---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- FOOD-AS-MEDICINE PILOT PROGRAM"
description: "Establishes a food as medicine pilot program and task force to be administered by the executive office of health and human services."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 8171"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 8171 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Caldwell", "Kislak", "Slater", "Spears"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-02-27"
last_action: "2026-06-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6a5228bb-e57c-45e9-8f71-6f3b70188515"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "94737cff5d7cad0791fafc2ae4ac10fd2371a09d1a37bfd5b305a7f23447f69b"
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 8171 (2026) — AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- FOOD-AS-MEDICINE PILOT PROGRAM

Establishes a food as medicine pilot program and task force to be administered by the executive office of health and human services.

## Version chain

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

1. **8171 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H8171A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **63–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Caldwell — primary (person)
- Kislak — primary (person)
- Slater — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-27** 02/27/2026 Introduced, referred to House Finance `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-05-08** 05/08/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/14/2026)
- **2026-05-14** 05/14/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2026-06-06** 06/06/2026 Scheduled for consideration (06/08/2026)
- **2026-06-07** 06/07/2026 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2026-06-08** 06/08/2026 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `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 passed Sub A `passage`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/11/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-11** 06/11/2026 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2026-06-16** 06/16/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-18** 06/18/2026 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/6a5228bb-e57c-45e9-8f71-6f3b70188515`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).