Jacob Ernest Bissaillon
Democratic · RI · Rhode Island State Senator, District 1
Democratic state senator for Providence and chief executive of Justice Assistance, a nonprofit serving people in the justice system. He chairs the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee and was chief of staff to the Senate President.
Where Jacob Ernest Bissaillon stands, based on their records
Supports
Healthcare Affordability (2 records), Environment and Public Health (6 records), Reduce Wealth Gap (1 record),
Opposes
Cost of Living Reduction (2 records), Government Spending Reduction (2 records)
Track record
Track record — Healthcare Affordability
Healthcare Affordability · 2 support
Sponsored a bill the Senate passed to stop Medicaid from requiring prior approval or 'fail first' steps for antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs.
April 2, 2026Supports Healthcare Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a new law that bars placing liens on a person's home because of medical debt.
July 1, 2025Supports Healthcare Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Environment and Public Health
Environment and Public Health · 6 support
Sponsored a bill passed by the General Assembly to make large battery energy storage systems easier to build on contaminated or abandoned land.
June 22, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: rilegislature.gov
Voted to ban plants that burn or chemically break down waste and plastics into fuel at the Quonset industrial park until June 2027. It passed the Senate 29-9.
June 10, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to make kratom legal to sell to adults 21 and over, with labeling rules and a ban on mixing it with harmful substances. It passed the Senate 23-10.
June 21, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to replace the 10-member coastal council with a 7-member board whose members must have environmental expertise. It passed the Senate 25-10.
June 20, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to require that cosmetic procedures at medical spas be done by a doctor or by staff a doctor supervises on site. It passed the Senate 28-9.
June 17, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to keep Rhode Island's supervised drug-use centers open two more years, to March 2028. The centers are meant to prevent overdose deaths. It passed the Senate 27-7.
May 13, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Reduce Wealth Gap
Reduce Wealth Gap · 1 support
Sponsored the Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act, signed by the governor. It protects families from losing inherited homes through forced sales.
June 23, 2026Supports Reduce Wealth Gap
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Labor Rights
Labor Rights · 2 support
Voted yes on a minimum wage bill (2025-H 5029). It passed the Senate 33-4.
June 18, 2025Supports Labor Rights
Source: votes.rilegislature.gov
Voted to treat a police officer's heart disease, stroke or high blood pressure as a job-related disability, as firefighters are already treated. It passed the Senate 29-8.
May 15, 2025Supports Labor Rights
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Cost of Living Reduction
Cost of Living Reduction · 2 oppose
Voted to let Providence raise its property tax levy by up to 8 percent in one year, above the usual state cap. It passed the Senate 28-7.
June 20, 2025Opposes Cost of Living Reduction
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to bury part of a high-voltage power line in Providence and East Providence. Electric customers in those two cities pay the extra cost through their bills. It passed the Senate 28-9.
June 18, 2025Opposes Cost of Living Reduction
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Immigration
Immigration · 1 support
Voted to keep federal immigration agents at least 200 feet from any polling place while voting is going on. It passed the Senate 29-8.
June 9, 2026Supports Immigration
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 2 oppose
Voted yes on the state budget for the 2027 fiscal year (2026-H 7127). It passed the Senate 32-6.
June 9, 2026Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: votes.rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a bill the Senate passed letting Providence ask voters to approve up to $25 million in bonds for affordable housing.
May 26, 2026Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Public Safety and Crime Control
Public Safety and Crime Control · 1 support
Voted to make it a crime for a prisoner to use force or a weapon to resist a lawful order from a corrections officer. It passed the Senate 25-13.
June 11, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties · 1 support
Sponsored a law signed by the governor that makes more people eligible to clear their criminal records through expungement.
June 29, 2026Supports Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Housing Affordability
Housing Affordability · 12 support
Sponsored a new law amending the Abandoned Properties Act so homes that are not abandoned are not taken into receivership.
June 26, 2026Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored the Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act, signed by the governor. It protects families from losing inherited homes through forced sales.
June 23, 2026Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a bill the Senate passed letting Providence ask voters to approve up to $25 million in bonds for affordable housing.
May 26, 2026Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a new law giving towns flexibility on the 4 percent property tax levy cap when new housing that meets affordability rules is built.
July 2, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a new law requiring cities and towns to allow homes in some or all of their commercial zoning districts.
July 1, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Voted to make towns answer a written zoning question within 20 days instead of 15, and to let the applicant appeal that answer. It passed the Senate 28-7.
June 21, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to require town zoning rules to allow attached single-family homes, such as townhouses, in designated districts. It passed the Senate 23-12.
June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to define co-living housing, where residents rent a private room and share a kitchen or bath, and let towns allow it. It passed the Senate 25-10.
June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to require town zoning rules to allow homes in commercial districts, including apartments above shops. It passed the Senate 25-10.
June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to require town zoning rules to allow housing other than detached single-family homes in sewered areas inside the urban services boundary. It passed the Senate 23-12.
June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legiscan.com
Sponsored a bill passed by the General Assembly to revive the state Housing and Conservation Board. The bill expanded the board from nine to 15 members.
June 12, 2025Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a bill passed by the General Assembly to change the inclusionary zoning law. That law lets towns require affordable units in new market-rate housing projects.
June 21, 2024Supports Housing Affordability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Gun Control
Gun Control · 2 support
Voted to ban the sale, manufacture and purchase of assault-style firearms in Rhode Island starting July 2026. It passed the Senate 25-11.
June 20, 2025Supports Gun Control
Source: legiscan.com
Voted yes on a Senate firearms bill (2024-S 2202). It passed the Senate 30-7.
June 6, 2024Supports Gun Control
Source: votes.rilegislature.gov
Track record — Election Integrity
Election Integrity · 1 support
Voted to keep federal immigration agents at least 200 feet from any polling place while voting is going on. It passed the Senate 29-8.
June 9, 2026Supports Election Integrity
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — Civil Rights
Civil Rights · 2 support
Voted yes on a bill about state and local cooperation with civil immigration enforcement (2026-S 3116). It passed the Senate 30-8.
June 3, 2026Supports Civil Rights
Source: votes.rilegislature.gov
Sponsored a bill the Senate passed to give every young person a hearing before being moved from Family Court to adult court.
May 29, 2025Supports Civil Rights
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Corporate Accountability
Corporate Accountability · 1 support
Sponsored a law regulating companies that sell home solar systems, which the governor signed. Sellers must register, run criminal checks on sales staff, and follow door-to-door sales limits.
June 11, 2024Supports Corporate Accountability
Source: rilegislature.gov
Track record — Public Infrastructure
Public Infrastructure · 3 support
Sponsored a bill passed by the General Assembly to make large battery energy storage systems easier to build on contaminated or abandoned land.
June 22, 2026Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: rilegislature.gov
Voted to bury part of a high-voltage power line in Providence and East Providence. Electric customers in those two cities pay the extra cost through their bills. It passed the Senate 28-9.
June 18, 2025Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: legiscan.com
Voted to let Rhode Island's electric utility buy nuclear power and sign long-term contracts for it. It passed the Senate 23-14.
June 18, 2025Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: legiscan.com
Track record — General
General · 1 record
Sponsored a law on state intervention in struggling schools. It limits that intervention to up to two schools in one district at a time.
July 1, 2025
Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov
Past race Jacob Ernest Bissaillon ran in:
- Senator in General Assembly · November 3, 2026 · State Senate District 1; Rhode Island · incumbent