---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR - UNION REPRESENTATION (Clarifies the rights and options of government employees who decide not to join their employer's exclusive bargaining unit.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR - UNION REPRESENTATION (Clarifies the rights and options of government employees who decide not to join their employer's exclusive bargaining unit.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5259"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5259 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Caldwell", "Craven", "McEntee", "O'Brien"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-01-31"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0d0edabf-9c6d-466a-92f0-a50a95855020"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "81677579bac99894f140704c7d3c73ec8d523e7f4b6dbfccab85b14b3efd976a"
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 5259 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR - UNION REPRESENTATION (Clarifies the rights and options of government employees who decide not to join their employer's exclusive bargaining unit.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5259 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5259A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Caldwell — primary (person)
- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-31** 01/31/2019 Introduced, referred to House Labor `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-01** 02/01/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/06/2019)
- **2019-02-06** 02/06/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-07** 06/07/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/12/2019)
- **2019-06-12** 06/12/2019 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/20/2019)
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 House voted to recommit to House Labor
- **2019-06-21** 06/21/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/24/2019)
- **2019-06-21** 06/21/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-24** 06/24/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-24** 06/24/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/27/2019)
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-07-03** 07/03/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-08** 07/08/2019 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/0d0edabf-9c6d-466a-92f0-a50a95855020`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).