In 2021, Representative Phillips took part in a
conference on redistricting run by the National Conference of State
Legislatures. In the wake of that conference, he was appointed
co-chairman of the
Special Commission on Reapportionment and submitted the legislation
that altered the state's district boundaries. The state constitution
calls for the General Assembly to reapportion its districts as well as
the two congressional districts after each 10-year federal census.
Representative Phillips sponsored successful legislation in 2018 that
makes the
Division of Motor Vehicles more efficient while also making life
easier for commercial truck drivers. The first law permits the use of an
electronic means of transmission of the medical certificate required for
the issuance of a commercial driver’s license. The second law eliminates
the requirement of examinations for a renewal applicant whose commercial
driver's license has expired for more than one year.
In 2017, he introduced an education reform law that establishes a
process by which a
virtual education plan may be established and used by school
districts during inclement weather which would count as a school day.
Representative Phillips cosponsored laws making adjustments to the
medical marijuana program to further ensure public safety, protecting
employee wages, and supporting the arts in 2014. In 2012, he cosponsored
a law prohibiting retailers of essential commodities from engaging in
price gouging during a market emergency.
Representative Phillips is the former chairman of the Autumnfest
Steering Committee, and in 2023 he and his wife Nancy were named the
co-grand marshals of the Autumnfest Parade. He was also a past chair of
the Milk Fund, a charity which provides milk and other dairy products to
Greater Woonsocket families in need. He is member of the St. Jude’s
Children Research Hospital’s Woonsocket Committee, and is the past
president of the Woonsocket Jaycees. He previously served on the Tax
Assessors Board of Review.
A substitute teacher in Woonsocket, Representative Phillips earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the
University of Rhode Island in 2005.
He was born on May 29, 1956. He and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of
twin sons, Matthew and Timothy, and have two grandchildren, Devin and
Skylar.