---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- GOLD STAR FAMILIES (Creates and expands eligibility for a special license plate for Gold Star Families.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- GOLD STAR FAMILIES (Creates and expands eligibility for a special license plate for Gold Star Families.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 540"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 540 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Plates (M.V.)", "Military Affairs", "Veterans", "Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gallo", "Lynch Prata"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 16
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-09"
last_action: "2017-07-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b318c4ae-6921-45a5-9706-7f6bccca6b84"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "da63671c3e29b4ef97693706f36c715b9469b0207ca76408d69dbcbd8cdc6dac"
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 SB 540 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- GOLD STAR FAMILIES (Creates and expands eligibility for a special license plate for Gold Star Families.)

## Version chain

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

1. **540 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0540A.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **69–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Gallo — primary (person)
- Lynch Prata — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-03-09** 03/09/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-10** 03/10/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
- **2017-03-13** 03/13/2017 Meeting postponed (03/15/2017)
- **2017-03-24** 03/24/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/29/2017)
- **2017-03-29** 03/29/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-06-09** 06/09/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/14/2017)
- **2017-06-14** 06/14/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-15** 06/15/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/21/2017)
- **2017-06-21** 06/21/2017 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-06-22** 06/22/2017 Referred to House Finance `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-07-18** 07/18/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-19** 07/19/2017 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/b318c4ae-6921-45a5-9706-7f6bccca6b84`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).