---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS (Permits URI Board of Trustees to attend open public board meetings remotely.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS (Permits URI Board of Trustees to attend open public board meetings remotely.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 715"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 715 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COVID-19", "Computer Technology", "Higher Education", "Open Meetings", "State Affairs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-03-26"
last_action: "2021-06-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bdc92e19-e326-41c7-941e-a51b88ac507c"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "b5e236783a109a11cf92e706cd96dd368284fc3272bf36c24fdbdd089e7824b9"
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 715 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS (Permits URI Board of Trustees to attend open public board meetings remotely.)

## Version chain

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

1. **715** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0715.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **68–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-09** 04/09/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/15/2021)
- **2021-04-15** 04/15/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-05-14** 05/14/2021 Scheduled for consideration (05/20/2021)
- **2021-05-20** 05/20/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-21** 05/21/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/25/2021)
- **2021-05-25** 05/25/2021 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2021-05-27** 05/27/2021 Referred to House State Government & Elections `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-28** 05/28/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/01/2021)
- **2021-06-01** 06/01/2021 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/10/2021)
- **2021-06-10** 06/10/2021 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-10** 06/10/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 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/bdc92e19-e326-41c7-941e-a51b88ac507c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).