---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE -- RENTAL VEHICLE COVERAGE"
description: "Restricts private vehicle property damage insurance coverage for a rental passenger vehicle, to the named insured and drivers listed on that private policy, unless the designated driver is specifically excluded."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "SB 985"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 985 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Appollonio", "Britto", "Thompson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-04-16"
last_action: "2025-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bb616f2b-e30d-443f-b396-9c981487d412"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "d9ebc7a5b2a2842a4bc706f0cfe543d3bcbfcf0bdb766b259c86c7348f549aaf"
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 985 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE -- RENTAL VEHICLE COVERAGE

Restricts private vehicle property damage insurance coverage for a rental passenger vehicle, to the named insured and drivers listed on that private policy, unless the designated driver is specifically excluded.

## Version chain

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

1. **985 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0985aa.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **68–4** (pass) · upper
- Approval of Amendment — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage as Amended — **36–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Appollonio — primary (person)
- Britto — primary (person)
- Thompson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-04-16** 04/16/2025 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-05-16** 05/16/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/20/2025)
- **2025-05-20** 05/20/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-06-10** 06/10/2025 Scheduled for consideration (06/12/2025)
- **2025-06-12** 06/12/2025 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/17/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-17** 06/17/2025 Senate passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Placed on House Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-20** 06/20/2025 House passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-27** 06/27/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-07-05** 07/05/2025 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/bb616f2b-e30d-443f-b396-9c981487d412`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).