Senator Frank A. Ciccone, III
Chairman, Senate Committee on Labor
Member, Senate Committee on Finance
Member, Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics & Oversight
Member, Permanent Joint Committee on State Lottery
Frank A. Ciccone is a Democrat representing District 7
(Providence, Johnston) in the Rhode Island Senate.
First elected to
the Senate in 2002, he has been active on a number of issues during his time
in the legislature, including labor, health care and conservation. He serves
as chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor.
He has advanced
proposals to increase the state's minimum wage, require fairness in housing
practices, increase wages for employees of state-contracted human service
providers, and protect workers and labor unions. He sponsored the Dignity at
Work Act, which would require employers to take needed steps to prevent
bullying or harassment in the workplace and create new avenues for victims
of that abuse.
Sen. Ciccone was the Senate sponsor of the Forest
Conservation Act, signed into law in 2021, which establishes a forest
conservation commission charged with identifying ways to conserve Rhode
Island's forests.
He has also advanced legislation seeking a 90-day
tax amnesty program in the state; expanding legal protections for medical
marijuana users; creating alternative ID cards for undocumented Rhode Island
motorists; strengthening consumer protections in eye care services; creating
a panel to examine tax-exempt properties in the state; create a “seal of
biliteracy" for high school students; and require the creation of world
language and dual language immersion programs through the Department of
Education.
He and other Senate members were honored by the Health and
Rehabilitative Sciences Department at the Community College of Rhode Island
for successful efforts to secure budget funding for more nursing faculty
staff.
Sen. Ciccone was born on Oct. 10, 1947. He has one daughter,
Carla. He is a 1965 graduate of Hope High School and attended Bryant
College. He has participated in other educational opportunities at various
institutions, including Harvard Law School and Wharton School of Business.
He also served in the Rhode Island Army National Guard.
Sen. Ciccone
is a member the Rosario Society; the Verrazzano Day Observance Committee;
Sons of Italy-Piave Lodge #364; and the Rhode Island 100 Club. He is also a
member and prior national commander of the Italian American War Veterans,
and he formerly served as business manager of Rhode Island Judicial,
Professional, and Technical Employees Local Union 808.