---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MISCELLANEOUS (Provides no person may use wireless handset/personal wireless device for texting while driving.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MISCELLANEOUS (Provides no person may use wireless handset/personal wireless device for texting while driving.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 785"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 785 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 16
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-04-04"
last_action: "2019-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6ea12cf6-c740-480c-9136-915151232b1e"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "1e8e7df68ba91c8b222a357b224542a6759fc4ab0fdcdf85b4ba9ff7a91785ed"
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 785 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MISCELLANEOUS (Provides no person may use wireless handset/personal wireless device for texting while driving.)

## Version chain

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

1. **785** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/SenateText19/S0785.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **73–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-04-04** 04/04/2019 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-05** 04/05/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/09/2019)
- **2019-04-09** 04/09/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-23** 05/23/2019 Scheduled for consideration (05/28/2019)
- **2019-05-28** 05/28/2019 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-29** 05/29/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/05/2019)
- **2019-06-05** 06/05/2019 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2019-06-06** 06/06/2019 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-07** 06/07/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/11/2019)
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2019)
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/20/2019)
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 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/6ea12cf6-c740-480c-9136-915151232b1e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).