PROVIDENCE — If you’re planning to vote this September, you might want to mark your calendar.

The House last night passed a bill that would, if approved by the Senate, require all polling places statewide to close at 8 p.m. instead of the regular 9 p.m. cutoff that’s been in effect for decades.

The goal is to make Election Day less taxing for poll workers and local boards of canvassers while allowing Rhode Islanders to find out the results of local and national elections at a more reasonable hour.

Bill sponsor John Patrick Shanley Jr., D-South Kingstown, said communities are having increasing difficulty recruiting poll workers for a day that begins before breakfast and ends close to bedtime.

Nationally, Rhode Island is one of just two states –– the other being Iowa –– that keep polls open until 9 p.m. The polls in this state close a full hour later than any other New England state.

Shanley and local officials say the number of voters who cast ballots between 8 and 9 p.m. isn’t sufficient to justify the late closures.

House lawmakers last night approved the proposal in a 53-10 vote with no discussion. The legislation now moves to the Senate.

Polling places were just one of several items House legislators passed last night. Also in the spotlight were military families, musical con artists and even religious wine.

A Republican-backed bill that would allow spouses or parents of active-duty military service people to obtain unpaid leave from work saw unanimous approval. The Senate passed an identical bill on Wednesday and both chambers are expected to take up the other version next week.

The idea is to allow family members who have exhausted their vacation and personal time to take up to 15 days of unpaid leave provided they work for an organization with more than 15 employees, and up to 30 days if they work for an organization with more than 30 employees.

“We’re not asking employers to pay anything, it just gives them an opportunity to take some time out of work,” said sponsor Rep. Victor Moffitt, R-Coventry.

House freshman Frank G. Ferri, D-Warwick, sparked some of the evening’s most spirited debate when he asked if the proposal would apply to domestic partners as well as spouses. Ferri, who is openly gay, said he supported the bill, but wanted to see it open to all active duty service people. Lawmakers ultimately passed the legislation as is.

The House also approved the music-related bill made famous this session by a visit from Jon “Bowser” Bauman, the former baritone singer of the doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na.

The plan would regulate the confusing and often illegal use of a musical group’s name in deceiving the concert-going public. Musicians would only be allowed to bill themselves under a group’s name if their performing ensemble includes at least one member of the recording group.

And then there was the red wine. Having passed the House last year but dried up in the Senate, the proposal to allow the sale of sacramental wine won unanimous House approval last night. If passed by the Senate, the law would allow Rhode Island’s religious supply stores to sell religious wine that liquor stores generally don’t stock, eliminating the need for out-of-state purchases by the clergy.

cneedham@projo.com