---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RHODE ISLAND FAIR HOUSING PRACTICES ACT (Prohibits discrimination in housing against those persons who have a lawful source of income.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RHODE ISLAND FAIR HOUSING PRACTICES ACT (Prohibits discrimination in housing against those persons who have a lawful source of income.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5257"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5257 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offense", "Equal Rights/Discrimination", "Housing", "Property"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barros", "Batista", "Biah", "Giraldo", "Henries", "Knight", "Morales", "Potter", "Speakman", "Williams"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-01-29"
last_action: "2021-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d0be2149-6754-4685-b343-0a67f3a8232c"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "5f9cdb4c8614ba532734998e9c278ac3ea937301b7402c225b16462685a8b3c9"
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 5257 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RHODE ISLAND FAIR HOUSING PRACTICES ACT (Prohibits discrimination in housing against those persons who have a lawful source of income.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5257 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5257aa.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **64–1** (pass) · lower
- AS AMENDED — **68–7** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barros — primary (person)
- Batista — primary (person)
- Biah — primary (person)
- Giraldo — primary (person)
- Henries — primary (person)
- Knight — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)
- Williams — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-29** 01/29/2021 Introduced, referred to House Municipal Government & Housing `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** 02/05/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/11/2021)
- **2021-02-11** 02/11/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-02-18** 02/18/2021 Scheduled for consideration (02/25/2021)
- **2021-02-25** 02/25/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-26** 02/26/2021 Placed on House Calendar (03/02/2021)
- **2021-03-02** 03/02/2021 House passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2021-03-09** 03/09/2021 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-02** 04/02/2021 Scheduled for consideration (04/08/2021)
- **2021-04-08** 04/08/2021 Committee recommends passage as amended in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-09** 04/09/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (04/13/2021)
- **2021-04-13** 04/13/2021 Senate passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-04-13** 04/13/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-15** 04/15/2021 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/d0be2149-6754-4685-b343-0a67f3a8232c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).