---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- HEARING AID DEALERS AND FITTERS (Defines an audiologist as an individual licensed to practice audiology by the department of health.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- HEARING AID DEALERS AND FITTERS (Defines an audiologist as an individual licensed to practice audiology by the department of health.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 5874"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5874 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Business & Professions", "Health & Safety", "Labor", "Licenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Handy", "Hull", "McNamara"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-03-01"
last_action: "2023-06-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d677ae64-554b-49c5-8d9c-3fa59f514f3e"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "4b73c2b9bf7758a679948b06ace3b4dd7e7f14ad95fd744b9f62ac9757f75d4e"
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 5874 (2023) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- HEARING AID DEALERS AND FITTERS (Defines an audiologist as an individual licensed to practice audiology by the department of health.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5874** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText23/HouseText23/H5874.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **62–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Handy — primary (person)
- Hull — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-03-01** 03/01/2023 Introduced, referred to House Health & Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-17** 03/17/2023 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/21/2023)
- **2023-03-21** 03/21/2023 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2023-03-31** 03/31/2023 Scheduled for consideration (04/04/2023)
- **2023-04-04** 04/04/2023 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-04** 04/04/2023 Placed on House Calendar (04/06/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-04-06** 04/06/2023 House read and passed `passage`
- **2023-05-15** 05/15/2023 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-26** 05/26/2023 Scheduled for consideration (06/01/2023)
- **2023-06-01** 06/01/2023 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-06-12** 06/12/2023 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/13/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-06-13** 06/13/2023 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2023-06-14** 06/14/2023 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-19** 06/19/2023 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/d677ae64-554b-49c5-8d9c-3fa59f514f3e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).