---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT -- EMPLOYEE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS"
description: "Protects the rights of employees in the workplace relating to free speech, assembly and religion, as well as attendance at employer-sponsored meetings regarding political or religious matters."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5506"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5506 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Corvese", "Craven", "Dawson", "Finkelman", "O'Brien", "Potter", "Shanley"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2025-02-13"
last_action: "2025-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/55d3ef86-cff3-4a3e-a8a2-02add14ea8d6"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "5590cc4b1e3310a304f032611b1968f4c69a0ea1959493a4ad547825e7759273"
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 5506 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT -- EMPLOYEE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS

Protects the rights of employees in the workplace relating to free speech, assembly and religion, as well as attendance at employer-sponsored meetings regarding political or religious matters.

## Version chain

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

1. **5506 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5506A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **71–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Corvese — primary (person)
- Craven — primary (person)
- Dawson — primary (person)
- Finkelman — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-13** 02/13/2025 Introduced, referred to House Labor `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-28** 03/28/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/02/2025)
- **2025-04-02** 04/02/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Scheduled for consideration (06/16/2025)
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2025-06-16** 06/16/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-16** 06/16/2025 Placed on House Calendar (06/18/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-20** 06/20/2025 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-27** 06/27/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-07-02** 07/02/2025 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/55d3ef86-cff3-4a3e-a8a2-02add14ea8d6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).