PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island House of Representatives has voted in favor of allowing parrots, parakeets and similar birds onto state-owned campgrounds.
The House voted 72-1 to pass the bill Tuesday. It now moves to the state Senate.
The legislation is part of a yearslong fight over letting a 23-year-old cockatoo named Tootsie onto Rhode Island campsites.
An earlier proposal was vetoed by then-Gov. Lincoln Chafee, a Democrat, in 2012. A second attempt stalled in the legislature in 2015.
Democratic state Rep. Evan Shanley said earlier this year he found a compromise after meeting with the state veterinarian and environmental officials and removing language that would have also allowed gerbils, turtles and goldfish.
