Rhode Island House of Representatives

Today, Rep. @ArtBHandy hosted eighth-graders from Park View Middle School at the State House. The students participated in mock legislative sessions, led by Rep. Handy, where they debated several bills.

Congratulations to @JoshuaJGiraldo, who received the Legislative Leadership for Rhode Island Children award today from @CFRI1834. Rep. Giraldo was recognized for his advocacy for home visiting programs and funding for services to support family stability.

From @SRINewspapers: “I told people a year and a half ago I wanted to do something about the Pawtuxet River,” Rep. Earl Read said. “This is important to residents, and I want to do what they want — that’s what they deserve.” That was what drove Read to introduce a House resolution earlier this year to create a special legislative commission to study the flooding of the Pawtuxet River. The resolution, which his fellow representatives passed unanimously, created a first-of-its-kind commission whose mission is to study and provide findings and potential solutions to address river flooding. “I’m very excited and proud of this commission,” Read said of the 11-member body, of which he is the chair and Rep. @TomNoret (D-Dist. 25, Coventry, West Warwick) is the vice chair. Full story: ricentral.com/kent_county_da…

Happening now: the Special Legislative Commission to Study and Provide Recommendations on the Water Supply Planning for New Housing Developments in Rural Communities, led by @CotterforRI, is meeting. The meeting is airing live on @RICapitolTV and is livestreaming at rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Page…, where are recording will be available to view on demand. The agenda is online: status.rilegislature.gov/doc… The meeting will include presentations from Sarah Racine of Charlestown Climate Resiliency Commission; commission member and Water Resources Board Acting Staff Director Hector Barreras and @universityofri geosciences professor Brian Savage; as well as commission member and URI professor of water resources and water quality Soni Pradhanang with URI Geoscience Department Chairman Thomas Boving.

From @projo: @Kathy35SK, who represents South Kingstown, said the health care giant is approaching "monopoly" status, at least locally, simultaneously tightening the belt as people have fewer alternatives. “We need to support these people, and they need to get a career contract," Fogarty said of the demonstrating employees. @tanzister, who represents portions of Narragansett and South Kingstown, said she has seen conditions decline at CVS recently, with pharmacists rarely available to speak with patients and patients now being asked to fill out personal and prescription information during pickup, a task that was previously completed by technicians or pharmacists themselves. She said the public is losing the "most accessible form of health care" as CVS absorbs more prescriptions from closed pharmacies and the company's practices change. “These are people who live and work in our community and that we’ve known for a long time,” Tanzi said. “It’s not hard for us to recognize that CVS is asking more of them, because they’re asking more of us when we come in to get a prescription. We’re helping build their bottom line by having us, the customer, the patient, do the work. We can see the techs and pharmacists running around like crazy to assist us and fill our prescriptions against a line that is never-ending.” Full story: providencejournal.com/story/…

Speaker @CBlazejewski was a featured speaker at the @RIPEC_ annual dinner last week. Multiple Representatives attended to see Jonathan Martin, Politics Bureau Chief and Senior Political Columnist at @politico, in conversation with Edward Fitzpatrick of @Globe_RI, share their thoughts on the political landscape heading into the upcoming midterm elections.

Today, @LGSabinaMatos and the RI Blue Star Moms joined state elected officials, the @RINationalGuard, @OSDRI_Vets, the United States Postal Service, @RIRedCross, and other community organizations to kick off the 24th annual Operation Holiday Cheer donation drive for military service members. Operation Holiday Cheer is an annual care package initiative for Rhode Island service members who will be stationed away from home during the holidays. This year, an estimated 300 care packages will be assembled and shipped during the weekend of November 21-22. More info about how to participate: ltgov.ri.gov/ohc#:~:text=Ope…

Rep. Cherie Cruz hosted a legislative visit and session for participants and staff of the Garden Time Green Reentry Program, which prepares incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and women for the workforce.

Today, Majority Leader @repkazarian, Rep. Jenni Furtado, and @RepMSDawson joined colleagues from the @RISenate and others for a tour of the “Tiny Townies” pre-K hub currently under construction at the new Martin Middle School in East Providence.

House Majority Leader @repkazarian and @OBrien2024forRI participated in a State House event with @DecodDyslexiaRI to celebrate #DyslexiaAwarenessMonth. In recognition of this event, the State House was lit up in red.

Earlier today, Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Sam Azzinaro hosted the families of the Rhode Island IX at a memorial service at the Rhode Island IX memorial. The Rhode Island IX are the nine Rhode Island Marines who were killed in the Beirut bombing attack on October 23, 1983: Sgt. Timothy Giblin of North Providence; Lance Cpl. Thomas Julian of Portsmouth; Cpl. James Silvia of Middletown; Cpl. Stephen Spencer of Portsmouth; Cpl. David Massa of Warren; Cpl. Edward Soares, Jr. of Tiverton; Cpl. Rick Crudale of West Warwick; Cpl. Edward Iacovino, Jr. of Warwick; and Cpl. Thomas Shipp of Woonsocket.

From @projo: I know nothing about politics. So something that was very intimidating, I had to conquer. With the right guidance and the right steps, we got it passed in seven months, and it got signed by the governor on June 13, 2025. @SenatorCiccone and @MASSforRep were my two biggest supporters, and I owe everything to them. I just think it was something that was overlooked. People need to take in consideration that what's easy for them may not be so easy for somebody else. A basic haircut for a regular senator is just literally hopping in the car, going in the barber chair of the same guy for 40 years. But imagine, like, 15 years down the road and he's in a wheelchair, how easy would that be for him? Full story: providencejournal.com/story/…

The @ncscouts are hosting the largest food drive for the @RIFoodBank! On October 31, Scouts will be handing out door hangers in every community in Rhode Island asking for non-perishable food items. Place those items out by 9 am on Saturday, November 7 – a Scout will come by and pick them up. You can also donate to the Food Bank directly by going to scoutingforfood.org