Representative Bernard A. Hawkins
Second Vice Chair, House Special Legislation Committee
Member, House Corporations Committee
Member, House Labor Committee
Member, House Oversight Committee
Rep. Bernard A. Hawkins (D-Dist. 53, Smithfield, Glocester) was first
elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018. He is the second
vice chairman of the House Special Legislation Committee and he is a member
of the House Corporations Committee, the House Labor Committee and the House
Oversight Committee.
During the 2021 legislative session, Representative Hawkins sponsored a
new law which relieves regulatory burden by authorizing submission of
certified payroll using federal forms for all public works. He also
sponsored another new law that amends the public law establishing the
Smithfield Land Trust by requiring a four-fifths affirmative vote of the
Town Council to dispose of land that no longer meets the needs of the trust.
In 2020, Representative Hawkins sponsored legislation which vests the
Traffic Tribunal with jurisdiction over the adjudication of alleged
violations of the harassment of hunters, trappers and fishers law. He also
sponsored a bill that relieves regulatory burden by authorizing the
submission of certified payroll using federal forms for all public works.
During his first year in the House in 2019, he sponsored legislation that
prevents owners from misrepresenting a pet as a service animal in order to
gain access to rights or privileges reserved for disabled individuals with
service animals. The legislation was signed into law.
Representative Hawkins co-sponsored a law that establishes the Senior
Savings Protection Act, requiring individuals to report the occurrence of
financial exploitation of persons who are 60 years of age or older and
persons who have a disability between the ages of 18 and 59.
He also co-sponsored a law requiring all schools, public and private, to
provide and maintain Narcan to potentially save lives in the event of drug
overdoses.
Representative Hawkins is an employee of the Providence Water Supply. He
graduated from Smithfield High School in 1981 and attended Southern
Connecticut State College.
He has previously served on the Smithfield Town Council from 2006 to 2008,
and again from 2010 to 2016, and was Town Council President during the
2014-2016 term.
Representative Hawkins was born on May 18, 1963 and he resides in
Greenville. He is the father of a son, William.