---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (Provides an exception to competitive bidding for local, minority and woman-owned businesses. Provides a waiver of compliance to contractors for the inclusion of minority-owned businesses in all procurements and construction projects.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (Provides an exception to competitive bidding for local, minority and woman-owned businesses. Provides a waiver of compliance to contractors for the inclusion of minority-owned businesses in all procurements and construction projects.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 549"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 549 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Construction", "Cultural", "Equal Rights/Discrimination", "Property", "Public Works"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acosta", "Cano", "Euer", "Goodwin", "Kallman", "Mack", "McCaffrey", "Seveney"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-03-04"
last_action: "2021-07-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/96e5cfde-2b5c-434e-b6cb-d64226b99298"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "1527f10d740263a4af4930b81866bcd93329061ccca7e1330b2ff2a2bd32fdc6"
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 549 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (Provides an exception to competitive bidding for local, minority and woman-owned businesses. Provides a waiver of compliance to contractors for the inclusion of minority-owned businesses in all procurements and construction projects.)

## Version chain

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

1. **549 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0549A.pdf)

## Votes

- ENTERPRISES — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Acosta — primary (person)
- Cano — primary (person)
- Euer — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Kallman — primary (person)
- Mack — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Seveney — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-04** 03/04/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Labor `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
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/23/2021)
- **2021-06-22** 06/22/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/24/2021)
- **2021-06-24** 06/24/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Referred to House State Government & Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (07/01/2021)
- **2021-07-01** 07/01/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-07** 07/07/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-15** 07/15/2021 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/96e5cfde-2b5c-434e-b6cb-d64226b99298`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).