Published on Monday, June 15, 2026
PROVIDENCE, RI — Multiple news outlets have covered the news that Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos's bill to end "scorched-earth" restrictive covenants has passed the General Assembly:
Matos hopes the new legislation will bring new grocery stores to Rhode Island, especially in Woonsocket, where she found that restrictive covenants contributed to barriers to healthy food access and left 45,000 residents with one full-scale grocery store within city limits.
“The passage of this bill will be a major step forward for Rhode Island in attracting new grocery providers and lowering prices through health competition. We’ve talked to family-owned grocers, both big and small, and all of them have been excited to learn that Rhode Island is going to bat against corporate bullies in their industry. Now, we’re going to work to take advantage of this opportunity and ensure every community has access to multiple affordable grocery options,” Matos wrote in a statement.
Matos has found seven covenants stretching from Woonsocket to Westerly, with some provisions stating the restrictions would last up to 75 years, and cases in which large retailers remained bound to leases on vacant sites while operating nearby stores in rural communities.
The full article by Jonmaesha Beltran is available to read here: https://ecori.org/r-i-lawmakers-send-grocery-restrictive-covenant-bill-to-governors-desk/
A bill to outlaw restrictive covenants that grocery stores use to limit competition, even long after they've left a community, is headed to the governor's desk.
Part of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos' "Fair Price Grocery Agenda," the Senate version of the bill, S 2644, passed on May 5, nearly unanimously. The bill passed the House on June 8 and was sent to Gov. Dan McKee's desk to become law.
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“When I first learned about how superstores were using restrictive covenants to create food deserts in Rhode Island, I couldn’t believe it was legal. I knew we had to take action and protect our communities from corporate bullies," Matos wrote.
With the elimination of new covenants, Matos wants to focus this summer on finding grocers to open new stories for underserved communities, and protecting the businesses of existing stores "who are existentially threatened by the Trump administration’s SNAP changes.”
The full article by Wheeler Cowperthwaite and Antonia Noori Farzan is available to read here: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/grocery/stores/2026/06/10/grocery-stores-wont-be-able-to-use-deeds-to-stifle-competition-as-new-bill-passes/90496204007/
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