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.