---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- SMALL BUSINESSES--ZONING ORDINANCES (Imposes one year moratorium on enforcement of municipal ordinance or zoning requirement that penalizes owners of food service establishments/bars for modifications/alternations to their premises in response to an emergency declaration.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- SMALL BUSINESSES--ZONING ORDINANCES (Imposes one year moratorium on enforcement of municipal ordinance or zoning requirement that penalizes owners of food service establishments/bars for modifications/alternations to their premises in response to an emergency declaration.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 6119"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 6119 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Business & Professions", "COVID-19", "Cities & Towns", "Food and Drugs", "Zoning"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Caldwell", "Carson", "Casimiro", "Cassar", "Cortvriend", "Costantino", "Giraldo", "McEntee", "Phillips", "Slater"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-03-11"
last_action: "2021-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9b2687ad-0974-469e-8c72-ebfa30d62588"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "1a66a1bbec624f08d5878d83ca091ef812c075fb85fffc7bc59532f46306179a"
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 6119 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- SMALL BUSINESSES--ZONING ORDINANCES (Imposes one year moratorium on enforcement of municipal ordinance or zoning requirement that penalizes owners of food service establishments/bars for modifications/alternations to their premises in response to an emergency declaration.)

## Version chain

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

1. **6119 SUB B** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H6119B.pdf)

## Votes

- AS AMENDED — **71–0** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **64–0** (pass) · lower
- IN CONCURRENCE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Caldwell — primary (person)
- Carson — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Cassar — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Costantino — primary (person)
- Giraldo — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Slater — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-11** 03/11/2021 Introduced, referred to House Small Business `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-22** 03/22/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/26/2021)
- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-05-07** 05/07/2021 Scheduled for consideration (05/10/2021)
- **2021-05-07** 05/07/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-05-10** 05/10/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-21** 05/21/2021 Placed on House Calendar (05/25/2021)
- **2021-05-25** 05/25/2021 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Referred to Senate Housing and Municipal Government `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/24/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-24** 06/24/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub B `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Senate passed Sub B `passage`
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Placed on House Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 House passed Sub B in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-06** 07/06/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 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/9b2687ad-0974-469e-8c72-ebfa30d62588`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).