---
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: "SB 308"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 308 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Developmentally Disabled", "Equal Rights/Discrimination", "Handicapped"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Picard"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-02-13"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d03ae9f3-9c71-47cf-97d1-c58a8db13fcb"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "769a5716ced50a7be0d27413c4979fe41f26137eb6b0254e73f5567a732457b7"
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 308 (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. **308 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/SenateText19/S0308A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **72–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Picard — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-13** 02/13/2019 Introduced, referred to Senate Health and Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-05-23** 05/23/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/30/2019)
- **2019-05-30** 05/30/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/04/2019)
- **2019-06-03** 06/03/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-04** 06/04/2019 Committee recommended indefinite postponement
- **2019-06-04** 06/04/2019 Committee recommended Substitute A 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 of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-13** 06/13/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/19/2019)
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 Referred to House H.E.W. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-21** 06/21/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/24/2019)
- **2019-06-24** 06/24/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-24** 06/24/2019 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 House 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/d03ae9f3-9c71-47cf-97d1-c58a8db13fcb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).