Representative Michelle McGaw
Member, House State Government and Elections Committee
Member, House Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Member, House Health and Human Services Committee
Representative Michelle McGaw (D) was first elected
in 2020 to represent the people of District 71 in Portsmouth, Tiverton, and
Little Compton. She is a member of the House State Government and Elections
Committee, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and the
House Health and Human Services Committee.
In 2023, Representative
McGaw was the House sponsor of a new law requiring private and nonprofit
health insurers and HMOs in Rhode Island to cover
the full cost of life-saving epinephrine injectors, commonly known by
the brand name EpiPen. She has cosponsored laws that raised the legal age
for purchasing firearms
and ammunition to 21 and required the Department of Health to set standards
for toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water. She has pushed for the state
to strengthen its commitments to the environment and clean energy,
introducing legislation to prohibit
any type of new high-heat solid waste processing facilities in
environmentally sensitive areas, and to require the state's Energy Facility
Siting Board to deny applications for power
plants that would adversely affect Rhode Island's ability to meet its
carbon-emissions-reduction obligations. In 2024, she sponsored a new law
enabling Rhode Island to join in an interstate
licensing compact for physical therapists, enabling better access to
providers for Rhode Islanders and making it easier for qualified providers
to work in the state.
She is a 1984 graduate of St. Paul Catholic High
School and graduated from University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy in
1989. She is a consultant pharmacist serving the long-term care community.
Representative McGaw is a member of the Portsmouth Democratic Town
Committee and served on the Portsmouth Waste and Recycling Committee and the
2020 Portsmouth Charter Review Committee. She is a former board member for
the Rhode Island Democratic Women's Caucus. She was involved in youth
recreation and local Little League baseball for many years, including the
Little League Challenger Division.
A resident of Portsmouth for more
than 30 years, Representative McGaw and her husband James are the parents of
two adult sons, Jake and Max.