---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES - EQUAL RIGHTS OF BLIND AND DEAF PERSONS TO PUBLIC FACILITIES (Prohibits misrepresentation of the status of an animal as a service animal in order to acquire any right or privilege afforded disabled persons.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES - EQUAL RIGHTS OF BLIND AND DEAF PERSONS TO PUBLIC FACILITIES (Prohibits misrepresentation of the status of an animal as a service animal in order to acquire any right or privilege afforded disabled persons.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5299"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5299 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Developmentally Disabled"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hawkins", "Lima", "Noret", "Phillips", "Serodio"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-06"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cf43201d-ff46-478a-94e5-f568a612b93f"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "7f209bfb44fa9083fd6708047265cbbfdfb52ed835ef5e01f93bfbaa64eb0618"
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 5299 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES - EQUAL RIGHTS OF BLIND AND DEAF PERSONS TO PUBLIC FACILITIES (Prohibits misrepresentation of the status of an animal as a service animal in order to acquire any right or privilege afforded disabled persons.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5299 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5299aa.pdf)

## Votes

- AS AMENDED — **68–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hawkins — primary (person)
- Lima — primary (person)
- Noret — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Serodio — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-06** 02/06/2019 Introduced, referred to House H.E.W. `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** 02/15/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
- **2019-02-27** 02/27/2019 Committee postponed at request of sponsor (02/27/2019)
- **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
- **2019-03-29** 03/29/2019 Scheduled for consideration (04/03/2019)
- **2019-04-03** 04/03/2019 Committee recommends passage as amended `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-05** 04/05/2019 Placed on House Calendar (04/11/2019)
- **2019-04-11** 04/11/2019 House passed as amended `passage`
- **2019-04-30** 04/30/2019 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/04/2019)
- **2019-06-04** 06/04/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-07** 06/07/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/13/2019)
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 Committee recommends passage as amended in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Senate passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-07-03** 07/03/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-08** 07/08/2019 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/cf43201d-ff46-478a-94e5-f568a612b93f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).