About Alana
Alana is a champion and advocate of education and child welfare, affordable healthcare, jobs and income equality, and the environment. First elected in 2020 as a state senator, Alana is a Democrat representing Narragansett and North Kingstown in the 36th District. She currently serves as the Vice Chairwoman of the Environment and Agriculture Committee and is a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, and is Co-Chair of the Permanent Joint Legislative Commission on Child Care.
As a Licensed Mental Health Therapist with her own private therapy practice in North Kingstown, Alana works with some of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children and families and knows firsthand why affordable housing, healthy kids, and safe and thriving schools are essential for Rhode Island to flourish.
In her first legislative session, Alana focused on legislation that would help working families and struggling small businesses. She sponsored a bill to prevent health insurance companies from charging copays for COVID-related treatments as well as a bill to extend the outdoor dining permits to help small businesses, restaurants, and bars recover financially. Both bills were signed into law by the Governor.
Protecting our natural resources with meaningful and measurable steps to combat climate change is another top priority for Alana. She is the lead sponsor on a bill aimed at creating the statutory framework to implement the Transportation Climate Initiative which would lead to investments in equitable, less-polluting transportation options and help to energize economic recovery. She was the lead sponsor on a bill to help residents in Rhode Island’s 21 coastal communities anticipate the effects of sea level rise when building or improving on their property so they can plan accordingly. This bill was also signed into law.
Alana was also the lead sponsor on a bill that requires all reported cases of childhood sexual abuse be referred to the Child Advocacy Center, so that child and family can receive needed support in an appropriate setting while also completing the required legal steps to hold abusers accountable. This bill also became law in 2021. In 2022, Alana further protected victims of sexual abuse by raising the age for them to use video testimony from 14 to 16.
To meet the mental health needs of our community, Alana led in the passage of a package of bills that will expand our mental health workforce and address the social and emotional needs of our youngest Rhode Islanders to get them off to the best possible start in life. She also worked to pass a pathway for Home Food Manufacturers to start businesses with little overhead, and successfully advocated for funding to design a public transportation system for people with disabilities and seniors.
Alana and her husband, Eric, are the proud parents of three children, and live in Narragansett.
Positions and Honors
Vice Chairwoman, Environment & Agriculture Committee
Member, Health & Human Services Committee
Co-Chair, Permanent Joint Legislative Commission on Child Care
2021 Early Childhood Fellow, National Conference of State Legislatures
2022 Mental Health Legislator of the Year
Member, Governor’s Council on Behavioral Health
