---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CRANSTON TO ISSUE NOT TO EXCEED $40,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, NOTES AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS TO FINANCE THE PURCHASE AND/OR ACQUISITION OF LAND AND BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, IMPROVEMENT, ALTERATION, REPAIR, LANDSCAPING, FURNISHING AND/OR EQUIPPING OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF STATE HOUSING AID AT A REIMBURSEMENT RATE OR STATE SHARE RATIO OF NOT LESS THAN 50% AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE"
description: "Authorizes the City of Cranston to issue not to exceed $40,000,000 general obligation bonds."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 7278"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7278 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Baginski", "Bennett", "Cardillo", "Fenton-Fung", "Handy", "Lima", "McNamara", "Potter"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2024-01-24"
last_action: "2024-04-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f82f13b1-1a17-49dc-9cde-d39007d93529"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "06f6bc6906db3fa75c938d4b9970a91566e34761ab4768dec2d38fa36f9a0dd3"
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 7278 (2024) — AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CRANSTON TO ISSUE NOT TO EXCEED $40,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, NOTES AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS TO FINANCE THE PURCHASE AND/OR ACQUISITION OF LAND AND BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, IMPROVEMENT, ALTERATION, REPAIR, LANDSCAPING, FURNISHING AND/OR EQUIPPING OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF STATE HOUSING AID AT A REIMBURSEMENT RATE OR STATE SHARE RATIO OF NOT LESS THAN 50% AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE

Authorizes the City of Cranston to issue not to exceed $40,000,000 general obligation bonds.

## Version chain

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

1. **7278** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7278.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **67–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Baginski — primary (person)
- Bennett — primary (person)
- Cardillo — primary (person)
- Fenton-Fung — primary (person)
- Handy — primary (person)
- Lima — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-24** 01/24/2024 Introduced, referred to House Finance `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-05** 02/05/2024 Scheduled for hearing (02/08/2024)
- **2024-02-08** 02/08/2024 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2024-03-01** 03/01/2024 Scheduled for consideration (03/05/2024)
- **2024-03-05** 03/05/2024 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-05** 03/05/2024 Placed on House Calendar (03/19/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-03-19** 03/19/2024 House read and passed `passage`
- **2024-03-28** 03/28/2024 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (04/02/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-04-02** 04/02/2024 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2024-04-02** 04/02/2024 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-03** 04/03/2024 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/f82f13b1-1a17-49dc-9cde-d39007d93529`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).