---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- LICENSE PROCEDURE FOR SOCIAL WORKERS (Mandates that an applicant for a license as a licensed clinical social worker not be required to take or pass a standardized written examination in order to qualify for the license.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- LICENSE PROCEDURE FOR SOCIAL WORKERS (Mandates that an applicant for a license as a licensed clinical social worker not be required to take or pass a standardized written examination in order to qualify for the license.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "SB 2617"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2617 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Burke", "Cano", "DiMario", "DiPalma", "Lawson", "Miller", "Murray", "Picard", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2022-03-10"
last_action: "2022-06-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9a6bc572-646f-4be2-bcf6-90912742a1c5"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "c98976445f094a2cec897d588f07c511b6c355ff87a35a9d076008f0b298d520"
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 2617 (2022) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- LICENSE PROCEDURE FOR SOCIAL WORKERS (Mandates that an applicant for a license as a licensed clinical social worker not be required to take or pass a standardized written examination in order to qualify for the license.)

## Version chain

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

1. **2617 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText22/SenateText22/S2617A.pdf)

## Votes

- FOR SOCIAL WORKERS — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **57–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Burke — primary (person)
- Cano — primary (person)
- DiMario — primary (person)
- DiPalma — primary (person)
- Lawson — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)
- Picard — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-03-10** 03/10/2022 Introduced, referred to Senate Health and Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2022-04-21** 04/21/2022 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/28/2022)
- **2022-04-28** 04/28/2022 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2022-06-21** 06/21/2022 Scheduled for consideration (06/23/2022)
- **2022-06-22** 06/22/2022 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2022-06-23** 06/23/2022 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-06-23** 06/23/2022 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/23/2022) `reading-3`
- **2022-06-23** 06/23/2022 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2022-06-24** 06/24/2022 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2022) `reading-3`
- **2022-06-24** 06/24/2022 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2022-06-28** 06/28/2022 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-06-30** 06/30/2022 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/9a6bc572-646f-4be2-bcf6-90912742a1c5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).