---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- 2021 ACT ON CLIMATE (Establishes a statewide greenhouse gas emission reduction mandate.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- 2021 ACT ON CLIMATE (Establishes a statewide greenhouse gas emission reduction mandate.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 78"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 78 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Environment", "Gas", "Health & Safety", "State Affairs", "Waste (Hazardous/Solid/Toxic)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cano", "Coyne", "Euer", "Goodwin", "Kallman", "McCaffrey", "Murray", "Ruggerio", "Sosnowski", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-01-26"
last_action: "2021-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1f8e1964-3d3a-4476-b550-39d4f0b99e77"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "72d98010e1424d356eac3c407e0f9c6963521c48c62c81872b5f3d7b95065e9a"
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 78 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- 2021 ACT ON CLIMATE (Establishes a statewide greenhouse gas emission reduction mandate.)

## Version chain

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

1. **78 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0078A.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **51–21** (pass) · upper
- 2021 ACT ON CLIMATE — **33–4** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cano — primary (person)
- Coyne — primary (person)
- Euer — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Kallman — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)
- Ruggerio — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-26** 01/26/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-29** 01/29/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/03/2021)
- **2021-02-03** 02/03/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-02-26** 02/26/2021 Scheduled for consideration (03/03/2021)
- **2021-03-02** 03/02/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-03-03** 03/03/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-09** 03/09/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (03/16/2021)
- **2021-03-16** 03/16/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-03-18** 03/18/2021 Referred to House Environment and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Scheduled for consideration (03/30/2021)
- **2021-03-30** 03/30/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-02** 04/02/2021 Placed on House Calendar (04/06/2021)
- **2021-04-06** 04/06/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-04-06** 04/06/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-10** 04/10/2021 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/1f8e1964-3d3a-4476-b550-39d4f0b99e77`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).