---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- THE RHODE ISLAND WHISTLE BLOWERS' PROTECTION ACT (Prohibits an employer from reporting an employee's immigration status for whistle blowing.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- THE RHODE ISLAND WHISTLE BLOWERS' PROTECTION ACT (Prohibits an employer from reporting an employee's immigration status for whistle blowing.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5855"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5855 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Procedure", "Employment Security", "Immigration", "Labor"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alzate", "Batista", "Felix", "J Lombardi", "Kazarian", "Morales", "Potter", "Ranglin-Vassell"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-24"
last_action: "2021-07-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ec113a5a-ce5f-447d-aaaf-891aad9b16f3"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "e285cfd76e93048ef7b3b4ebf845f3d359ca45080fe6d87f1162d389b7d04eca"
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 5855 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- THE RHODE ISLAND WHISTLE BLOWERS' PROTECTION ACT (Prohibits an employer from reporting an employee's immigration status for whistle blowing.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5855** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5855.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **63–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alzate — primary (person)
- Batista — primary (person)
- Felix — primary (person)
- J Lombardi — primary (person)
- Kazarian — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Ranglin-Vassell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-24** 02/24/2021 Introduced, referred to House Labor `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-12** 03/12/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/17/2021)
- **2021-03-17** 03/17/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Placed on House Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 House read and passed `passage`
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-09** 07/09/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-13** 07/13/2021 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/ec113a5a-ce5f-447d-aaaf-891aad9b16f3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).