---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- STUDENT JOURNALISTS' FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ACT (Creates the Student Journalists' Freedom of Expression Act protecting student journalists' right to exercise freedom of speech in school-sponsored media.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- STUDENT JOURNALISTS' FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ACT (Creates the Student Journalists' Freedom of Expression Act protecting student journalists' right to exercise freedom of speech in school-sponsored media.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5550"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5550 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Children and Families", "Minors"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Blazejewski", "Kazarian", "Keable", "Maldonado", "O`Grady"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-02-16"
last_action: "2017-07-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c219725f-81c2-4a28-a21e-7b651a59e6c4"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "6d4f418eadb886a3fe8789bf2a5a4557990099d92050a291b2422d645c28d189"
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 5550 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- STUDENT JOURNALISTS' FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ACT (Creates the Student Journalists' Freedom of Expression Act protecting student journalists' right to exercise freedom of speech in school-sponsored media.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5550 SUB A as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5550Aaa.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **69–0** (pass) · legislature
- AS AMENDED — **72–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Blazejewski — primary (person)
- Kazarian — primary (person)
- Keable — primary (person)
- Maldonado — primary (person)
- O`Grady — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-16** 02/16/2017 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-31** 03/31/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/04/2017)
- **2017-04-04** 04/04/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/29/2017)
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/29/2017)
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2017-06-30** 06/30/2017 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/30/2017)
- **2017-06-30** 06/30/2017 Senate passed Sub A as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-07-13** 07/13/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-18** 07/18/2017 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/c219725f-81c2-4a28-a21e-7b651a59e6c4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).