---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- SUBDIVISION OF LAND"
description: "Requires that municipalities implement electronic permitting for all development applications pursuant to zoning and the subdivision of land."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 7978"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7978 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Azzinaro", "Blazejewski", "Casimiro", "Craven", "Cruz", "Morales", "Shekarchi", "Solomon", "Speakman", "Spears"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2024-03-05"
last_action: "2024-06-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/243f607b-9e54-40e5-a369-7d2e5105215e"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "8089d8c76506e3f1513aa15cddd10451df1550d25d6debce6bc2e9604f2c5f1c"
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 7978 (2024) — AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- SUBDIVISION OF LAND

Requires that municipalities implement electronic permitting for all development applications pursuant to zoning and the subdivision of land.

## Version chain

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

1. **7978 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7978A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **71–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Azzinaro — primary (person)
- Blazejewski — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Craven — primary (person)
- Cruz — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- Shekarchi — primary (person)
- Solomon — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-03-05** 03/05/2024 Introduced, referred to House Municipal Government & Housing `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-03-22** 03/22/2024 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/28/2024)
- **2024-03-28** 03/28/2024 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2024-04-26** 04/26/2024 Scheduled for consideration (04/30/2024)
- **2024-04-26** 04/26/2024 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2024-04-30** 04/30/2024 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-03** 05/03/2024 Placed on House Calendar (05/07/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-05-07** 05/07/2024 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2024-05-13** 05/13/2024 Referred to Senate Housing and Municipal Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-08** 06/08/2024 Scheduled for consideration (06/11/2024)
- **2024-06-11** 06/11/2024 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-06-14** 06/14/2024 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/13/2024) `reading-3`
- **2024-06-14** 06/14/2024 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2024-06-21** 06/21/2024 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-24** 06/24/2024 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/243f607b-9e54-40e5-a369-7d2e5105215e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).