---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF PORTSMOUTH TO ISSUE NOT TO EXCEED $41,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, NOTES AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, ADDITIONS, RENOVATION, IMPROVEMENT, ALTERATION, REPAIR, FURNISHING AND EQUIPPING OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE TOWN"
description: "Authorizes the Town of Portsmouth to issue bonds and notes in amount not exceeding $41,000,000 to finance construction, additions, renovation, improvement, alteration, repair, furnishing and equipping of schools and school facilities throughout the town."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 8488"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 8488 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cortvriend", "Donovan", "McGaw"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-04-29"
last_action: "2026-06-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d8c19077-6688-41c0-a1ff-67da467fd5d6"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "22f30c96a317e5ad0a93cfc402b2f6039ff729474210ad1294f50cdc43b5aaf9"
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 8488 (2026) — AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF PORTSMOUTH TO ISSUE NOT TO EXCEED $41,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, NOTES AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, ADDITIONS, RENOVATION, IMPROVEMENT, ALTERATION, REPAIR, FURNISHING AND EQUIPPING OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE TOWN

Authorizes the Town of Portsmouth to issue bonds and notes in amount not exceeding $41,000,000 to finance construction, additions, renovation, improvement, alteration, repair, furnishing and equipping of schools and school facilities throughout the town.

## Version chain

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

1. **8488** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H8488.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **73–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Donovan — primary (person)
- McGaw — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-04-29** 04/29/2026 Introduced, referred to House Finance `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-05-15** 05/15/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/19/2026)
- **2026-05-19** 05/19/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2026-05-22** 05/22/2026 Scheduled for consideration (05/26/2026)
- **2026-05-26** 05/26/2026 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-05-29** 05/29/2026 Placed on House Calendar (06/02/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-02** 06/02/2026 House read and passed `passage`
- **2026-06-09** 06/09/2026 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/10/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2026-06-18** 06/18/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-26** 06/26/2026 Effective without Governor's signature `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d8c19077-6688-41c0-a1ff-67da467fd5d6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).