---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS -- GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON BEHAVIOR HEALTH (Increases membership of council from 26 to 31 voting members with amendments to reflect current names of state depts./divisions/agencies listed in statute.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS -- GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON BEHAVIOR HEALTH (Increases membership of council from 26 to 31 voting members with amendments to reflect current names of state depts./divisions/agencies listed in statute.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 544"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 544 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Mental Health", "Substance Abuse Stamp", "Dept. of BHDDH", "Behavioral Healthcare"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Calkin", "Goldin", "Miller", "Satchell", "Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-09"
last_action: "2017-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3f56e950-e8a8-4251-b3d3-625199b9864b"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "b72a49765b3230c21ade26c1ec3d9931e3a5347df7aa28140c39a6b91f2510a7"
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 544 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS -- GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON BEHAVIOR HEALTH (Increases membership of council from 26 to 31 voting members with amendments to reflect current names of state depts./divisions/agencies listed in statute.)

## Version chain

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

1. **544** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0544.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **71–0** (pass) · legislature
- GOV. COUNCIL ON BEHAVIOR HEALTH — **36–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Calkin — primary (person)
- Goldin — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Satchell — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-03-09** 03/09/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Health and Human Services `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-21** 03/21/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/23/2017)
- **2017-03-23** 03/23/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-05-19** 05/19/2017 Scheduled for consideration (05/23/2017)
- **2017-05-23** 05/23/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-24** 05/24/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/30/2017)
- **2017-05-30** 05/30/2017 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2017-05-31** 05/31/2017 Referred to House H.E.W. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/07/2017)
- **2017-06-07** 06/07/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-05** 07/05/2017 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/3f56e950-e8a8-4251-b3d3-625199b9864b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).