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Rhode Island Senate
Upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly
Upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| background_color | ||
| name | Rhode Island Senate | |
| coa_pic | File:Rhode_Island_Senate_Logo.png | |
| coa_caption | Seal of the Rhode Island Senate | |
| session_room | RI State Senate chamber IMG 3031.JPG | |
| session_res | 240px | |
| house_type | Upper house | |
| body | Rhode Island General Assembly | |
| term_limits | None | |
| new_session | January 7, 2025 | |
| leader1_type | President | |
| leader1 | Valarie Lawson (D) | |
| election1 | April 29, 2025 | |
| leader2_type | President pro tempore | |
| leader2 | Hanna Gallo (D) | |
| election2 | January 5, 2021 | |
| leader3_type | Majority Leader | |
| leader3 | Frank Ciccone (D) | |
| election3 | April 29, 2025 | |
| leader4_type | Minority Leader | |
| leader4 | Jessica de la Cruz (R) | |
| election4 | August 2, 2022 | |
| term_length | 2 years | |
| authority | Article VI, Constitution of Rhode Island | |
| salary | $19,036/year | |
| members | 38 | |
| structure1 | ||
| redistricting | Legislative Control | |
| * | border | silver}} Vacant (1)}}-- |
| voting_system1 | First-past-the-post | |
| last_election1 | November 5, 2024 | |
| next_election1 | November 3, 2026 | |
| meeting_place | Senate Chamber | |
| Rhode Island State Capitol | ||
| Providence, Rhode Island | ||
| website | Rhode Island Senate |
Majority (34)
Minority (4)
Rhode Island State Capitol Providence, Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of whom is elected to a two-year term. Rhode Island is one of the 14 states where its upper house serves at a two-year cycle, rather than the normal four-year term as in most states. There is no limit to the number of terms that a Senator may serve. The Rhode Island Senate meets at the Rhode Island State Capitol in Providence.
Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to executive departments, commissions and boards and Justices to the Rhode Island Judiciary.
Senate leadership
The President of the Senate presides over the body, appointing members to all of the Senate's committees and joint committees, and may create other committees and subcommittees if desired. Unlike most other states, the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island does not preside over the Senate, and is instead active in other areas such as state commissions on health and businesses. In the Senate President's absence, the President Pro Tempore presides.
Democratic leadership
- Valarie Lawson (D) - President of the Senate
- Frank Ciccone (D) – Majority Leader
Republican leadership
- Jessica de la Cruz (R) – Minority Leader
- Gordon Rogers (R) – Minority Whip
Committees
| Committee | Chair | Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies | Commerce | Education | Environment and Agriculture | Finance | Health and Human Services | Housing and Municipal Government | Judiciary | Labor and Gaming | Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight | Special Legislation and Veterans' Affairs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Gu (D) | |||||||||||||
| Robert Britto (D) | |||||||||||||
| Hanna Gallo (D) | |||||||||||||
| V. Susan Sosnowski (D) | |||||||||||||
| Louis DiPalma (D) | |||||||||||||
| Melissa Murray (D) | |||||||||||||
| Jake Bissaillon (D) | |||||||||||||
| Matthew LaMountain (D) | |||||||||||||
| John Burke (D) | |||||||||||||
| Mark McKenney (D) | |||||||||||||
| Walter Felag (D) |
Make-up of the Senate
:2025–2027 Legislative Session
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | Democratic | Republican | Ind | Vacant | 2011-2012 | 38 | 2013-2014 | 38 | Begin 2015 | 38 | 2015-2016 | Begin 2017 | 38 | 2017-2019 | Begin 2019 | 38 | Begin 2023 | 38 | Begin 2025 | 38 | April 21, 2025 | 37 | August 5, 2025 | 38 | Latest voting share | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party (United States)}}" | Republican Party (United States)}}" | Independent}}" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 | 8 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 34 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 34 | 0 |
Members of the Rhode Island Senate
| District | Senator | Party | Municipalities represented | Counties | First elected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Bissaillon | Dem | Providence | Providence | 2023* | |
| 2 | Ana Quezada | Dem | Providence | Providence | 2016 | |
| 3 | Sam Zurier | Dem | Providence | Providence | 2021* | |
| 4 | Stefano Famiglietti | Dem | Providence, North Providence | Providence | 2025* | |
| 5 | Sam Bell | Dem | Providence | Providence | 2018 | |
| 6 | Tiara Mack | Dem | Providence | Providence | 2020 | |
| 7 | Frank Ciccone | Dem | Johnston, Providence | Providence | 2002 | |
| 8 | Lori Urso | Dem | Pawtucket | Providence | 2024 | |
| 9 | John Burke | Dem | West Warwick | Kent | 2020 | |
| 10 | Walter Felag | Dem | Bristol, Tiverton, Warren | Bristol, Newport | 1998 | |
| 11 | Linda Ujifusa | Dem | Bristol, Portsmouth | Bristol, Newport | 2022 | |
| 12 | Louis DiPalma | Dem | Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton | Newport | 2008 | |
| 13 | Dawn Euer | Dem | Newport, Jamestown | Newport | 2017* | |
| 14 | Valarie Lawson | Dem | East Providence | Providence | 2018 | |
| 15 | Meghan Kallman | Dem | Pawtucket, Providence | Providence | 2020 | |
| 16 | Jonathon Acosta | Dem | Central Falls, Pawtucket | Providence | 2020 | |
| 17 | Thomas Paolino | Rep | Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield | Providence | 2016 | |
| 18 | Robert Britto | Dem | East Providence, Pawtucket | Providence | 2022 | |
| 19 | Ryan W. Pearson | Dem | Cumberland, Lincoln | Providence | 2012 | |
| 20 | Brian Thompson | Dem | Woonsocket, Cumberland | Providence | 2024 | |
| 21 | Gordon Rogers | Rep | Coventry, Foster, Scituate, West Greenwich | Kent, Providence | 2018 | |
| 22 | David Tikoian | Dem | Smithfield, Lincoln, North Providence | Providence | 2022 | |
| 23 | Jessica de la Cruz | Rep | Burrillville, Glocester, North Smithfield | Providence | 2018 | |
| 24 | Melissa Murray | Dem | North Smithfield, Woonsocket | Providence | 2018 | |
| 25 | Andrew Dimitri | Dem | Johnston | Providence | 2024 | |
| 26 | Todd Patalano | Dem | Cranston | Providence | 2024 | |
| 27 | Hanna Gallo | Dem | Cranston, West Warwick | Kent, Providence | 1998 | |
| 28 | Lammis Vargas | Dem | Cranston, Providence | Providence | 2024 | |
| 29 | Pete Appollonio | Dem | Warwick | Kent | 2024 | |
| 30 | Mark McKenney | Dem | Warwick | Kent | 2018 | |
| 31 | Matthew LaMountain | Dem | Cranston, Warwick | Kent, Providence | 2022 | |
| 32 | Pamela J. Lauria | Dem | Barrington, Bristol, East Providence | Bristol | 2022 | |
| 33 | Leonidas Raptakis | Dem | Coventry, West Greenwich | Kent | 2012 | |
| (1996-2010) | ||||||
| 34 | Elaine J. Morgan | Rep | Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond, West Greenwich | Kent, Washington | 2014 | |
| 35 | Bridget Valverde | Dem | East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Narragansett, South Kingstown | Kent, Washington | 2018 | |
| 36 | Alana DiMario | Dem | Narragansett, New Shoreham, North Kingstown | Washington | 2020 | |
| 37 | V. Susan Sosnowski | Dem | South Kingstown | Washington | 1996 | |
| 38 | Victoria Gu | Dem | Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly | Washington | 2022 |
: *Senator was elected in a special election
Past composition of the Senate
Main article: Political party strength in Rhode Island
Notes
References
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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