R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 42-87 § 42-87-2

(a) No otherwise qualified person with a disability shall, solely by reason of the person's
disability, be subject to discrimination by any person or entity doing business in
the state; nor shall any otherwise qualified person with a disability be excluded
from participation in or denied the benefits of any program, activity, or service
of, or, by any person or entity regulated, by the state or having received financial
assistance from the state or under any program or activity conducted by the state,
its agents, or any entity doing business with the state.


(b) Provided, if any provision or provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, prohibiting discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs
or activities, codified at 29 U.S.C. § 794, and any implementing regulations relating to prohibiting this discrimination, are
determined by the Rhode Island commission for human rights and the governor's commission
on disabilities, to have been repealed or to have been declared invalid or nullified
by the final judgment of a federal court applicable to the state or by executive or
administrative action, which shall be deemed to include an action of the federal executive
or judicial branch that nullifies the effectiveness of 29 U.S.C. § 794 in prohibiting discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs or
activities, then the following shall apply:


(1) Discrimination prohibited under this chapter shall continue to include those acts
prohibited on the basis of disability by 29 U.S.C. § 794, and any implementing regulations, as those regulations were in effect as of the
date immediately prior to date of the repeal, revocation, or nullification.


(2) The provisions of this section shall be interpreted broadly and to the fullest extent
possible under state and federal law, in order to continue the protections afforded
persons with disabilities under this chapter and throughout the general laws of the
state.