---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - APPROPRIATE DISABILITY LANGUAGE (Ensures appropriate disability language is used in all job descriptions and statutes.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - APPROPRIATE DISABILITY LANGUAGE (Ensures appropriate disability language is used in all job descriptions and statutes.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5289"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5289 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["General Assembly", "Handicapped"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ackerman", "Ajello", "Amore", "Jackson", "McNamara"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-06"
last_action: "2019-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/403b6ad1-c52c-43c8-a93b-2eb9a53d465e"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "3ce948f1fb495caa9e4986ddee039a19dae805fbb8e6e17ab97aba8b55a94378"
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 HB 5289 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - APPROPRIATE DISABILITY LANGUAGE (Ensures appropriate disability language is used in all job descriptions and statutes.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5289** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5289.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ackerman — primary (person)
- Ajello — primary (person)
- Amore — primary (person)
- Jackson — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-06** 02/06/2019 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** 02/15/2019 Committee transferred to House H.E.W.
- **2019-03-01** 03/01/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/06/2019)
- **2019-03-06** 03/06/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/05/2019)
- **2019-06-05** 06/05/2019 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-07** 06/07/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/13/2019)
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 House read and passed `passage`
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 Referred to Senate Labor `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/19/2019)
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 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/403b6ad1-c52c-43c8-a93b-2eb9a53d465e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).