Representative Tina Spears
Deputy Majority Leader
Member, House Corporations Committee
Member, House Environment and
Natural Resources Committee
Member, House Municipal Government and Housing Committee
Member, House Innovation and Technology Committee
Rep. Tina Spears was elected in 2022 to represent District 36 in
Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly, and New Shoreham.
She was chosen as a Deputy Majority Leader in January 2025. She is a member of
the House Corporations Committee, the House Environment and Natural Resources
Committee, the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee, and the House
Innovation and Technology Committee.
In her first term in the
General Assembly, Representative Spears advocated for legislation to make
housing more affordable, support public schools, and protect the environment.
She successfully sponsored the
Act on Coasts to prepare for sea level rise and climate change, as well as a
law to study the creation of
a statewide Geographic Information System to better inform development and
conservation in Rhode Island. Many of her efforts to improve health care
services were included in the state budget, including
more than doubling the Medicaid reimbursement rate for ambulance services.
Representative Spears was honored by the Rhode Island Southern Firefighters
League as its
2024 legislator of year.
Representative Spears is the Executive
Director of the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island, which represents
providers who support people with disabilities. She has long been an ardent
advocate for families of children with disabilities, having learned from her own
experience as the parent of a child with significant health challenges. Prior to
her election, she was a frequent presence at the State House, testifying in
support of programs that help Rhode Islanders, such as the Temporary Caregiver
Insurance program that was enacted in 2013 to provide paid leave for those who
must leave work to provide care for an ill family member.
A resident of
Charlestown for almost 30 years, she met her husband Forrest Cochise Spears Jr.
when they were both students in Chariho Tech's agriculture program. She was the
first in her family to go to college, earning both a bachelor's and master's
degree in public administration from the University of Rhode Island. She and her
husband are the parents of two sons.