Picard elected Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore

STATE HOUSE –Sen. Roger A. Picard has been elected Deputy President Pro Tempore for the Senate’s 2023-2024 session.

The Deputy President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate when the Senate President and the Senate President Pro Tempore are unavailable during the Senate session.

Senator Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland) also served as Deputy President Pro Tempore last term, and previously served as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, a position he’d held since 2013. He was elected to the Senate in a special election in 2008, and had previously served in the House of Representatives since 1992. He has served on both chambers’ Labor and Commerce or Corporations Committees, as well as the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee.

Senator Picard is a social worker for the Woonsocket School Department. He is a graduate of Woonsocket High School, and holds a BA in economics and a BS in business from University of Rhode Island, a master’s in social work from Rhode Island College and a master’s in theological studies from Providence College. He and his wife Diane live in Woonsocket. They are the parents of three adult daughters, Nicole, Kristen and Caitlyn.

“I am deeply honored to serve my colleagues in the Senate, and I am so grateful for their support. I will continue to work hard to be deserving of the faith they’ve placed in me,” said Deputy President Pro Tempore Picard. “I’m looking forward to serving my colleagues in the Senate this year, and I strongly believe in our ability to work very collaboratively to help our state thrive.”