Rhode Island House of Representatives

Rhode Island
House of Representatives
Rhode Island; House of Representatives
Rhode Island General Assembly
Type
Type	Lower House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 5, 2021
Leadership
Speaker	Joe Shekarchi (D) ; since January 5, 2021
Majority Leader	Christopher Blazejewski (D) ; since January 5, 2021
Minority Leader	Blake Filippi (R) ; since November 7, 2018
Structure
Seats	75
Political groups	Majority Democratic (65); Minority Republican (10);
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article VI, Constitution of Rhode Island
Salary	Representative: $15,414 per year; Speaker of the House: $30,158 per year
Elections
Last election	November 3, 2020; (75 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2022; (75 seats)
Meeting place
	House of Representatives Chamber; Rhode Island State Capitol; Providence, Rhode Island
Website
	Rhode Island House of Representatives

Coordinates: 41°49′52″N 71°25′02″W / 41.8310574°N 71.4171443°W / 41.8310574; -71.4171443

The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected to two year terms from 75 districts of equal population. The Rhode Island General Assembly does not have term limits. The House meets at the Rhode Island State Capitol in Providence.^[1]

House leadership[]

The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. As well as presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber.

The current Speaker of the House is K. Joseph Shekarchi (D), who was elected Speaker of the House by his House colleagues on January 5, 2021.^[2] From November 2016 through 2020, he served as House Majority Leader, and he was previously Chairman of the House Labor Committee. He has served the residents of District 23 in Warwick since first being elected in November 2012.^[3]

The current Majority Leader is Christopher Blazejewski, who was elected by his Democratic colleagues to serve as the House Majority Leader in November 2020 after having served as Deputy Majority Whip since May 2015.^[4] The position of Majority Leader is the second ranking position in the House Leadership after the Speaker.

Representative Charlene Lima (D-Dist. 14, Cranston, Providence) serves as Deputy Speaker.^[5]

The Speaker pro Tempore is Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Hopkinton).

The Republican Minority Leader is Blake A. Filippi of District 36 which includes all of Block Island and Charlestown, and portions of Westerly and South Kingstown. He was elected House Minority Leader, the highest ranking Republican in the House, in November 2018.

Committee leadership[]

Committee	Chair	First Vice Chair	Second Vice Chair
Conduct	Camille Vella-Wilkinson		Deborah Fellela
Corporations	Joseph J. Solomon Jr.	William O’Brien	Justine Caldwell
Education	Joseph McNamara		Gregg Amore
Environment and Natural Resources	David Bennett	Robert Phillips	William O’Brien
Finance	Marvin Abney	Scott A. Slater	Alex Marszalkowski
Health and Human Services	Stephen Casey	James N. McLaughlin	Susan Donovan
Innovation, Internet and Technology	Deborah Ruggiero	Arthur Handy
Judiciary	Robert Craven	Carol McEntee
Labor	Anastasia Williams	Mary Messier	Karen Alzate
Municipal Government and Housing	Raymond Hull
Oversight	Patricia Serpa	Julie Casimiro
Rules	Arthur Corvese	William O’Brien	Camille Vella-Wilkinson
Small Business	Carol McEntee	Gregory Costantino	Terri-Denise Cortvriend
Special Legislation		Grace Diaz
State Government and Elections		Mary Messier	Arthur Corvese
Veterans' Affairs	Samuel Azzinaro		James N. McLaughlin

All chairs and vice chairs are members of the Democratic Party.^[6]

Composition[]

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Republican	Independent		Vacant
End of 2014 session	69	6	0	75	0

Beginning of 2015 session	63	11	1	75	0
End of 2016 session	62	12	1	75	0

2017-2018^[7]	64	11	0	75	0

Beginning of 2019 session	66	9	0	75	0
June 23, 2020^[8]	66	8	1	75	0
Beginning of 2021 session	65	10	0	75	0
Latest voting share	86.7%	13.3%	0%	75	0

Officers[]

Position	Representative	Party	District
Speaker of the House	Joe Shekarchi	Dem	23
Majority Leader	Christopher Blazejewski	Dem	2
Majority Whip	Katherine Kazarian	Dem	63
Deputy Majority Whip	Mia Ackerman	Dem	45
Majority Caucus Chair	Grace Diaz	Dem	11
Deputy Speaker of the House	Charlene Lima	Dem	14
Speaker Pro Tempore	Brian Patrick Kennedy	Dem	38
Majority Floor Manager	Jay Edwards	Dem	70
Minority Leader	Blake Filippi	Rep	36
Minority Whip	Michael Chippendale	Rep	40
Senior Deputy Minority Leader	Justin K. Price	Rep	39

Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives[]

This list is of members elected in November 2020, to serve in the 2021–22 biennium.^[9]

District	Representative	Party	Residence/other municipalities in district	First elected
1	Edith Ajello	Dem	Providence	1992
2	Christopher Blazejewski	Dem	Providence	2010
3	Nathan Biah	Dem	Providence	2020
4	Rebecca Kislak	Dem	Providence	2018
5	Marcia Ranglin-Vassell	Dem	Providence	2016
6	Raymond Hull	Dem	Providence	2010
7	David Morales	Dem	Providence	2020
8	John J. Lombardi	Dem	Providence	2012
9	Anastasia P. Williams	Dem	Providence	1992
10	Scott A. Slater	Dem	Providence	2009
11	Grace Diaz	Dem	Providence	2004
12	Jose Batista	Dem	Providence	2020
13	Ramon Perez	Dem	Providence, Johnston	2020 (2016-2018)
14	Charlene Lima	Dem	Cranston, Providence	1992
15	Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung	Rep	Cranston	2020
16	Brandon Potter	Dem	Cranston	2020
17	Jacquelyn Baginski	Dem	Cranston	2020
18	Arthur Handy	Dem	Cranston	2002
19	Joseph McNamara	Dem	Warwick	1992
20	David Bennett	Dem	Warwick	2010
21	Camille Vella-Wilkinson	Dem	Warwick	2016
22	Joseph J. Solomon Jr.	Dem	Warwick	2014
23	Joe Shekarchi	Dem	Warwick	2012
24		Dem	Warwick	2016
25		Dem	Coventry	2018
26	Patricia Morgan	Rep	West Warwick	2020 (2010-2018)
27	Patricia Serpa	Dem	West Warwick	2006
28	George Nardone	Rep	Coventry	2018
29	Sherry Roberts	Rep	Coventry	2014
30	Justine Caldwell	Dem	East Greenwich	2018
31	Julie Casimiro	Dem	North Kingstown, Exeter	2016
32	Robert Craven	Dem	North Kingstown	2012
33	Carol McEntee	Dem	Narragansett, South Kingstown	2015
34	Teresa Tanzi	Dem	Narragansett, South Kingstown	2010
35		Dem	South Kingstown	2014
36	Blake Filippi	Rep	Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly	2014
37	Samuel Azzinaro	Dem	Westerly	2008
38	Brian Patrick Kennedy	Dem	Westerly, Hopkinton	1988
39	Justin K. Price	Rep	Richmond, Exeter, Hopkinton	2014
40	Michael Chippendale	Rep	Coventry, Foster, Glocester	2010
41		Rep	Scituate	2016
42		Dem	Johnston	2020
43	Deborah Fellela	Dem	Johnston	2006
44	Gregory Costantino	Dem	Lincoln	2012
45	Mia Ackerman	Dem	Cumberland, Lincoln	2012
46	Mary Ann Shallcross Smith	Dem	Lincoln	2020 (2008-2010)
47		Rep	Burrillville, Glocester	2018
48	Brian Newberry	Rep	North Smithfield
49		Dem	Woonsocket
50	Stephen Casey	Dem	Woonsocket
51	Robert Phillips	Dem	Woonsocket
52	Alex Marszalkowski	Dem	Cumberland
53		Dem	Smithfield
54	William O'Brien	Dem	North Providence
55	Arthur “Doc” Corvese	Dem	North Providence
56		Dem	Central Falls
57	James N. McLaughlin	Dem	Central Falls
58		Dem	Pawtucket
59		Dem	Pawtucket
60	Karen Alzate	Dem	Pawtucket
61	Leonela Felix	Dem	Pawtucket
62	Mary Messier	Dem	Pawtucket
63	Katherine Kazarian	Dem	East Providence
64		Dem	East Providence
65	Gregg Amore	Dem	East Providence
66	Liana Cassar	Dem	Barrington, East Providence
67		Dem	Warren
68		Dem	Warren
69	Susan R. Donovan	Dem	Bristol
70	John Edwards	Dem	Tiverton
71		Dem	Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton
72	Terri-Denise Cortvriend	Dem	Middletown, Portsmouth
73	Marvin Abney	Dem	Middletown, Newport
74	Deb Ruggiero	Dem	Jamestown, Middletown
75	Lauren H. Carson	Dem	Newport

Past composition of the House of Representatives[]

References[]

^ "RI House of Representatives". Retrieved February 2, 2015.
^ "Rep. Joe Shekarchi becomes next Rhode Island House Speaker". AP NEWS. January 5, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ Rep. Blake Filippi switched parties from Independent to Republican before the start of session. [1]
^ Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John (December 31, 2010). "An Integrated International Approach to Arctic Ocean Observations for Society (A Legacy of the International Polar Year)". Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society. European Space Agency: 141–153. doi:10.5270/oceanobs09.cwp.14. ISBN 978-3-86987-200-1. Missing |author2= (help)
^ "RI House of Representatives elections, 2016". Retrieved March 8, 2017.

External links[]

Rhode Island House of Representatives official government website
Map of Rhode Island State House Districts
State House of Rhode Island at Project Vote Smart

[1] "RI House of Representatives". Retrieved February 2, 2015.

[2] "Rep. Joe Shekarchi becomes next Rhode Island House Speaker". AP NEWS. January 5, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[3] "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[4] "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[5] "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[6] "State of Rhode Island General Assembly". State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

[7] Rep. Blake Filippi switched parties from Independent to Republican before the start of session. [1]

[8] Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John; Calder, John (December 31, 2010). "An Integrated International Approach to Arctic Ocean Observations for Society (A Legacy of the International Polar Year)". Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society. European Space Agency: 141–153. doi:10.5270/oceanobs09.cwp.14. ISBN 978-3-86987-200-1. Missing |author2= (help)

[9] "RI House of Representatives elections, 2016". Retrieved March 8, 2017.

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show v t Current members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi (D) Speaker pro tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D) Majority Leader Christopher Blazejewski (D) Minority Leader Blake Filippi (R)
Edith Ajello (D) Chris Blazejewski (D) Nathan Biah (D) Rebecca Kislak (D) Marcia Ranglin-Vassell (D) Raymond Hull (D) David Morales (D) John J. Lombardi (D) Anastasia Williams (D) Scott Slater (D) Grace Diaz (D) Jose Batista (D) Mario Mendez (D) Charlene Lima (D) Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (R) Brandon Potter (D) Jacquelyn Baginski (D) Arthur Handy (D) Joseph McNamara (D) David Bennett (D) Camille Vella-Wilkinson (D) Joseph Solomon (D) Joe Shekarchi (D) (D) (D) (D) Patricia Serpa (D) George Nardone (R) Sherry Roberts (R) Justine Caldwell (D) Julie Casimiro (D) Robert Craven (D) Carol McEntee (D) Teresa Tanzi (D) (D) Blake Filippi (R) Samuel Azzinaro (D) Brian Patrick Kennedy (D) Justin K. Price (R) Mike Chippendale (R) (R) Stephen Ucci (D) Deborah Fellela (D) Greg Constantino (D) Mia Ackerman (D) (R) (R) Brian Newberry (R) Michael Morin (D) Stephen Casey (D) Robert Phillips (D) Alex Marszalkowski (D) (D) William O'Brien (D) Arthur Corvese (D) (D) James McLaughlin (D) (D) (D) Karen Alzate (D) Leonela Felix (D) Mary Messier (D) Katherine Kazarian (D) (D) Gregg Amore (D) Liana Cassar (D) (D) (D) Susan Donovan (D) John Edwards (D) Dennis Canario (D) Terri Cortvriend (D) Marvin Abney (D) Deb Ruggiero (D) Lauren Carson (D)
Democratic (65) Republican (10) Rhode Island General Assembly Rhode Island House of Representatives Rhode Island Senate

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