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S 2931Licensing & Accreditation

Businesses and Professions - Electricians

This bill merges the telecommunications licensing board into the electricians licensing board and adds a telecom representative.

Introduced36 Yea0 Nay2 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Labor & Gaming

Plain-English Summary

This legislation consolidates state licensing boards by dissolving the separate board dedicated to telecommunications contractors and transferring its authority to the State Board of Examiners of Electricians. To ensure the telecommunications industry is represented in this merger, the bill adds one seat to the Board of Examiners of Electricians, specifically for a licensed telecommunications contractor. This increases the total membership of the Electricians Board from seven to eight people. The Department of Labor and Training will continue to oversee these regulations.

For younger readers

Right now, the people who fix electrical wires and the people who fix telephone or internet wires have two different groups of leaders making the rules for them. This new law is going to combine those two groups into one big group. The group that looks after electricians will now look after the telephone workers, too. To make sure the telephone workers are treated fairly, one person who knows a lot about that job will join the leaders of the electricians' group to help make decisions.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Telecommunications ContractorsElectriciansState Board of Examiners of ElectriciansTelecommunications TechniciansDepartment of Labor and Training
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Streamlines government administration by reducing the number of separate boards, potentially allowing for more efficient use of state resources that can be redirected to other services.
  • Maintains labor representation by ensuring a specific seat for a telecommunications contractor, ensuring that workers in this sector still have a voice within the larger regulatory body.
  • Consolidates oversight within the Department of Labor and Training, potentially creating a more unified standard for worker safety and licensing across related electrical trades.
  • Drastically reduces the representation of telecommunications professionals, moving from a dedicated seven-member board to a single seat on an eight-member board, which may dilute the voice of these specific workers.
  • Risk of the larger, more dominant electrical trade interests overshadowing the specific needs and concerns of the telecommunications sector, potentially marginalizing those workers.
  • Eliminates a specialized body that included diverse representation (including public and building code officials) specific to telecom, potentially reducing the breadth of community input for that specific trade.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces the size of government bureaucracy by eliminating an entire state licensing board, aligning with principles of smaller, more efficient government.
  • Simplifies the regulatory landscape for businesses by consolidating licensing authorities, potentially reducing administrative red tape for contractors who work in related fields.
  • Promotes fiscal responsibility by reducing the administrative overhead associated with maintaining two separate operational boards and their associated meetings.
  • Centralizes power into a single board, which could lead to regulatory overreach and less autonomy for the specific telecommunications industry.
  • Disrupts the existing self-governance of the telecommunications sector, potentially subjecting them to rules designed by electricians that may not fit their specific business models.
  • Could lead to stricter gatekeeping and higher barriers to entry if the electrician-dominated board imposes more rigorous, unnecessary standards on telecommunications contractors.

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.