State senators serve in the in the Rhode Island Senate, one of two chambers in Rhode Island’s General Assembly. Rhode Island senators serve on committees, introduce bills and enact laws, and confirm judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments. They are elected every two years. There are 38 state senators in Rhode Island and each senator represents approximately 27,000 Rhode Islanders.
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I have been proud to work alongside many partners in the Senate to enact a series of legislation to improve access to health care and address the primary care crisis. Most directly, I sponsored legislation that will create a primary-care focused public medical school at URI. I also sponsored, and will reintroduce, a bill to strengthen South County Hospital. Other steps I have supported include increasing primary care reimbursement rates to keep Rhode Island competitive with neighboring states, improving access to prescriptions, and investing in proven mental health strategies. Health care is complex, and no one bill or package of bills will solve our challenges. I look forward to continuing to work on this important issue.
Rhode Islanders are struggling under the weight of inflation and having trouble making ends meet, While many of the root causes of this are due to national and global forces well beyond our local control, I will continue to look for ways we can work on the state level to reduce costs for Rhode Islanders. Among the steps we have taken are: improving the tax code so that less of the share of the burden falls on those at the low-and middle- income levels; creating Rhode Island's first child tax credit; increase the minimum wage to $17 and hour as of January 2027; and eliminating taxes on Social Security. I have also sponsored legislation, which I plan to reintroduce, to assist Rhode Islanders struggling to afford their utility bills.
The administration of our elections is unequivocally under the constitutional authority of the states. I wholeheartedly support the work of Secretary of State Greg Amore in his efforts to prevent federal meddling in our safe and secure elections, prevent intimidation of lawful voters, and push back against those who would undermine confidence in the process. While the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act did not come before me for a vote this year, I am confident that it will be brought to the Senate floor next year, and I look forward to voting for these important safeguards. I also was proud to support measures such as prohibiting ICE at the polling locations.
Among the major challenges facing our state are: affordability of housing, goods and services; accessibility of health care, particularly primary care; strengthening our mental health care system; stewardship of our environment and natural resources; investment in public pre-K-12 education as well as URI; sustainable road and bridge infrastructure; supporting our local agriculture and seafood industries and local small businesses. These are the challenges facing our state that I have submitted legislation to address, and that I hope to continue working to address in the Senate on behalf of the people of South Kingstown.
The three actions I support to strengthen democracy are:
Passage of the Rhode Island Voting Rights Act, which will codify many of the protections of the federal Voting Rights Act into state law and protect the rights of all Rhode Islanders to vote;
Investment in a strong education system, from pre-k through higher ed, including quality civic education, because an informed electorate is such an important part of a strong representational democracy;
Together with all my fellow Rhode Islanders and fellow Americans, rejecting the ugly politics that undermine free and fair elections for a particular candidate's own political gain, such as intimidation of voters at the polls or sowing seeds of doubt on our safe, fraud-free mail ballot system
