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H 7963Licensing & Accreditation

Businesses and Professions - Electricians

This bill merges the Telecommunications Licensing Board into the Board of Examiners of Electricians and adds a telecommunications contractor member.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
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Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee House Labor

Plain-English Summary

This legislation consolidates the state's oversight of telecommunications professionals. Currently, a separate board handles licensing for telecommunications contractors, technicians, and installers. This bill dissolves that specific board and transfers all its authority and responsibilities to the Board of Examiners of Electricians. To ensure proper representation for the telecommunications industry, the bill adds one new seat to the Board of Examiners of Electricians, specifically for a licensed telecommunications contractor, increasing the total board membership from seven to eight.

For younger readers

This law changes how the state watches over people who work with telephone and internet wires. Before, there was a special group just for those workers. Now, the group that watches over electricians (people who fix lights and power) will also watch over the telephone and internet workers. To make sure this is fair, the state is adding one new person to the electrician group who knows all about telephone and internet systems. This helps keep everything organized under one team instead of two.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Telecommunications contractorsElectriciansDepartment of Labor and TrainingTelecommunications techniciansElectrical inspectors
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Streamlines government bureaucracy by consolidating two boards, potentially reducing administrative waste and allowing resources to be used more efficiently.
  • Maintains labor representation on the oversight board, ensuring that worker protections and standards remain a priority during the regulatory merger.
  • Ensures that telecommunications professionals retain a voice in their governance by mandating a specific seat for a licensed contractor on the consolidated board.
  • Eliminates a dedicated board for telecommunications, which may dilute the focus on the specific needs and safety standards of that distinct trade.
  • Drastically reduces the number of experts overseeing telecommunications licensing from a full board to a single representative, potentially weakening industry-specific oversight.
  • Centralizing power into a single board could reduce the diversity of voices and make the regulatory body less responsive to niche concerns within the telecommunications sector.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces the size of the administrative state by eliminating an entire government board and consolidating its functions into an existing one.
  • Streamlines the regulatory environment for contractors, potentially reducing red tape for businesses that operate in both electrical and telecommunications fields.
  • Likely reduces long-term administrative costs for the state by managing fewer separate meetings, appointments, and administrative bodies.
  • Expands the membership of the Board of Examiners of Electricians, continuing the trend of growing existing government bodies rather than reducing regulation.
  • Maintains the state's strict control over the right to work in these trades rather than moving toward market-based certification or deregulation.
  • Preserves mandated union influence on the licensing board, which may conflict with free-market principles regarding labor and competition.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 18 additions · 27 deletions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 5-6-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-6 entitled "Electricians" is hereby amended to read as follows: 5-6-4. Board of examiners — Composition — Appointment of members — Policy- making role. (a)(1) There is created in the division of professional regulation, in the department of labor and training, a state board of examiners of electricians that at all times consists of seven (7) eight

(8) qualified electors of the state as follows:

(i) A member of an electrical inspection department of any city or town with, at least, five

(5) years’ experience as an electrical inspector to represent the general public;

(ii) A qualified electrical contractor to represent employers;

(iii) A journeyperson electrician to represent labor;

(iv) The state fire marshal, who is ex officio, or his or her designee;

(v) A qualified employee of any electric utility company to represent the utility companies;

(vi) A journeyperson electrician to represent organized labor selected from a list of three

(3) persons submitted to the governor by the American Federation of Labor — Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); and

(vii) A member of the Rhode Island Sign Contractors Association.; and

(viii) A Rhode Island licensed telecommunications contractor.

(2) On or before January 31, the governor shall annually appoint a member or members of the board to succeed the member or members whose term is at that time expiring who shall serve for four (4) years or until his or her successor is elected and qualified. Any vacancy that occurs in the board from any cause shall be filled by the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(b) The board has a policy-making role in the preparation and composition of the examinations to be administered by the division. Subsequent to the administration of the examinations, the board of examiners shall review the examinations to evaluate their effectiveness. The board shall supervise the operation of the division in an advisory capacity in promulgating any policy that is necessary to improve the operation of the division in their area of expertise. The promulgation of that policy is subject to the approval of the director of the department. Members of the board are subject to the provisions of chapter 14 of title 36.

(c) The director of labor and training has the power to revoke or suspend the certificate or license or impose a fine upon the certificate or license holder, for all certificates and licenses issued by the division of professional regulation, after a hearing before and upon the recommendation of the board of examiners of electricians.

SECTION 2. Section 5-70-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-70 entitled "Telecommunications" is hereby amended to read as follows: 5-70-4. Licensing authority.

(a) There is established a board of examination and licensing of telecommunications systems contractors, technicians, and installers that shall be composed of seven (7) members. Five

(5) members of the board shall be telecommunications systems professionals who shall be qualified for licensing under the provisions of this chapter. One of these members shall also hold, at the time of appointment, an electrical contractor license, certificate A, issued by this state. Each of the four

(4) categories shall be represented by a minimum of one licensed professional within that category. Each telecommunications professional member of the board shall be actively engaged in either/or the design, installation, alteration, service, and testing of telecommunications systems, as defined by this chapter, for ten (10) consecutive years immediately prior to appointment. One member of the board shall be, at the time of appointment, an electrical inspector serving a city or town in this state. One member of the board shall be, at the time of appointment, a designated representative of the state building code commission who is knowledgeable in codes and regulations involving telecommunications. Each member of the board shall be a qualified elector of the state for three (3) consecutive years prior to appointment.

(b) Each member of the board shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate to serve for a term of five (5) years and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. Not more than one member of the board shall be directly employed with or by any single business, firm, or corporation.

(c) Initial appointments to the board shall be made for one, two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5), six (6), and seven (7) years in order to provide for the expiration of one position each year.

(d) Vacancies occurring in the membership of the board shall be filled by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate for the unexpired portion of the term.

(e) Each member of the board shall take and subscribe to the oath of office required of state officials generally. The licensing authority charged with the examination and licensing of telecommunications contractors, technicians, and installers shall be the state board of examiners of electricians as established and described in § 5-6-4.

(b) All references to the licensing authority or “board” charged with the examination and licensing of telecommunications contractors, technicians, and installers shall be deemed to be in reference to the state board of examiners of electricians as established and described in § 5-6-4.

(c) All powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities previously assigned to the board of examination and licensing of telecommunications systems contractors, technicians, and installers are hereby transferred to the state board of examiners of electricians, and all regulatory authority under this chapter shall be exercised by the director of the department of labor and training upon the recommendation of the board.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.