PROVIDENCE — As the legislative session entered its final hours, the Rhode Island General Assembly on Friday voted for a Senate bill banning the sale, purchase, and manufacture of assault-style weapons, but not their possession.
The House had passed its own version of the high-profile legislation, banning possession of a larger group of weapons.
But the House sponsor, Representative Jason Knight, urged lawmakers to pass the Senate bill, saying, “If we pass this bill, Rhode Island will be safer from gun violence.”
“Frankly, there is more than one way to skin the legislative cat,” he said. “And even though these two bills look really different, I think the effect on the ground is actually pretty similar.”
If the bill becomes law, Knight said, “It still creates a little piece of the United States — between Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — where it’s hard to put your hands on an AR-style rifle.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert E. Craven Sr., a North Kingstown Democrat, also advocated for the Senate bill, saying, “It is a compromise. That is what democracy is about.”
The House ended up voting 43 to 28 for the Senate bill.
House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale, a Foster Republican, spoke out against the bill, predicting it will result in costly legal challenge and that the US Supreme Court will find it unconstitutional. “We are throwing away money on this,” he said.
The House voted came hours after the Senate voted 25 to 11 for ban on assault-style weapons.
Senators Louis P. DiPalma, the Middletown Democrat who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, noted that assault weapons bills have been introduced for a dozen years without becoming law. “We need to get this done,” he said. “We need to get this done today.”
DiPalma noted that a union poll in February found 64 percent of Rhode Island voters supported “banning the sale and manufacture of military-style assault weapons in Rhode Island.”
He said the state of Washington has enacted a similar law banning the sale, purchase and manufacture of assault-style weapons. And he said that if the bill becomes law in Rhode Island, “the proliferation of assault style weapons will go down precipitously.“
Senator Pamela J. Lauria, a Barrington Democrat, attempted to amend the bill to reflect the House-passed version of the legislation. She said it is crucial to pass a bill that bans possession — and not just sale — of assault weapons, especially now that President Trump’s administration is scaling back the federal government’s ability to enforce gun laws.
But DiPalma objected to Lauria’s amendment, saying it sought to circumvent the committee process that had resulted in the House bill being held for further study in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
New Senate President Valarie J. Lawson, an East Providence Democrat and teachers union president, upheld DiPalma’s objection. Lauria challenged Lawson’s ruling, and the Senate then voted 25 to 12 to back Lawson’s ruling, thereby killing Lauria’s amendment.
Republican senators proposed several amendments, including a proposal to delay implementation until July 1, 2027, rather than July 1, 2026. But the Senate voted down all amendments.
Senator Andrew R. Dimitri, a Johnston Democrat, voted against the bill, saying, “This bill still punishes good people, and does nothing to stop crime.”
But Senator Meghan E. Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat, voted for the bill, citing mass shootings ranging from Columbine High School in 1999 to the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. “I am appealing to this chamber’s sense of urgency,” she said. “I do not want to have it happen here.” She said she was voting for the bill “over deep disappointment because we had the opportunity to do something better, stronger, and with much more moral clarity.”
After the vote, Governor Daniel J. McKee vowed to sign the legislation, saying, “I’m proud that Rhode Island took an important step forward in protecting our communities from gun violence. I included an assault weapons ban in my budget for this very reason — and as a result, tonight we saw progress."
Here is how other key bills fared:
State budget and RIPTA
The Senate voted 32 to 4 for the $14.3 billion state budget, which has already been approved by the House.
The vote came after Senator Samuel D. Zurier, a Providence Democrat, proposed tapping gas tax and state Department of Transportation revenue to avoid 90 layoffs and a 20 percent reduction in bus routes by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.
Kallman backed Zurier’s amendment, saying many residents in her Pawtucket district rely on the buses, and Rhode Island “does not stand a prayer” of meeting the Act on Climate goals “unless we fund our public transportation system.”
But the amendment failed by a vote of 16 to 20.
Payday lending
The Senate voted 27 to 6 to repeal the law that lets “payday lenders” charge high annual interest rates for short-term loans in Rhode Island. The House had passed the bill last week.
Critics say “payday lenders” have been preying on the poor by charging annualized percentage rates of 260 percent for the small-dollar, short-term loans, rather than remaining under a cap of 36 percent that applies to other lenders. Supporters contend that the storefronts provide a valuable service to those short of cash, charging 10 percent transaction fees for loans due in two weeks or 30 days.
Senator Tiara T. Mack, a Providence Democrat, said the bill has been a priority of the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Caucus. She said payday lending is a multibillion-dollar industry that opens storefronts in low-income communities, “preying” upon the poor.
Smoking in casinos
The House voted 67 to 4 for a bill aimed at banning smoking in Rhode Island’s two casinos, which are run by Bally’s. But the House sponsor of the legislation, Representative Teresa A. Tanzi, asked to have her named removed from the bill because she said a Senate floor amendment had “gutted” the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Frank A. Ciccone III, a Providence Democrat, had introduced the floor amendment, saying it was meant to correct an “error” by removing the name of a specific smoking bar — the Plume & Proof Cigar Bar, at the Lincoln casino — and adding a broader definition of that location.
Tanzi, a South Kingstown Democrat, said, “The General Assembly gives too much deference to Bally’s and falls for the fearmongering they do each year this bill is introduced. I don’t get how we can put Bally’s interests ahead of those of the workers.” She said if the Assembly returns for special fall session, she will try to “fix” the legislation.
Spokesperson Patti Doyle said Bally’s is grateful that a compromise was reached. “Confining smoking to an existing smoking lounge at our Lincoln venue and allowing for a delayed transition away from smoking on the gaming floor will hopefully mitigate a portion of that anticipated revenue loss to the state,” she said.
‘Freedom to Read Act’
The Senate voted 31 to 5 for the “Freedom to Read Act,” which aims to combat “censorship” of library materials and to protect librarians. The House had passed the bill earlier this week.
“Book censorship has been wielded as a tool by those who wish to silence historically marginalized communities and erase representation,” said Padma Venkatraman, co-chair of Rhode Island Authors Against Book Bans.
Sexual abuse lawsuits
The House had passed a bill known as “Annie’s Bill,” introduced by Representative Carol Hagan McEntee, that would allow sexual predators of children, and those that protect them, to be held civilly accountable to victims. But the Senate did not act on the bill.
McEntee, a South Kingstown Democrat, said, “Apparently the Rhode Island Senate cares more about institutions like the Catholic Church and the insurance companies than they do about protecting children against pedophiles and the institutions that harbor and protect them.”
Anti-bid-rigging
The Senate voted unanimously to create a “Rhode Island Anti-Bid-Rigging Act," which the House passed earlier this week. DiPalma, the Senate sponsor, said the bill comes in response to legislative oversight hearings into a multimillion-dollar state education contract.
In October 2024, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha concluded that McKee violated procurement rules in steering that contract to the ILO Group, which had ties to McKee. But Neronha also found there wasn’t enough evidence to file a criminal bribery charge against the governor, and he said the state lacked a bid-rigging statute.
“This bill seeks to close a loophole on the procurement side of things so that the procurer cannot be involved in directing the procurement one way one way or the other,” DiPalma said. “It should never have happened.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.