---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS - EMPLOYMENT SECURITY - BENEFITS (Raises the minimum attorneys' fee awarded to a claimant from fifty dollars ($50) to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in certain instances in unemployment compensation matters.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS - EMPLOYMENT SECURITY - BENEFITS (Raises the minimum attorneys' fee awarded to a claimant from fifty dollars ($50) to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in certain instances in unemployment compensation matters.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 2453"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2453 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Labor"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Archambault", "Ciccone", "Lombardi", "Lynch Prata", "McCaffrey"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-02-15"
last_action: "2018-07-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/80eecd87-cee1-43c8-817a-ca7e439132ec"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "b031e53678e07c03c5e912c9e7fbbdcd51b92df25fb895f17904e1601aa0c3f8"
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 2453 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS - EMPLOYMENT SECURITY - BENEFITS (Raises the minimum attorneys' fee awarded to a claimant from fifty dollars ($50) to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in certain instances in unemployment compensation matters.)

## Version chain

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

1. **2453** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/SenateText18/S2453.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **63–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Archambault — primary (person)
- Ciccone — primary (person)
- Lombardi — primary (person)
- Lynch Prata — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-02-15** 02/15/2018 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-04-06** 04/06/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/12/2018)
- **2018-04-12** 04/12/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-05-11** 05/11/2018 Scheduled for consideration (05/17/2018)
- **2018-05-17** 05/17/2018 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-05-22** 05/22/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/24/2018)
- **2018-05-24** 05/24/2018 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2018-05-25** 05/25/2018 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/21/2018)
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/22/2018)
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-10** 07/10/2018 Effective without Governor's signature `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/80eecd87-cee1-43c8-817a-ca7e439132ec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).