---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- CAUSES OF ACTION -- THE RHODE ISLAND FEDERAL CONSTITUTION DEFENSE ACT"
description: "Creates the Rhode Island Federal Constitution defense act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 7202"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7202 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ajello", "Cruz", "Giraldo", "Kislak", "McEntee", "Morales", "Potter", "Sanchez", "Speakman", "Stewart"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-01-21"
last_action: "2026-06-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c326b49b-714f-4d55-96dc-e1b858e8bbbb"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "7dd762da5804ca46903ba80073fa44f176bd171b60d48ff772f12c0742069018"
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 7202 (2026) — AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- CAUSES OF ACTION -- THE RHODE ISLAND FEDERAL CONSTITUTION DEFENSE ACT

Creates the Rhode Island Federal Constitution defense act.

## Version chain

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

1. **7202** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7202.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **63–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ajello — primary (person)
- Cruz — primary (person)
- Giraldo — primary (person)
- Kislak — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Sanchez — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)
- Stewart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-21** 01/21/2026 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** 02/27/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/04/2026)
- **2026-03-04** 03/04/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2026-06-06** 06/06/2026 Scheduled for consideration (06/08/2026)
- **2026-06-08** 06/08/2026 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-06-08** 06/08/2026 Placed on House Calendar (06/10/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 House read and passed `passage`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/11/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-11** 06/11/2026 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2026-06-18** 06/18/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-22** 06/22/2026 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/c326b49b-714f-4d55-96dc-e1b858e8bbbb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).