---
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: "SB 2605"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2605 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acosta", "Bissaillon", "Ciccone", "Euer", "Mack", "Murray", "Urso", "Zurier"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-02-13"
last_action: "2026-06-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fcc8bbc8-c8dd-415f-8010-d2c07652d047"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "5824df8ae3dd399dc8b76b3323b3a408809683303034a47ae8b412184753d79a"
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 SB 2605 (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. **2605** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/SenateText26/S2605.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **31–7** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **61–10** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Acosta — primary (person)
- Bissaillon — primary (person)
- Ciccone — primary (person)
- Euer — primary (person)
- Mack — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)
- Urso — primary (person)
- Zurier — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-13** 02/13/2026 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-05-01** 05/01/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/05/2026)
- **2026-05-05** 05/05/2026 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`
- **2026-05-27** 05/27/2026 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/03/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-03** 06/03/2026 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 Placed on House Calendar (06/11/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-11** 06/11/2026 House 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/fcc8bbc8-c8dd-415f-8010-d2c07652d047`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).