---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGES (Allows the Honorable Marvin Abney to join Tess Abney and Derek Dunlea in marriage on or about July 26, 2021, within the Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGES (Allows the Honorable Marvin Abney to join Tess Abney and Derek Dunlea in marriage on or about July 26, 2021, within the Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 6178"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 6178 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Marriage"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barros", "Blazejewski", "Carson", "Cortvriend", "Hawkins", "Shekarchi"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-03-26"
last_action: "2021-05-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c51b3865-6d3a-4c67-952a-691150ea60aa"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "e9b623c077d825bf03dd3236b67871853d096f8ef6dfae695ea5f732680abf4a"
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 6178 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGES (Allows the Honorable Marvin Abney to join Tess Abney and Derek Dunlea in marriage on or about July 26, 2021, within the Town of Tiverton, Rhode Island.)

## Version chain

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

1. **6178** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H6178.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **68–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barros — primary (person)
- Blazejewski — primary (person)
- Carson — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Hawkins — primary (person)
- Shekarchi — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Introduced, referred to House Special Legislation `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01** 04/01/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/05/2021)
- **2021-04-05** 04/05/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-05** 04/05/2021 Placed on House Calendar (04/07/2021)
- **2021-04-07** 04/07/2021 House read and passed `passage`
- **2021-04-08** 04/08/2021 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-23** 04/23/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/26/2021)
- **2021-04-26** 04/26/2021 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-27** 04/27/2021 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (05/04/2021)
- **2021-05-04** 05/04/2021 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-05-04** 05/04/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-11** 05/11/2021 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/c51b3865-6d3a-4c67-952a-691150ea60aa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).