---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 513"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 513 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure", "Courts", "Death", "Health & Safety", "Mental Health"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Archambault", "Burke", "DiMario", "F Lombardi", "Lombardo", "McCaffrey", "Murray"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-03-04"
last_action: "2021-07-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/829849a9-f26a-47b6-9dae-e3ca5f1cae14"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "937338bdecae8d17f2fb50f5d74dc218d09567737750025d94c8e599a8935193"
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 SB 513 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)

## Version chain

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

1. **513 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0513A.pdf)

## Votes

- WRONGFUL ACT — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Archambault — primary (person)
- Burke — primary (person)
- DiMario — primary (person)
- F Lombardi — primary (person)
- Lombardo — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-04** 03/04/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/29/2021)
- **2021-03-29** 03/29/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-05-14** 05/14/2021 Scheduled for consideration (05/20/2021)
- **2021-05-19** 05/19/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-05-20** 05/20/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-21** 05/21/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/25/2021)
- **2021-05-25** 05/25/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-05-27** 05/27/2021 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-12** 07/12/2021 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/829849a9-f26a-47b6-9dae-e3ca5f1cae14`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).