---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- STATEWIDE REFERENDA ELECTIONS"
description: "Amends certain election statutes to require ballot questions be written in plain language reasonably calculated to be understood by persons with an eighth-grade reading level."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 7476"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7476 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Baginski", "Bennett", "Casimiro", "Craven", "Dawson", "Edwards", "McNamara", "O'Brien", "Shanley"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2024-02-02"
last_action: "2024-06-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/63578dd7-2961-4cfe-a9f9-45b13fd09640"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "f0a1aa425bf7f182f2755c635130bd7b4d6b50cfd028a8c4cc53c210981df58b"
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 7476 (2024) — AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- STATEWIDE REFERENDA ELECTIONS

Amends certain election statutes to require ballot questions be written in plain language reasonably calculated to be understood by persons with an eighth-grade reading level.

## Version chain

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

1. **7476** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7476.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **75–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Baginski — primary (person)
- Bennett — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Craven — primary (person)
- Dawson — primary (person)
- Edwards — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-02-02** 02/02/2024 Introduced, referred to House State Government & Elections `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-03-22** 03/22/2024 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/26/2024)
- **2024-03-26** 03/26/2024 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2024-05-03** 05/03/2024 Scheduled for consideration (05/07/2024)
- **2024-05-07** 05/07/2024 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-10** 05/10/2024 Placed on House Calendar (05/14/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-05-14** 05/14/2024 House read and passed `passage`
- **2024-05-17** 05/17/2024 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-21** 05/21/2024 Scheduled for consideration (05/23/2024)
- **2024-05-23** 05/23/2024 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-24** 05/24/2024 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (05/28/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-05-28** 05/28/2024 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2024-05-30** 05/30/2024 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-04** 06/04/2024 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/63578dd7-2961-4cfe-a9f9-45b13fd09640`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).