Senator Frank A. Ciccone, III
Senate Majority Leader
Ex-Officio Member of all Senate Committees
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. Prior to
his election as Majority Leader in April 2025, he served 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.