Carol Hagan McEntee

Chair, House Small Business Committee

First Vice Chair, House Judiciary Committee

Member, House Environment and Natural Resources Committee

Member, House Labor Committee

Representative Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown and Narragansett) was first elected in June 2015, after winning a special election to fill the vacant District 33 seat. She is the chair of the House Small Business Committee and is the first vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Representative McEntee is also a member of the House Labor Committee and the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

In 2022, Representative McEntee was the prime sponsor on several new laws. She introduced The Plastic Waste Reduction Act, which is designed to reduce the use of plastic checkout bags by retail establishments by offering recyclable bag options and providing penalties for violations. She also introduced the new law which establishes criminal penalties for a wanton or reckless act or omission of a parent, guardian or any other person who has custody or control of a child, where those acts or omissions result in substantial risk of serious bodily injury to the child or sexual abuse of a child in their care. She also was the main sponsor of the new “Take it Outside” law which allows restaurants to continue approved outdoor dining that was established during the pandemic.

Representative McEntee was honored by the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island with the House Champion Partnership Award. She was recognized for sponsoring and shepherding the Genetic Counselors Licensing Act into law during the 2022 legislative session. The law ensures minimum standards for genetic counselors in the areas of academic training, certification, clinical experience and the delivery of high-quality genetic counseling services. Representative McEntee was also honored by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association as the organization’s 2022 Hospitality Ambassador of the Year for her advocacy in the “Take it Outside” initiative and legislation she sponsored which reduced unemployment taxes for Rhode Island’s small businesses.

The 2021 legislative session saw many of Representative McEntee’s bills become law. She sponsored a new law to allow restaurants to continue outdoor dining in an effort to help local businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation put a moratorium on enforcement of municipal ordinances or zoning requirements that would penalize restaurant and bar owners for modifying their premises to allow for outdoor dining. She also introduced a law which requires all public schools to provide feminine hygiene products at no cost and another new law which made changes to unemployment benefits to ensure an incentivized workforce that can help Rhode Island’s economic recovery while also taking advantage of available federal funding to help Rhode Islanders support themselves and stimulate the economy.

Representative McEntee was also instrumental in the creation and unveiling of the “Rhode Island Purple Heart Trail,” with signage located in six locations along Route 4 and Route 1. The designation was a result of legislation sponsored by Representative McEntee in the 2020 session.

During the 2020 legislative session, Representative McEntee sponsored legislation, which was passed into law, that repealed archaic and inequitable state law regarding parentage and replaced it with a uniform act that provides procedures establishing parentage, genetic testing, surrogacy agreements, and assisted reproduction.

In 2019, Representative McEntee championed the enactment of a bill she sponsored that extends the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. She was honored by Day One with the advocacy organization’s Spotlight Award due to her sponsorship of the new law.

Representative McEntee served as a member of the South Kingstown Town Council from 2008 until June 2015. She is an attorney at law, licensed in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She is a former Special Assistant Attorney General in Rhode Island and a former assistant city solicitor and prosecutor for the City of Warwick.

A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Representative McEntee has lived in Wakefield and Bonnet Shores for more than 30 years. She is married to Mike McEntee, a former State Representative, and they have three children: Meg, Mickey and Rory, a member of the South Kingstown Town Council.