Tagged: general assembly

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed’s selections to fill two vacant slots on the Senate Judiciary Committee may offer some tea leaves on the outlook for same-sex marriage in that chamber.

Tweeters might remain few to non-existent among the 113 state legislators in Rhode Island, but Smith Hill is increasing its use of social media.

The House of Representatives, for example, has its own Pinterest page – highlighted by a picture of Representative Joseph McNamara standing in front of an Irish and Italian flag.

Susan Pedgen, best known as the press secretary for Charles Fogarty during his two terms as lieutenant governor, has gotten the nod to become chief legal counsel for House Speaker Gordon Fox. She’s slated to start $121,308 job next Monday, December 3.

Pegden will be the first woman to be chief legal counsel for a speaker, according to Fox spokesman Larry Berman. As a resident of Hope Street, she is also a constituent of the speaker.

Via news release: 

Governor Lincoln Chafee remains open to the idea of putting one person in charge of the state’s economic development efforts, although the precise approach for doing that hasn’t been decided, his office says.

Almost two months have passed since the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council issued its recommendations for reshaping the state’s strategy to improving the economy.

While the outlook for same-sex marriage in the state Senate remains a question mark, one influential observer of Statehouse politics expects 2013 to be the year when it will squeak through the chamber.

Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, believes same-sex marriage will pass by a thin margin in the 38-member Senate.

House Speaker Gordon Fox has pledged to call a vote on the issue early in the new session.