Legislation: batch D — NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TX UT

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

legislation/us/states/ri/2026/hb-7173.md

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+---
+type: "Bill"
+title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- FACILITATING BUSINESS RAPID RESPONSE TO STATE DECLARED DISASTER ACT OF 2024"
+description: "Incorporates broadband, internet, and wireless means into the crime of injuring electric and communication lines and authorizes municipalities to grant zoning relief for the protection of critical infrastructure."
+jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
+legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
+session: "2026"
+identifier: "HB 7173"
+citation: "Rhode Island HB 7173 (2026)"
+classification: ["bill"]
+subjects: []
+status: "enacted"
+primary_sponsors: ["Ackerman", "Azzinaro", "Cotter", "Diaz", "Edwards", "Fellela", "Kennedy", "O'Brien", "Serpa", "Solomon"]
+version_count: 1
+action_count: 14
+vote_count: 2
+first_action: "2026-01-21"
+last_action: "2026-06-18"
+source: "openstates"
+source_identifier: "ocd-bill/acecfc73-30f3-4420-9657-1f048717f2e1"
+source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
+source_hash: "f585bf8bfb32b751fb44a5b64c98196df97cbcb98965b7baa9ee9610e30c45b2"
+vintage: "2026-07-01"
+source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
+retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
+confidence: "reported"
+tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
+---
+
+# Rhode Island HB 7173 (2026) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- FACILITATING BUSINESS RAPID RESPONSE TO STATE DECLARED DISASTER ACT OF 2024
+
+Incorporates broadband, internet, and wireless means into the crime of injuring electric and communication lines and authorizes municipalities to grant zoning relief for the protection of critical infrastructure.
+
+## Version chain
+
+The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
+
+1. **7173 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7173aa.pdf)
+
+## Votes
+
+- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **69–0** (pass) · lower
+- AS AMENDED — **68–0** (pass) · lower
+
+## Sponsors
+
+- Ackerman — primary (person)
+- Azzinaro — primary (person)
+- Cotter — primary (person)
+- Diaz — primary (person)
+- Edwards — primary (person)
+- Fellela — primary (person)
+- Kennedy — primary (person)
+- O'Brien — primary (person)
+- Serpa — primary (person)
+- Solomon — primary (person)
+
+## Timeline
+
+The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
+
+- **2026-01-21** 01/21/2026 Introduced, referred to House Corporations `introduction, referral-committee`
+- **2026-01-30** 01/30/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/03/2026)
+- **2026-02-03** 02/03/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
+- **2026-04-03** 04/03/2026 Scheduled for consideration (04/07/2026)
+- **2026-04-07** 04/07/2026 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
+- **2026-04-24** 04/24/2026 Placed on House Calendar (04/28/2026) `reading-3`
+- **2026-04-28** 04/28/2026 House passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
+- **2026-05-01** 05/01/2026 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
+- **2026-05-26** 05/26/2026 Scheduled for consideration (05/28/2026)
+- **2026-05-28** 05/28/2026 Committee recommends passage as amended in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
+- **2026-06-05** 06/05/2026 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/09/2026) `reading-3`
+- **2026-06-09** 06/09/2026 Senate passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
+- **2026-06-16** 06/16/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
+- **2026-06-18** 06/18/2026 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
+
+## Source
+
+OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/acecfc73-30f3-4420-9657-1f048717f2e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).
+