Kathleen A. Fogarty
Chair, House Rules Committee
First Vice Chair, House Municipal Government and Housing Committee
Member, House Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Member, House Health and Human Services Committee
Kathleen A. Fogarty (D) was first elected in November 2014 to the seat in House District 35, South Kingstown. She is the chair of the House Rules Committee and is the first vice chair of the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee. She is a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the House Health and Human Services Committee.
The 2022 session saw many of Representative Fogarty’s initiatives signed into law, including bills protecting the environment, mental health access, and elderly rights. She sponsored a new law to
improve the safety of dams throughout the state by requiring the State Building Code Standards Committee to take into account the effect of climate change on inundation areas below dams. She introduced a law that addresses the
shortage of mental health counselors by creating a two-tiered licensing structure. She also sponsored a law that makes it easier for senior citizens to apply for
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
A longtime advocate for the University of Rhode Island, Representative Fogarty championed a $50 million bond to fund repairs and
construct new facilities at the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay Campus to help URI reach its true potential in oceanographic education and research. She also introduced a new law that allows university
trustee members to remotely participate in meetings.
During the 2021 session, she sponsored a new law that
helps commercial fisheries by allowing for the direct dockside sale of fish.
In 2017, Chairwoman Fogarty introduced a law that
bans the use of hand-held mobile devices while operating a motor vehicle. The new law took effect on June 1, 2018.
In 2016, she introduced legislation that requires elementary schools to have at least
20 minutes of free play recess during the school day. The new law defines free play as being in an unstructured environment supervised by appropriate school personnel.
Prior to her election to the House of Representatives, she was a member of the South Kingstown Town Council from 2002 to 2012, serving as the council president from 2008 to 2010 and as the vice president from 2004 to 2008.
Born July 29, 1965, she and her husband, Brendan J. Fogarty, have two children, Brendan and Lauren.
Employed as an Industrial Security Specialist at Raytheon Technologies, Representative Fogarty graduated from Smithfield High School in 1983 and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Service Administration from Providence College in 1987.