Rep. Cherie L. Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket) was elected to the Rhode
Island House of Representatives in November 2022. She represents
Pawtucket's Fairlawn and Woodlawn neighborhoods, where she was born and
raised. She is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the House
Municipal Government and Housing Committee, and the House Special
Legislation Committee.
In 2024, Representative Cruz introduced a new law that will
help alleviate the state's housing crisis by codifying the existing
structure of the State Building Code Office and clarifying the role of
the State Building Code Commissioner. She also introduced new laws that
permit state child support agencies to bring actions under the child
support statute on behalf of a noncustodial parent who is incarcerated
and unable to pay child support and that waive the bonding requirement
for certified minority business enterprises or women owned businesses
for good cause.
During her first legislative session in 2023, Representative Cruz
sponsored a law which eliminates
certain housing rental application fees. She also introduced
legislation which would create the Office of Early Childhood Development
and Learning to provide access to affordable, quality child care and to
create a child care system that supports families, workers, and the
Rhode Island economy. Representative Cruz also introduced a bill which
would provide legal representation to tenants in eviction proceedings,
along with various tenant protections bills to address housing
conditions.
She is a graduate of Brown University, with a Bachelor's degree in
Education Studies Cum Laude and a Master's degree in Urban Education
Policy as the Urban Education Policy Fellow. She also earned an
Associate's degree with Highest Honors in Liberal Arts at the Community
College of Rhode Island.
Representative Cruz is a tenant organizer with ReclaimRI. Previously,
she ran an early-childhood development program, Parents as Teachers, at
CCAP through the Love That Baby program supported by the Rhode Island
Department of Health. Representative Cruz is a certified CLC and CPRS.
She currently serves on the Joint Commission on Reducing the Recidivism
of Women. She has served as a board member of the RI Welcome Back
Center, The Reentry Campus Program, and The Transcending Through
Education Foundation, on the executive board of the RI American Civil
Liberties Association, and is the co-founder of the Formerly
Incarcerated Union of Rhode Island. In addition, her past public service
includes appointments on the Rhode Island Special Education Advisory
Committee and the RI Governor's Council on Behavioral Health.
Born on January 14, she is the mother of four children, Christopher,
Charice, Aaron and Terrell, and grandmother to Jazzlynn.