Representative John G. Edwards
Floor Manager
Member, House Finance Committee
Member, House Labor Committee
Member, House Municipal Government and Housing Committee
Member, Permanent Joint Committee on State Lottery
John G. “Jay" Edwards (D) represents District 70 in Portsmouth and Tiverton. First elected in November 2008, he has served as both the House Majority Whip and the Senior Deputy Majority Leader before being named the Majority Floor Manager in January 2021. He is a member of the House Finance Committee, the House Labor Committee, the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee, and the House Oversight Committee.
During the most recent session, he sponsored a new law that promotes public-private partnerships in Rhode Island. The partnerships have been shown to provide states with the ability to deliver complex infrastructure projects in a timely manner, while encouraging strong labor standards that ensure a level of professionalism, experience, and responsibility.
In the 2025 session, Representative Edwards sponsored the Rhode Island Clinician Wellness and Support Act, which establishes a program for physicians, physician assistants, dentists, and podiatrists to address burnout, substance abuse, and mental and physical health issues impacting the clinician's personal and professional life.
In 2024, he sponsored the Healthcare Provider Shield Act, which provides broad protections for health care providers who provide transgender and reproductive health care services when facing hostile litigation or criminal investigation from other states. He also sponsored a law that prohibits any commercial development at Sapowet Cove in Tiverton and authorizes the Department of Environmental Management to allow and promote passive outdoor recreation at the management area and to enter into leases for the agricultural use of any portion of the land.
In 2023, he sponsored a new law that protects organ donors by prohibiting insurers from denying life, disability insurance, and long-term care disability insurance solely on the basis of the individual's status as a living donor. He championed another law that keep motor vehicle inspections within state boundaries by providing that only facilities located within Rhode Island be eligible for permits.
A strong champion of victims' rights, Representative Edwards sponsored a new law in 2022 that codifies the rights of rape victims by regulating the use of sexual assault evidence kits and enumerating the rights of victims in relation to those kits. In 2023, the law was updated to require the state crime laboratory to conduct an audit of DNA samples in the DNA databank to ascertain the rate of compliance with recording requirements.
The National Conference of State Legislatures named him a fellow in its Maternal and Childhood Health program, which is designed to support legislators who are experienced or emerging leaders on MCH-related issues.
In 2019, Representative Edwards was selected as a 2019 Opioid Policy Fellow for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which focuses on health policies and programs being addressed throughout the country. When he returned, he sponsored a law that allows hospitals to contact the patient's emergency contact and a certified peer recovery specialist in certain situations. The change will improve support for those hospitalized for drug overdoses and mental health emergencies by increasing the likelihood that their families or others wishing to assist them with treatment are aware of their hospitalization.
Representative Edwards served on the Tiverton Town Council from 2006 to 2008 and the Tiverton Zoning Board from 1996 to 2006. He served as vice chairman of the town's Elementary School Building Committee from 2004 to 2008 and as chairman of Tiverton's Landfill Sub-Committee from 2006 to 2008.
An outspoken advocate of blood donation, as well as an active platelet donor, Whip Edwards has donated more than 100 gallons of blood.
A 1983 graduate of Northeastern University, he works for PDSI Contractors of Pontiac, Michigan. He was the director of Caritas RI, a former member of the Rhode Island Builders Association, and the former chair of the Rhode Island branch of Associated Builders and Contractors. He has also been involved in the Tiverton Land Trust, Save the Bay, Maine Island Trail Association, the Sierra Club, the Tiverton Democratic Town Committee, and the National Eagle Scout Association.
Edwards was born on April 7, 1958. He resides in Tiverton with his wife, Donna. The couple has three children: John, Kelsey, and Mae, and two granddaughters, Amelia, Sloan, and Nora.