaves them with no recourse. The legislation prohibits such discrimination against any service member in...

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Jun 23, 2014
H 7845A, S 2624B
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Metal set of scales
Jun 23, 2014
H 7845A, S 2624B

Online Impersonation (H 7845A, S 2624B)

First Amendment
Position: Oppose
Status: Passed

Yet another problematic part of the Attorney General’s package of computer crimes legislation made it a crime to use “the name or persona of another person” to create a web page, send an e-mail or otherwise...

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Jun 23, 2014
H 7306, S 2549
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Metal set of scales
Jun 23, 2014
H 7306, S 2549

Court Interpreters (H 7306, S 2549)

Immigrants’ Rights
Position: Support
Status: Passed

In June, the Governor signed into law legislation expanding the availability of interpreters for court proceedings involving people who do not have the ability to understand or communicate effectively in...

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Jun 23, 2014
H 8345, S 2976A
Metal set of scales
Metal set of scales
Jun 23, 2014
H 8345, S 2976A

Racial Profiling (H 8345, S 2976A)

Racial Justice
Position: Support
Status: Passed Senate, Died in House

This bill prohibits the searching of juveniles and pedestrians except when law enforcement has reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity, resumed data collection, and made certain...

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