It’s the start of a new year at the Rhode Island General Assembly and on Wednesday, January 21 the New Shoreham Town Council presented Block Island’s state representative and senator with their wishlist for the 2026 legislative session.

“Do you want to start with ticks? asked First Warden Keith Stover after expressing his appreciation for Senator Alana DiMario and Representative Tina Spears’s responsiveness to the island’s needs.

Many young children experience significant mental health challenges that interfere with their development, relationships, and learning, write a state senator and the head of the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health

By Susan Dickstein and Alana DiMario

STATE HOUSE — Rhode Island Kids Count honored legislators today for their work to support children in crisis and provide paid time off for parents and caregivers.

RI Kids Count recognized Senate President Valarie J. Lawson and Rep. Joshua J. Giraldo for their work expanding paid parental and caregiving leave for Rhode Island workers over the last two legislative sessions and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Reps. Julie A. Casimiro and Teresa A. Tanzi, and Sens. Alana M. DiMario and Jacob E. Bissaillon for their work to provide stable funding for mobile youth crisis response teams.

STATE HOUSE — Legislation introduced by Rep. Joseph M. McNamara and Sen. Alana M. DiMario makes federally mandated school 504 plans part of state law.

The legislation is aimed at preventing contamination of food, soil and groundwater at farms

STATE HOUSE – The General Assembly today approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Terri Cortvriend and Sen. Alana M. DiMario to require anyone applying for a permit to spread biosolids on land to first test the material for PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The legislation now goes to the governor.

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Alana DiMario of Narragansett and Rep. Michelle McGaw of Portsmouth are sponsoring not-quite-identical bills that would increase how much ADHD medication patients can receive at once. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

State senators push for urgent reforms after Anchor Medical announced its imminent closure, leaving 25,000 patients scrambling amid a shortage of primary care providers

By Pamela J. Lauria, Alana M. Dimario and V. Susan Sosnowski

State Senator Alana DiMario of Narragansett is a mental health counselor who first won election in 2020. She’s one of a number of progressive policy-oriented Democratic women lawmakers who have moved the General Assembly a bit to the left over the last decade.

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. —  In an effort to mend relationships between town and state officials, State Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (District 33) and State Senator Alana DiMario (District 34) met with the Narragansett Town Council Monday night in a first meeting since the new council members took office.

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) toured the Narrow River this week to see the effects of storms and coastal reshaping, including the mounting changes from shifting sands clogging where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

STATE HOUSE – Legislation sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee and Sen. Alana M. DiMario that would increase the maximum post-retirement employment earnings cap for retired educators has been signed into law.

PROVIDENCE — More transplants, more research, but no more nitrogen — at least not yet.

That’s the message coming from the state’s own panel studying the decline in quahog landings. The commission, impaneled last year and jointly chaired by Rep. Joseph Solomon, D-Warwick, and Sen. Alana DiMario, D-North Kingstown, released its final report late last month, on the same day the state House of Representatives unveiled its version of the state budget.

State bill aims to offset costs with federal funds

Solar farms could be a reality in Rhode Island as the state looks to transition to cleaner forms of energy. A bill making its way through the General Assembly would create a program to offset the costs of putting renewable energy projects on brownfield sites.

The Rhode Island chapter of Clean Water Action named state Sen. Alana DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) as its newest legislative champion for her work protecting the state’s water from toxic chemicals.

DiMario was recently presented with an award during the organization’s 22nd annual “Breakfast of Champions.” The senator was recognized for her lead role in passing legislation to reform the process for siting solar developments, as well as her work in banning toxic chemicals known as PFAS from common items in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island chapter of Clean Water Action named state Sen. Alana DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) as its newest legislative champion for her work protecting the state’s water from toxic chemicals.