Longtime majority leader Ruggerio inherits gavel
Democrat elected unanimously to succeed Paiva Weed
PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Senate on Thursday tapped longtime legislative experience when it named Sen. Dominick J. Ruggerio as its new Senate president.
Ruggerio, a Democrat representing District 4, for his hometown of North Providence and Providence, replaces Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, who stepped down from her leadership post on Wednesday to pursue a new job as president of the non-profit Hospital Association of Rhode Island. She will also be leaving her Senate seat as a part of her new role.
Before the Senate met and voted unanimously on Ruggerio’s selection as Senate president, Senate Democrats held a caucus and named Sen. Michael J. McCaffrey as Ruggerio’s successor as Senate majority leader.
Sen. Maryellen Goodwin, Dist. 1, Providence, will continue to serve as majority whip for the new leadership team.
“I have always been fortunate in the Senate to work alongside such a tremendously talented and dedicated group of public servants,” Ruggerio said after he took over the Senate podium.
“We come from many different backgrounds and all regions of the state, and we each bring our own perspectives, but our goal is fundamentally the same: we want to make Rhode Island an even greater place to live and work,” the Senate president said.
After an otherwise routine Thursday afternoon session of the Senate, Ruggerio was swarmed by members of the media asking about his goals for the body and any expected changes in policy or leadership.
“This has happened kind of suddenly, we haven’t really sat down, we’re going to be meeting in near future with staff to decide what we are going to do, and we’re going to look at the staff and how staff is allocated,” he said of his transition.
Ruggerio commended Paiva Weed for doing “a wonderful job” in selecting chairs for the body’s committees, and noted he does have one to fill for the Judiciary Committee.
He declined to speculate on who he will tap for that role leading a panel already at work on several bills for the current session.
“At the moment, no, we haven’t even had an opportunity to discuss this. Things are happening fast and furious,” he said while noting his first priority is to settle into his new duties after the quick change in Senate leadership.
“It is not going to slow up our process because we have a great vice chair and great committee members over there,” Ruggerio said of the Judiciary panel. “We are going to proceed with the calendar and some of the things we are going to do in the committee, and then we will decide what we are going to do down the line,” he said.
There may be other changes in the lineup of membership on committees, and Ruggerio said it was still too soon to make any of those decisions.
“The chairs of the committees have been great but I haven’t made any kind of a determination as of yet. We are not even there yet. I have a staff of two and a half and they do the work of ten,” Ruggerio.
As for the pending issues, Ruggiero said he still needs to know more about the Gov, Gina Raimondo’s proposal regarding a reduction in the car tax and the more aggressive reduction proposed by House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.
“I’d like to look at what they have in mind. I haven’t seen the governor’s plan, and the speaker hasn’t rolled out his plan so it is difficult for me to comment on something that I haven’t seen as yet,” Ruggerio said. “But I come from Providence and North Providence, and that is a big issue in my area. Car taxes are very high in North Providence and Providence, so that is an issue I am concerned with,” he said.
Sen. Roger Picard, D-Dist.20, Woonsocket and Cumberland, said the change of leadership came quickly this week, but noted Ruggerio’s selection “offers a little bit of continuity to the process. People are just kind of taking the next step up and it adds a little smoothness to the process,” he said.
“I think Dominick will do a good job. He has been here a long time so I think he has a lot of institutional knowledge. We have a great staff here as well and that will help out with any gaps he has here and there right now during the transition,” Picard said.
He also praised Paiva Weed. “We are going to miss her, again a wonderful woman, very intelligent. She took everybody’s opinion into consideration,” he said. “Most of all the issues that we ever faced that were contentious were handled off the floor before we get to the floor,” Picard said while noting the Senate’s predisposition toward hashing out the issues at the committee level and hearing process before taking them up on the floor.
Sen. Paul Fogarty, D-Dist. 23, Burrillville, Glocester and North Smithfield, said Ruggerio has a track record of work in the Senate and had championed issues for the building trades and improvements to state highways.
Although bound to be a different leader than Paiva Weed, Fogarty said he expects Ruggerio to well in his new role. “I think he will do a great job. I think we will be moving forward on all the things supported by the senate and some of the things, Senate President Paiva Weed supported,” he said.
“He is our senior senator, he’s the dean, he was in Senate and the House for years,” Fogarty said of Ruggerio’s service in both the Senate and the House.