Rhode Island Senate

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The Rhode Island Senate chamber in the State Capitol

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. 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 the majority of states. There is no limit to the number of terms that a Senator may serve. The Rhode Island Senate meet 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, boards, or justices to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

1 Senate leadership
- 1.1 Leadership positions
- 1.2 Committee leadership
2 Make-up of the Senate
3 Other senators
4 Employees of the Senate
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] 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 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.

The current President of the Senate is Democrat Joseph A. Montalbano of District 17 (Pawtucket, North Providence, Lincoln). The Senate Majority Leader is M. Teresa Paiva-Weed of District 13 (Newport, Jamestown). The Senate Minority Leader is Dennis L. Algiere of District 38 (Westerly, Charlestown).

[edit] Leadership positions

Joseph A. Montalbano (D)- President of the Senate
John C. Revens, Jr. (D) - President Pro Tempore
M. Teresa Paiva-Weed (D) - Senate Majority Leader
Dennis L. Algiere (R) - Senate Minority Leader
Dominick J. Ruggerio (D) - Majority Whip
Kevin A. Breene (R) - Minority Whip

[edit] Committee leadership

Stephen D. Alves (D) - Committee on Finance
Roger R. Badeau (D) - Committee on Labor
Daniel P. Connors (D) - Committee on Rules
Maryellen Goodwin (D) - Committee on Constitutional & Gaming Issues
Daniel J. Issa (D) - Committee on Education
J. Michael Lenihan (D) - Committee on Government Oversight
Michael J. McCaffrey (D) - Committee on the Judiciary
Rhoda E. Perry (D) - Committee on Health & Human Services
V. Susan Sosnowski (D) - Committee on the Environment & Agriculture
John J. Tassoni, Jr. (D) - Committee on the Commerce, Housing & Municipal
William A. Walaska (D) - Committee on Financial Services, Technology & Regulatory Issues

[edit] Make-up of the Senate

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	33
	Republican Party	5
Total		38
Government Majority		28

[edit] Other senators

David E. Bates (R)
Leo R. Blais (R)
Frank A. Ciccone III (D)
Marc A. Cote (D)
Daniel DaPonte (D)
James E. Doyle II (D)
Walter S. Felag, Jr. (D)
Paul W. Fogarty (D)
Hanna M. Gallo (D)
June N. Gibbs (R)
Paul V. Jabour (D)
Beatrice A. Lanzi (D)
Charles J. Levesque (D)
Christopher B. Maselli (D)
John F. McBurney III (D)
Harold M. Metts (D)
Joshua Miller (D)
Paul E. Moura (D)
Juan M. Pichardo (D)
Leonidas P. Raptakis (D)
James C. Sheehan (D)

[edit] Employees of the Senate

Raymond T. "Chip" Hoyas - Secretary of the Senate/Deputy Chief of Staff
John Baxter - Reading Clerk/Director of Constituent Services
Peter Simone - Director of Pages & Doorkeepers
R. David Cruise - Senate Chief of Staff
Greg Pare - Senate Public Relations Director
Lynn Bergin - Executive Assistant to the Senate President
William Carnes - Legal Council to the Senate President
Joyce Urban - Legislative Assistant

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Rhode Island Senate
Map of Rhode Island Senate Districts (Antiquated Maps)

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Local governments

	State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence (capital)
Topics	Culture \| Geography \| Government \| History \| Images
Regions	Blackstone Valley \| Block Island \| East Bay \| Newport County \| Providence \| South County \| Warwick/West Bay
Counties	Bristol \| Kent \| Newport \| Providence \| Washington
Cities	Central Falls \| Cranston \| East Providence \| Newport \| Pawtucket \| Providence \| Warwick \| Woonsocket
Towns	Barrington \| Bristol \| Burrillville \| Charlestown \| Coventry \| Cumberland \| East Greenwich \| Exeter \| Foster \| Glocester \| Hopkinton \| Jamestown \| Johnston \| Lincoln \| Little Compton \| Middletown \| Narragansett \| New Shoreham (Block Island) \| North Kingstown \| North Providence \| North Smithfield \| Portsmouth \| Richmond \| Scituate \| Smithfield \| South Kingstown \| Tiverton \| Warren \| West Greenwich \| West Warwick \| Westerly
Reservations	Narragansett Indian Tribe