---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5909"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5909 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Craven", "McEntee", "McKiernan"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-03-27"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ee8e6336-b1a6-414e-b58e-eeb907edde6d"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "111d5e64149da3784e239a20d9515573a1f2e801ff03ee31859e580fba197585"
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 5909 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO PROBATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE -- SUPPORTED DECISION-MAKING ACT (Establishes the supported decision-making act which is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship for utilization of the probate courts.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5909 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5909A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **72–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- McKiernan — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-03-27** 03/27/2019 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-29** 03/29/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/03/2019)
- **2019-04-03** 04/03/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-17** 06/17/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/19/2019)
- **2019-06-17** 06/17/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/25/2019)
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/27/2019)
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Senate passed Sub A 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/ee8e6336-b1a6-414e-b58e-eeb907edde6d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).