H 7288Ethics & Transparency

Statutes and Statutory Construction - Effect of General Laws

Mandates that the Office of Law Revision annually report Supreme Court rulings requiring changes to state laws to the legislature.

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Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee House Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation adds a specific responsibility to the Office of Law Revision within the Joint Committee on Legislative Services. The bill requires this office to annually review decisions made by the United States Supreme Court. They must identify any rulings that would require changes or amendments to Rhode Island's state statutes or general laws. Once identified, the office is required to inform both the House and the Senate of these decisions, ensuring that state laws remain consistent with federal Supreme Court rulings.

For younger readers

There is a special office that helps keep the state's rulebook organized. This bill gives the workers in that office a new job to do every year. They have to look at the decisions made by the United States Supreme Court, which is the most powerful court in the country. If that court changes a rule that Rhode Island has to follow, these workers must tell the state leaders. This helps make sure the state fixes its own rulebook to match the big rules of the country.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

State LegislatorsOffice of Law Revision StaffAttorneysJudgesGeneral Public

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost

None

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Promotes the prompt removal of unconstitutional statutes from state law, ensuring that civil rights affirmed by the Supreme Court are reflected in local legislation.
Increases government transparency and accountability by creating a formal mechanism to alert legislators when state laws are out of compliance with federal rulings.
Enhances the rule of law by preventing the state from enforcing obsolete or invalidated statutes that might otherwise harm marginalized communities.
May accelerate the erosion of state-level protections if a conservative Supreme Court overturns established precedents, forcing the state to acknowledge these rollbacks quickly.
Could divert limited administrative resources in the Office of Law Revision away from other legislative drafting or research priorities.
Places significant reliance on the interpretation of federal rulings by a small administrative body, potentially influencing how the legislature perceives its ability to resist regressive federal case law.

For Conservatives

Upholds the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law by ensuring state statutes do not conflict with federal Supreme Court rulings.
Reduces the likelihood of costly litigation against the state caused by the enforcement of laws that have already been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Streamlines government operations by creating a systematic process for legal updates rather than relying on ad-hoc reactions to court decisions.
Creates a statutory mandate that expands the duties of a government office, which could be viewed as unnecessary bureaucratic expansion.
Could be perceived as surrendering state sovereignty by automatically prioritizing federal court decisions over the will of the state legislature.
Risk that the Office of Law Revision might interpret Supreme Court rulings too broadly, suggesting changes to state laws that are not strictly mandated.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 4 additions

SECTION 1. Section 43-4-18 of the General Laws in Chapter 43-4 entitled "Effect of General Laws" is hereby amended to read as follows: 43-4-18. Enactment of supplemental reenactments by the law revision director.

(a) The office of law revision of the joint committee on legislative services is authorized to annually reenact specific titles of the general laws which shall be amendatory to the general laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended, for the purposes specified in § 22-11-3.4. Substantive changes contained in the reenactment of these titles shall be annually brought to the attention of the general assembly in a “Statutes and Statutory Construction” bill, prepared by the law revision office, for general assembly approval or disapproval. The office of law revision shall also identify, on a yearly basis, any United States Supreme Court decisions or rulings that would require amendments to any state statutes or general laws, and shall so inform each chamber of those decisions or rulings.

(b) The reenacted sections of the general laws shall be construed as continuations of previously enacted public laws and all rights and remedies remain in effect as defined in this chapter.

(c) In case of any conflict between an act passed at an annual or special session of the general assembly and an amendment adopted as a part of a reenactment or the “Statutes and Statutory Construction” bill referred to in subsection (a) of this section, the former shall be controlling regardless of respective dates of passage or approval.

(d) The provisions in titles that have been amended and corrected as “reenactments” shall take effect and go into operation on and after December 31 of the calendar year of their reenactment.

(e) The enactment of this section and the repeal of sections in chapter 4 of title 43 adopted prior to the date of enactment of this chapter of the public laws shall not act as a repeal of those chapters of the public laws which have been adopted to reenact the general laws.

(f) Any subsequent reenactments shall be recorded in the history of this section.

(g) In any reenactment, the word “text” as used in the general laws does not include: (1) printer’s reference lines appearing at the top or bottom of any galley proof; (2) title or chapter heading (except the numbers of said titles and chapters); (3) tables of contents appearing at the beginning of the titles and chapters; or (4) boldface captions appearing at the beginning of sections (except the numbers of said sections), except insofar as the title or chapter headings or boldface captions are necessary for clarification of any statutory text.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.