---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ADJUDICATION OF TRAFFIC OFFENSES (Removes the $25.00 limit on tuition for a motorist to attend a driver education course, and would allow a judge or magistrate to delay the imposition of a suspension or revocation of a driver's license or registration for a period up to 30 days.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ADJUDICATION OF TRAFFIC OFFENSES (Removes the $25.00 limit on tuition for a motorist to attend a driver education course, and would allow a judge or magistrate to delay the imposition of a suspension or revocation of a driver's license or registration for a period up to 30 days.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5978"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5978 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts", "Highways", "Judiciary", "Motor Vehicles", "Plates (M.V.)", "Traffic Signals/Sidewalks"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alzate", "Baginski", "Casimiro", "Edwards", "Newberry", "Potter", "Solomon"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-26"
last_action: "2021-07-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c6d54d47-6ce9-45f4-b8af-68e61fb8fc2a"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "0b4396026cd35c291ecc18aedb90a69b09c0a13c0aff4b347facb295223cdf4a"
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 5978 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ADJUDICATION OF TRAFFIC OFFENSES (Removes the $25.00 limit on tuition for a motorist to attend a driver education course, and would allow a judge or magistrate to delay the imposition of a suspension or revocation of a driver's license or registration for a period up to 30 days.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5978 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5978A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **70–0** (pass) · lower
- IN CONCURRENCE — **65–6** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alzate — primary (person)
- Baginski — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Edwards — primary (person)
- Newberry — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Solomon — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-26** 02/26/2021 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-19** 03/19/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/24/2021)
- **2021-03-24** 03/24/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/10/2021)
- **2021-06-10** 06/10/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/17/2021)
- **2021-06-17** 06/17/2021 House read and passed `passage`
- **2021-06-21** 06/21/2021 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Placed on House Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-06** 07/06/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-14** 07/14/2021 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/c6d54d47-6ce9-45f4-b8af-68e61fb8fc2a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).