---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- FEDERAL AID"
description: "Ends transaction fees for school lunches in all districts. This act requires at least one no-fee payment method for school lunches and a full disclosure whether fees will be charged by a payment platform."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 8129"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 8129 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Caldwell", "DeSimone", "Donovan", "Furtado", "Kislak", "O'Brien", "Read", "Speakman", "Spears"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-02-27"
last_action: "2026-06-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/95eb93cc-42bd-4320-90cd-bbfd03ddeebc"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "4b9694725667f04f3960bd77610e5b1f2639822eca6560acc04ebe09b23f6194"
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 8129 (2026) — AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- FEDERAL AID

Ends transaction fees for school lunches in all districts. This act requires at least one no-fee payment method for school lunches and a full disclosure whether fees will be charged by a payment platform.

## Version chain

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

1. **8129** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H8129.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **62–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Caldwell — primary (person)
- DeSimone — primary (person)
- Donovan — primary (person)
- Furtado — primary (person)
- Kislak — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Read — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-27** 02/27/2026 Introduced, referred to House Education `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-20** 03/20/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/24/2026)
- **2026-03-24** 03/24/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2026-05-15** 05/15/2026 Scheduled for consideration (05/19/2026)
- **2026-05-19** 05/19/2026 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-05-22** 05/22/2026 Placed on House Calendar (05/28/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-05-28** 05/28/2026 House read and passed `passage`
- **2026-06-03** 06/03/2026 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/04/2026) `reading-3`
- **2026-06-04** 06/04/2026 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2026-06-04** 06/04/2026 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-10** 06/10/2026 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/95eb93cc-42bd-4320-90cd-bbfd03ddeebc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).