Rhode Island Establish a Right to a Clean Environment Amendment (2026)
| Rhode Island Establish a Right to a Clean Environment Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Constitutional rights and Parks, land, and natural area conservation | |
| Status Proposed | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Rhode Island Establish a Right to a Clean Environment Amendment may appear on the ballot in Rhode Island as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The amendment would add a section to the Rhode Island Declaration of Certain Constitutional Rights and Principles which states that all people in Rhode Island have a right to clean air, clean water, healthy soil, a life-supporting climate, and preservation of the environment. The amendment would also require the state to serve as a trustee of the state's natural resources.[1]
Text of the measure
Full text
The full text of the constitutional amendment is available here.
Path to the ballot
Amending the Rhode Island Constitution
- See also: Amending the Rhode Island Constitution
A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Rhode Island State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 38 votes in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Rhode Island State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Senate Resolution 327
State Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-37) introduced the constitutional amendment into the Rhode Island State Legislature as Senate Resolution 327 (S. 327) on February 21, 2025. Below is a timeline of the amendment in the legislature:[2]
- May 28, 2025: The Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee recommended that S. 327 be approved.
- June 3, 2025: The state Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 32-4, with two senators not voting. Thirty-two Democrats voted yes and four Republicans voted no, with two Democrats not voting.
| Votes Required to Pass: 20 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 32 | 4 | 2 |
| Total % | 84.2% | 10.5% | 5.3% |
| Democratic (D) | 32 | 0 | 2 |
| Republican (R) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Rhode Island
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Rhode Island.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Rhode Island Legislature, "Senate Resolution 327," accessed June 4, 2025
- ↑ Rhode Island Legislature, "Senate Resolution No. 327 Legislative Status Report," accessed June 4, 2025 (Search term Bills: 327)
- ↑ Rhode Island Department of State, "Election Day Voting Hours," accessed September 24, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Rhode Island Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed April 18, 2023
- ↑ Providence Journal, “Raimondo signs automatic voter registration bill into law,” August 1, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
