The Speaker of the House of Representatives serves as the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS), which oversees all JCLS departments, and is responsible for the overall financial and administrative functions of the Rhode Island General Assembly. The membership also includes the following: the House Majority Leader, House Minority Leader, President of the Senate, who serves as Vice Chairman, and the Senate Minority Leader.

Under the direction of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services, the JCLS Administrative Office is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the General Assembly. Matters pertaining to personnel, payroll and benefits, operations, purchasing and accounts payable are handled through this office. The JCLS office prepares and submits the annual budget and oversees the finances of the Legislature. The operations staff is responsible for the purchasing function, the upkeep and maintenance of the legislative offices in the State House, the disbursement of supplies to the various offices of the JCLS, and is responsible for repairs to equipment and furnishings of the Legislature. All payables of the Legislature are processed by utilizing the state’s financial system (RI FAN).

In addition to supporting the permanent and seasonal employees of the Legislature, the JCLS office also provides assistance to individual legislators in a number of areas, including payroll and benefit information, supply and stationary requests, out of state travel arrangements, mileage reimbursements and other operating needs.

Statutory provisions for the Joint Committee on Legislative Services are contained in R.I.G.L. 22-11-1 et seq.