Rhode Island House of Representatives
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]
Rhode Island House of Representatives | |
---|---|
Rhode Island General Assembly | |
Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 1, 2019 |
Leadership | |
Speaker | |
Speaker pro Tempore | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | Blake Filippi (R) since November 7, 2018 |
Structure | |
Seats | 75 |
Political groups | Majority
Minority |
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 |
Leadership of the House
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 Democrat Nicholas A. Mattiello. He was elected as Speaker of the House by his House colleagues on March 25, 2014. First elected in November 2006 to Represent District 15 in Cranston & he served as the House Majority Leader from February 2010 until becoming Speaker. He replaced former Speaker Gordon D. Fox of District 4 (Providence), who was found to have stolen $108,000 in campaign contributions and accepted $52,000 in bribes.[2][3] The Speaker pro Tempore is Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Hopkinton). K. Joseph Shekarchi (D) was elected by his fellow Democrats as the House Majority Leader on November 10, 2016. It is the second ranking position in the House Leadership after the Speaker. He has served the residents of District 23 in Warwick since being elected in November 2012. 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.
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 | ||||
2017-2018[4] | 64 | 11 | 0 | 75 | 0 | |
Beginning of 2019 session | 66 | 9 | 0 | 75 | 0 | |
June 23, 2020[5] | 8 | 1 | ||||
Latest voting share | 88% | 10.7% | 1.3% |
Officers
Position | Representative | Party | District |
---|---|---|---|
Speaker of the House | Joe Shekarchi | Dem | 23 |
Speaker pro Tempore | Brian Patrick Kennedy | Dem | 38 |
Majority Leader | Christopher Blazejewski | Dem | 2 |
Majority Whip | John 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.[6]
Past composition of the House of Representatives
References
- "RI House of Representatives". Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- "Former Rhode Island House Speaker and Providence Licensing Board Vice Chairman Gordon Fox to Plead Guilty in Federal Court to Wire Fraud, Bribery, and Tax Evasion". FBI. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- "A new speaker in the R.I. House: Mattiello voted in to replace Fox". Providence Journal. March 25, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- Rep. Blake Filippi switched parties from Independent to Republican before the start of session.
- John Lyle Jr. (District 46) left the Republican Party.
- "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