Title 22, Title 22 Assembly

Wherever in the general laws or in any public law reference is made to a senator from any city or town, or to the election of a senator from any city or town, the reference shall mean and be deemed to refer to a senator from a senatorial district, or the election of a senator fro…

Commencing on the first Tuesday in January, 2023, the house of representatives shall consist of seventy-five (75) members, one representative being elected from each of the representative districts into which the state is divided in § 22-2-2.

The state is hereby divided into seventy-five (75) representative districts bounded and described as follows: (1) It is understood and intended that for the purpose of this section a line described as running on, on, to or through any street (including road, avenue, lane, way, pa…

Wherever in the general laws or in any public law a duty is imposed upon the president of a city or town council or upon the local board of any city or town or upon a city or town clerk, sergeant, or constable in connection with the election of a representative, the duty in the c…

Wherever in the general laws or in any public law reference is made to a representative from any city or town, or to the election of a representative from any city or town, the reference shall mean and be deemed to refer to a representative from a representative district, or the …

This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes of it and to apportion the state into representative districts in compliance with the requirements of the United States Constitution. It is intended that the representative districts described in this chapter co…

The secretary of state shall receive and examine the certificates of election of senators and representatives to the general assembly returned to the secretary’s office by the board of elections, and shall make separate lists of the persons named in it as elected to the offices o…

On the first Tuesday in January in each odd-numbered year, a president pro tempore of the senate shall be elected for a term of two (2) years.

In the month of January in each odd-numbered year, the senate shall elect its committees or provide by rule for their appointment, and the house of representatives shall elect its committees or provide by rule for their appointment.

The secretary of state shall maintain an up-to-date online directory of government officials for the use of the general public, containing the congressional delegation, general officers, general assembly members, rolls of general assembly membership, the committees, the rules and…

At or before twelve o’clock noon (12:00 p.m.) on the first Tuesday in January in each odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall certify and deliver to the reading clerk of the house of representatives the list of persons, made up as provided in § 22-3-1, entitled to seats i…

In case any person whose name does not appear on the lists shall, upon the calling to order as provided in this chapter of the senate and house of representatives, respectively, and before organization, present to the secretary of state a certificate of that person’s election to …

In case any person whose name appears upon either of the lists made by the secretary of state as senator or representative from any senatorial district or representative district, by virtue of any certificate of election returned to the office of or received by the secretary of s…

The persons whose names appear upon the lists made up and corrected as provided in this chapter, and no others, shall be entitled to participate in the organization of the senate and house of representatives, respectively.

On the first Tuesday in January in each odd-numbered year, at twelve o’clock noon (12:00 p.m.), the persons whose names are borne on the respective lists shall be admitted to take seats as members of the senate and house of representatives, respectively, and those persons shall a…

For the purpose of receiving and recording the vote of members of the general assembly pursuant to the rules of the senate and the house of representatives, the joint committee on legislative services shall provide for the senate and house of representatives an electronic device …

There shall be installed in the chambers of the general assembly for use by members a sound reinforcement system providing for pickup and amplification of one or more of one hundred and six (106) microphones under the control of the speaker of the house of representatives, with o…

At the time specified in § 22-3-17, the senate shall be called to order by the senior member in continuous service present from Newport, and if there are two (2) or more members from Newport of equal seniority of service, then by that one of them that shall be senior in age, and …

Commencing in 2003, and after this, the powers currently held by the majority leader of the senate shall be transferred to the president of the senate. At that time, statutory references to the majority leader of the senate shall be amended and construed to mean a reference to th…

The speaker of the house of representatives or the president of the senate may approve a resolution of congratulations or condolence which resolution may be submitted during a period of adjournment of the general assembly. Each legislator shall be allowed no more than a total of …

At the time specified in § 22-3-17, the house of representatives shall be called to order by the senior member in continuous service present from Newport, and if there are two (2) or more members from Newport of equal seniority of service then by that one of them that shall be se…

The respective houses may fill vacancies in these offices as they occur.

Immediately after the organization of the senate and house of representatives and notice of it as provided in §§ 22-3-2 and 22-3-3, the senate shall join the house of representatives in grand committee, for the purpose of inducting the persons elected into their respective office…

The list of members of the senate and of the house of representatives prepared and corrected as provided in this chapter shall continue to be the lists of members of the senate and of the house respectively, until altered by vote of the respective houses, and any secretary of sta…

The foregoing provisions of this title and the provisions of §§ 22-3-13 — 22-3-17 are mandatory and not merely directory.

The following shall be the form of engagement to be taken by the senators and representatives: You being chosen to the place of (naming the office) in the general assembly, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will be true and faithful to this state of Rhode Island; that you wi…

Senators and representatives not present at the first meeting of the respective houses shall, after presenting the evidence of their election, take the engagement of office before they shall act in their respective offices.

The attendance of senators elect and representatives elect, and of senators and representatives, may be compelled by warrant for that purpose under the hand of the presiding officer for the time being of the senate or house of representatives, as the case may be, directed to any …

The person of every member of the general assembly shall be exempt from arrest, and his or her estate from attachment, in any civil action, during the session of the general assembly, and two (2) days before the commencement and two (2) days after the termination of the session; …

Whenever in the Constitution or laws of this state it is provided that any act or business shall be done by the grand committee, this grand committee shall consist of a majority of all the members of the senate and a majority of all the members of the house of representatives, du…

When the senate and house of representatives are assembled pursuant to an invitation, the presiding officer shall order the roll of the senate to be called by the clerk of the senate, and if a majority of all the members of the senate answer to their names, the clerk shall order …

No act or business of any kind shall be done in grand committee other than that which is distinctly specified in the invitation by virtue of which the grand committee is assembled, except to take a recess or to dissolve; provided, that the grand committee may appoint a subcommitt…

The secretary of state, and in his or her absence the clerk of the senate, shall act as secretary of the grand committee, and shall keep a full record of the proceedings of it in a book to be provided and kept by the secretary of state for that purpose, which record shall in all …

The ayes and noes of the grand committee shall be taken upon any question properly before the committee, at the request of one-fifth (⅕) of the members present; but this provision shall not be construed to require an aye and no vote upon the election of any candidate for office.

A quorum of the grand committee shall always consist of a majority of all the members of the senate together with a majority of all the members of the house; and whenever it shall appear that a quorum is not present, no act or business shall be done, and no motion shall be in ord…

The provisions of this chapter are mandatory and not merely directory.

The number of deputy sheriffs who shall attend upon the general assembly, at any session of it, shall not exceed three (3) in both chambers, unless by special order of the general assembly.

In order to properly carry out the functions of the committee on finance of the house of representatives as provided in chapter 3 of title 35, the chairperson of the committee on finance, with the approval of a majority of the members of the committee, may employ a fiscal assista…

It shall be the duty of the fiscal assistant of the committee on finance of the house of representatives, with the approval of the chairperson of the committee, to: (1) Review all revenues received by the state in the last complete fiscal year, together with the estimates made fo…

The committee on finance of the house of representatives shall have free access to all public records and documents in this state which may be of value to it in connection with the research and study of the committee and its staff. The committee or any member or any of its person…

The committee on finance of the house of representatives is authorized in the performance of its duties as provided in §§ 22-6-10 — 22-6-12 to require the attendance of any state employee by subpoena or otherwise and to require the production of books, papers, and documents which…

The committee on finance of the house of representatives shall be provided with suitable offices in the state house for its staff.

The general assembly shall annually appropriate a sum that shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of §§ 22-6-10 — 22-6-14.

(a) Any nonprofit entity that receives grants or other funding in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) from the general assembly directly or appropriated through the state budget for any fiscal year shall, within ninety (90) days of the receipt of the grant or appropriation…

The chairperson of each of the committees on judiciary, corporations, special legislation, finance, labor, and health, education, and welfare of the senate and the committees on health, education and welfare, judiciary, corporations, special legislation, finance, and labor of the…

The standing committees of the house of representatives as established by the rules of the house of representatives and the standing committees of the senate as established by the rules of the senate shall in the performance of their duties have the power upon majority vote of th…