---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - RIGHTS OF NURSING HOME PATIENTS (Department of health to promulgate rules and regulations for essential caregivers at nursing homes during a declared emergency.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - RIGHTS OF NURSING HOME PATIENTS (Department of health to promulgate rules and regulations for essential caregivers at nursing homes during a declared emergency.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5543"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5543 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["E-911", "Health & Safety", "Nursing Homes", "Seniors"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["McNamara", "Speakman"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-12"
last_action: "2021-07-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5c8f0307-e65d-4bc2-9bc5-c05e0334390c"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "2f47a5807c9f44b34680c11d75089d615da68a11a5f55d86dab388bdd0b75987"
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 5543 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - RIGHTS OF NURSING HOME PATIENTS (Department of health to promulgate rules and regulations for essential caregivers at nursing homes during a declared emergency.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5543 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5543aa.pdf)

## Votes

- AS AMENDED — **70–0** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- McNamara — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-12** 02/12/2021 Introduced, referred to House Health & Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-05** 03/05/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/08/2021)
- **2021-03-08** 03/08/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/14/2021)
- **2021-06-14** 06/14/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-14** 06/14/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/17/2021)
- **2021-06-17** 06/17/2021 House passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2021-06-21** 06/21/2021 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage as amended in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Senate passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-16** 07/16/2021 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/5c8f0307-e65d-4bc2-9bc5-c05e0334390c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).