---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 31"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 31 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts", "Guardians/Conservators"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cano", "Lawson", "Nesselbush", "Satchell", "Seveney"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-01-15"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8cfd094d-f3e3-4c67-89ba-fff859395fc3"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "eb5e72fd01deaeca92e3306908eabd413f7ca64e3b2c38172fd7ea81affdd0d5"
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 31 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)

## Version chain

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

1. **31 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/SenateText19/S0031A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **72–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cano — primary (person)
- Lawson — primary (person)
- Nesselbush — primary (person)
- Satchell — primary (person)
- Seveney — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-15** 01/15/2019 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-05** 04/05/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/11/2019)
- **2019-04-11** 04/11/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/06/2019)
- **2019-06-05** 06/05/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-06** 06/06/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/13/2019)
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-17** 06/17/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/19/2019)
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/25/2019)
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 House 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/8cfd094d-f3e3-4c67-89ba-fff859395fc3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).