---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS (Creates a veteran's preference in the issuance of state contracts.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS (Creates a veteran's preference in the issuance of state contracts.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 85"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 85 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property", "Public Works", "Labor", "Veterans"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cote", "Felag", "Lynch Prata", "Seveney"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-18"
last_action: "2017-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9e7c2b7c-40b5-4755-8068-f1f32ecf4d6d"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "96640f94a7338280cd7f84141572ae2176a6589a9ff57966e4ff5af15290a0a7"
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 85 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS (Creates a veteran's preference in the issuance of state contracts.)

## Version chain

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

1. **85 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0085A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · legislature
- IN CONCURRENCE — **70–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Cote — primary (person)
- Felag — primary (person)
- Lynch Prata — primary (person)
- Seveney — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-18** 01/18/2017 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
- **2017-03-31** 03/31/2017 Scheduled for consideration (04/05/2017)
- **2017-04-05** 04/05/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-11** 04/11/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (04/25/2017)
- **2017-04-25** 04/25/2017 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-04-26** 04/26/2017 Referred to House Finance `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-24** 06/24/2017 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 House passed Sub A 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/9e7c2b7c-40b5-4755-8068-f1f32ecf4d6d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).