Senator Alana M. DiMario

Alana M. DiMario is a Democrat representing District 36 (Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) in the Rhode Island Senate.

Since being elected to the Senate in November 2020, Sen. DiMario has advanced legislation across a wide range of policy areas, including small business, education, childcare, healthcare, and renewable energy.

She previously served as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture and has helped pass many bills to protect Rhode Island's environment. She sponsored the law creating the Renewable Ready program, which promotes solar development while protecting forests and ratepayers, as well as a law aimed at preventing the contamination of food, soil, and groundwater at farms by so-called “forever chemicals," or PFAS.

Sen. DiMario has sponsored legislation, now law, to give parents more insight and control in charges to their child's individualized education plan (IEP) and set the wheels in motion for a much-needed overhaul of the state's IEP regulations; codify federally mandated school 504 plans in state law; elevate educator and parent voices in educational decisions; and increase the maximum post-retirement employment earnings cap for retired educators. She was also a cosponsor of the RI Child Care is Essential Act, which focused on improving access to high-quality and affordable childcare.

A licensed mental health counselor in private practice, Sen. DiMario has been a champion on issues related to healthcare and behavioral health. She has sponsored successful legislation to allow 90-day prescriptions for ADHD medications, support diversity in social work licenses, address the shortage of mental health counselors by creating a two-tiered license structure, and increase access to professional psychological services. She also helped secure significant funding for the state's behavioral health care system.

She also sponsored laws to better train police officers to interact with individuals with disabilities; require that DCYF report all suspected cases of childhood sexual abuse to the Children's Advocacy Center; include state legislative elections among those audited by the Board of Elections; extend outdoor dining throughout the state; protect workers by banning mandatory non-disclosure agreements in cases of alleged sexual harassment, civil rights violations, or illegal activity; address child abuse in military families; allow many child victims of sexual abuse to record their testimony remotely to avoid trauma; create a public outreach campaign about textile recycling; and bar insurers from charging co-pays for COVID-19 treatments during Rhode Island's state of emergency.

Additionally, she successfully advocated for the state budget to fund pilot programs for statewide paratransit accessibility for Rhode Islanders with disabilities and free childcare for most childcare workers.

Sen. DiMario's legislative leadership has been recognized by numerous advocates and organizations. She has been honored as the Rhode Island Clean Water Association's Legislator of the Year, as an “Environmental Champion" by Clean Water Action, and as an “Advocacy Champion" by the Rhode Island Dermatology Society. She has also been recognized by the Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families for sponsoring two new laws to improve IEPs for children and their parents, and with the Charles Hachadorian Award from the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association in recognition of her bill allowing for pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient's request. Last year, she was honored by Rhode Island KIDS Count alongside other legislators for her work to provide stable funding for mobile youth crisis response teams.

Sen. DiMario earned a Bachelor's Degree from Wells College and a Master' s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Bridgewater State University.

She previously served on the board of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Women (RINOW). She has completed fellowships in Early Childhood and Maternal & Child Health with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and she has also completed the Legislative Energy Horizons Institute and the Clean Energy Legislative Academy. She also took part in an NCSL conference on healthcare affordability that led to the first Senate healthcare policy package in 2024.