Representative Edith H. Ajello
Member, House Judiciary Committee
Member, House Oversight Committee
Member, House State Government and Elections Committee
Edith H. Ajello (D) has served the residents of the East Side of
Providence since first being elected in November 1992. She represents
the constituents of District 1, which was District 3 before the
redistricting process that took effect in 2013. Representative Ajello is
a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Oversight Committee
and the House State Government and Elections Committee.
Representative Ajello has been a strong proponent of protecting
individuals’ privacy and human rights. She was instrumental in the 2019
passage of the Reproductive
Privacy Act, which protected reproductive rights in Rhode Island
when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and she
cosponsored the 2023 law that eliminated bans on abortion coverage for
Medicaid recipients and state employees. She also sponsored legislation,
later
included in the 2020 state budget bill, to exempt feminine hygiene
products from the state sales tax. She sponsored the 2001
law that prohibited housing discrimination based on gender identity
or expression, as well as a 2021
update that made it applicable to all housing. In 2023, she
sponsored legislation to formalize wider state protections against
discrimination in health care.
She was the cosponsor of the first-in-the-nation Homeless
Bill of Rights, and also sponsored the bills that added
gender identity to the state’s hate crimes law and banned
“conversion therapy” on minors. She has sponsored or cosponsored
laws protecting individuals’ privacy by requiring law enforcement
officers to obtain warrants
for location data from cellular phones and other electronic devices,
banning employers and schools from demanding access
or passwords to the social media accounts of applicants, and
reducing racial profiling and warrantless searches of minors. She was
the sponsor of the law ensuring that any voter who is
line to vote at the time polls close is allowed to cast his or her
vote, and the law requiring post-election
audits to ensure voting equipment functioned properly.
During her tenure as chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, Rhode Island
enacted a marriage
equality law, made major revisions to the Access
to Public Records Act, required “Super PACs" to disclose
their major donors, and made possession of a small amount of marijuana
a civil
offense rather than a crime.
She was a cosponsor of the 2022 law prohibiting high-capacity
magazines on firearms.
In addition to her duties as a legislator, Representative Ajello has a
long history of service with community organizations and serves on the Board
of Directors for the Women's Health and Education Fund. For her legislative
efforts regarding civil liberties, Representative Ajello was awarded the RI
Affiliate of the ACLU's Raymond J. Pettine Civil Libertarian of the Year in
2006.
A certified Oriental rug appraiser, she works at V. George Rustigian Rugs
in Providence.
Representative Ajello was born on April 26, 1944. She is the mother of
Linell and Aaron Ajello.