---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT"
description: "Expands the definition of \"employee,\" and clarifies that the board may defer a pending unfair labor practice charge to allow for the grievance and arbitration process to move forward pursuant to the charging parties collective bargaining agreement."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5187"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5187 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Azzinaro", "Bennett", "Brien", "Corvese", "DeSimone", "Hull", "Noret", "O'Brien", "Potter", "Read"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-24"
last_action: "2025-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/10721f27-b207-4811-8784-558d99e4717f"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "27c2781a225a027bc5f483575ac133757637b0f0608cb9e54561a01e8cce8d1b"
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 5187 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT

Expands the definition of "employee," and clarifies that the board may defer a pending unfair labor practice charge to allow for the grievance and arbitration process to move forward pursuant to the charging parties collective bargaining agreement.

## Version chain

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

1. **5187 SUB A as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5187Aaa.pdf)

## Votes

- AS AMENDED — **67–6** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **62–7** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Azzinaro — primary (person)
- Bennett — primary (person)
- Brien — primary (person)
- Corvese — primary (person)
- DeSimone — primary (person)
- Hull — primary (person)
- Noret — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Read — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-24** 01/24/2025 Introduced, referred to House Labor `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-02-07** 02/07/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/12/2025)
- **2025-02-12** 02/12/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Scheduled for consideration (06/16/2025)
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2025-06-16** 06/16/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-16** 06/16/2025 Placed on House Calendar (06/18/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-20** 06/20/2025 Senate passed Sub A as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-27** 06/27/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-07-02** 07/02/2025 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/10721f27-b207-4811-8784-558d99e4717f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).