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4/6/2026 MEDIA ADVISORY: Senate Judiciary Committee to meet twice to hear Voting Rights Act, motor vehicle legislation
STATE HOUSE — The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet twice this week to hear testimony on bills related to voting and elections, including the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act, as well as bills motor vehicle code violations.

The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, April 7, at the rise of the Senate (about 5 p.m.) in Room 313 on the third floor of the State House.

The committee will hear several bills related to voting and elections, including:
  • 2026-S 3143 — by Senate President Valarie J. Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence), which would create the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act to establish procedures to prevent discrimination in the voting process.
  • 2026-S 2131 — by Sen. Samuel D. Zurier (D-Dist. 3, Providence), which would add early voting to the 50- feet buffer prohibitions against politicking during election day voting.
  • 2026-S 2304 — by Sen. Ana B. Quezada (D-Dist. 2, Providence), which would require state use actual residences of persons in government custody for redistricting purposes. Information would be collected by the department of corrections and forwarded to the division of statewide planning, to be utilized for redistricting.
  • 2026-S 2404 — by Sen. Tiara T. Mack (D-Dist. 6, Providence), which would allow citizens of a city or town who are at least 16 years of age to register to vote and to vote in school committee elections in municipalities where school committees are elected entities.
  • 2026-S 2490 — by Sen. Andrew R. Dimitri (D-Dist. 25, Johnston), which would allow automatic voter registration for Rhode Islanders applying for hunting and fishing licenses.
  • 2026-S 2590 — by Sen. Samuel D. Zurier (D-Dist. 3, Providence), which would spell out rules and regulations for the presidential preference primary elections, and would also establish rules for ranked choice voting tabulation and results reporting by the secretary of state.
  • 2026-S 2619 — by Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick), which would remove corporate and dark-money spending from all Rhode Island elections and ballot questions.
  • 2026-S 2720 — by Sen. Alana DiMario (D-Dist. 36, North Kingstown, Narragansett, New Shoreham), which would amend various sections of law relating to campaign contributions and expenditures, including prohibitions on self-dealing with committee funds and prohibits donations made in fictitious names.
  • 2026-S 2951 — by Sen. Meghan E. Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence), which would establish a system of ranked choice voting whenever a municipality’s charter amendment is approved by its voters.
  • 2026-S 2979 — by Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick), which would propose a state constitutional amendment to provide no person could hold office as general officer unless that person was a resident and a registered voter in the State of Rhode Island for at least 2 years, continuously, prior to taking office.
  • 2026-S 3043 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would set an earlier deadline from June to April for filing of declaration of candidacy and nomination papers.
  • 2026-S 3111 — by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), which would allocate the assessment of fines for failure to file reports between the board of elections between the candidate and political action or political party committee.
  • 2026-S 3112 — by Sen. Andrew R. Dimitri (D-Dist. 25, Johnston), which would require the Board of Elections to establish a secure area for the public observation of mail ballot processing and require the mail ballot voter’s signature be compared to the signature on file within the state central voter registration system.
  • 2026-S 3113 — by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), which would increase from seven days to nine days the period of time in which a request for a recount of the votes cast can be made to the board of elections. No certificates of election may be issued, until the recount if any is completed.
  • 2026-S 3114 — by Sen. Jacob Bissaillon (D-Dist. 1, Providence), which would amend the procedures for the marking and certification of mail ballots by prohibiting anyone but the voter or certain persons close to the voter from handling the mail ballot.
  • 2026-S 3201 — by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), which would make several amendments to provide for an online nomination paper portal for election nomination papers.
 
The committee will also meet Thursday, April 9, at the rise of the Senate (about 5 p.m.) in Room 313 on the third floor of the State House to hear testimony on several bills related to motor vehicle violations, including:
  • 2026-S 2134 — by Sen. Andrew R. Dimitri (D-Dist. 25, Johnston), which would change the jurisdiction for driving under the influence for those under the age of 21 to the traffic tribunal.
  • 2026-S 2288 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would prohibit defendants who are serving probation for driving under the influence death resulting from earning good time off their probationary period.
  • 2026-S 2310 — by Senate Majority Whip David P. Tikoian (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, Lincoln, North Providence), which would increase the penalties for a first offense of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death to a minimum 10 years in incarceration, a minimum of $10,000 and a minimum license revocation of 10 years..
  • 2026-S 2402 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would increase penalties for a variety of motor vehicle offenses.
  • 2026-S 2403 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would require that the license plates of a vehicle be confiscated by a police officer if the owner was arrested for driving while their license was suspended, revoked or canceled for refusing to submit to a chemical test or for operating under the influence.
  • 2026-S 2482 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would amend the section of law relative to violations for driving after denial, revocation or suspension of a license and expands the list of offenses for which an unlicensed motorist would be in violation.
  • 2026-S 2493 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would increase the penalties for reckless driving from a misdemeanor first offense to a felony, with a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of between $1,000 and $5,000.
  • 2026-S 2615 — by Sen. Thomas J. Paolino (R-Dist. 17, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield), which would make a violation using the passing lane on limited access highways when not passing another vehicle.
  • 2026-S 2718 — by Sen. Stefano V. Famiglietti (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence), which would increase fines for speeding in residential or school zones.
  • 2026-S 2722 — by Sen. Lammis J. Vargas (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence), which would create a cause of action for the replacement cost of a child restraint system that is in a motor vehicle at the time of a motor vehicle accident.
  • 2026-S 2728 — by Sen. Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown), which would require notice to E-ZPass users before DMV reporting, and set rules and regulations for transponder failures, requires outreach and free replacements, and allow mitigation or forgiveness of tolls and penalties from equipment failures.
  • 2026-S 2732 — by Sen. Hanna M. Gallo (D-Dist. 27, Cranston, West Warwick), which would allow lane filtering, the act of passing stopped or slow-moving vehicles proceeding in the same direction, for motorcycles at low speeds.
  • 2026-S 2943 — by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), which would remove the forfeiture provision for a first offense of eluding law enforcement in a high speed pursuit.
  • 2026-S 2970 — by Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick), which would require that any person convicted of a charge of driving under the influence or refusal to submit to a chemical test, have an ignition interlock system installed in their vehicle as part of any sentence before being eligible for a license reinstatement.
  • 2026-S 2974 — by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), which would amend the general law relative to right-of-way of pedestrians to reference the schedule of violations for the adjudication of traffic offenses.
  • 2026-S 3042 — by Sen. Todd M. Patalano (D-Dist. 26, Cranston), which would ban street takeovers and violators would be guilty of a felony and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.
  • 2026-S 3102 — by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown), which would provide for a single, increased range of penalties for all driving offenses which result in serious bodily injury or death.
  • 2026-S 3103 — by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown), which would amend existing expungement laws to be consistent with the new 10-year lookback period required for DUI charges.
  • 2026-S 3135 — by Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich), which would restore law enforcement discretion, allowing officers to issue a verbal warning when appropriate or pursue misdemeanor or felony charges in more egregious cases where a child is left unattended in a motor vehicle.
  • 2026-S 3165 — by Senate Majority Leader Frank A. Ciccone III (D-Dist. 7, Providence, Johnston), which would allow any city, town, state and/or agency of a municipality or the state to report unpaid fines of $200 or more to the Division of Motor Vehicles as grounds for refusal of registration.
  • 2026-S 3169 — by Senate Majority Whip David P. Tikoian (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, Lincoln, North Providence), which would create an enhanced penalty defined as "road rage" to be applied in addition to penalties for convictions of certain motor vehicle offenses.
 
The Senate Judiciary Committee is chaired by Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston). The meeting will be broadcast live on Channel 75 for Cox customers. It will also be livestreamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.



For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922