Type Lower House New session started January 3, 2017 | Term limits None | |
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Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello (D)
Since March 25, 2014 Speaker pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D)
Since January 12, 2017 Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi (D)
Since November 10, 2016 | ||
The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Rhode Island. 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.
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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 is 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. 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 Patricia Morgan of District 26 (West Warwick). She was elected House Minority Leader, the highest ranking Republican in the House, in November 2016 six years after first being elected to the House.
Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
This list is of members elected in November 2016, to serve in the 2017–18 biennium.