Representative Susan R. Donovan
Chair, House Health and Human Services Committee
Member, House Education Committee
Member, House Veterans' Affairs Committee
Susan Donovan (D) has represented District 69 in
Bristol and Portsmouth since first being elected in November 2016. She was
named the chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee in January
2023. Representative Donovan is also a member of the House Education
Committee and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
She was the
sponsor of major legislation enacted in 2021 to ensure pay
equity for all employees, regardless of gender or ethnicity. She has
sponsored laws that boost the use of electronic
medical records and allow patients to protect their privacy and safety
by having their health
care mailings directed to themselves instead of a spouse or parent. She
has sponsored or cosponsored numerous bills to improve the lives of children
and families, including a law to help ensure effectiveness of Child
Opportunity Zones, a ban on conversion
therapy for minors and a 2024 law to spread awareness of
type 1 diabetes among parents of schoolchildren. Representative Donovan
backs many measures to help seniors, including a law she sponsored that prohibits
private insurance companies from discriminating against seniors with
pre-existing conditions shopping for Medicare Advantage plans.
She has
sponsored or cosponsored many environmental measures, including a bill
banning intentional outdoor
balloon releases to protect wildlife and prevent litter and power
outages. She has cosponsored laws aimed at accelerating Rhode Island's shift
toward renewably
sourced electricity, reducing waste from plastic
shopping bags, and banning
toxic PFAS chemicals from food packaging.
Representative Donovan
is a retired public school teacher. In 2007, she earned the Governor's Award
for Wellness Innovation in the school category, and in 2008, she was named
Bristol-Warren Teacher of the Year. She worked as an education consultant at
the Brown University Institute of Community Health Promotion. She was a
founding member and past chair of the East Bay of Rhode Island Habitat for
Humanity chapter, which has since merged with the Greater Providence
chapter. She is a board member and education coordinator for the
environmental organization Save Bristol Harbor, which fought the transport
of LNG through Narragansett Bay.
Representative Donovan earned a B.S.
in health and physical education as well as a Master's degree in school
administration from Rhode Island College. She lives in Bristol with her
husband, Glenn. They have three adult children: Colleen, Cara (Jonathan
Mitchell), and Glenn (Erin) and six grandchildren, all of whom reside in
Bristol.