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11/5/2021
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Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy elected Vice President of NCSL
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 STATE HOUSE – Rhode Island Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly) has been elected vice president of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization serving the nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers and legislative staff. Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy took office today, Friday, Nov. 5, at NCSL's Legislative Summit in Tampa, Florida.
Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy will serve one year as vice president, ascend to president-elect the following year, and then become president at the Legislative Summit in 2024. NCSL leadership alternates between political parties every year. Idaho Speaker Scott Bedke, a Republican, will serve as president-elect of NCSL and Speaker Scott Saiki of Hawaii, a Democrat, became the 48th president of the NCSL.
"I appreciate the opportunity to serve as vice president and look forward to working with my colleagues from around the country,” said Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy. “NCSL has afforded legislators and staff an unrivaled opportunity to learn from the experiences of other states, exchange ideas and come up with policy solutions that can help propel our respective states and, ultimately, our entire nation forward. I also look forward to working with our Washington office to ensure federal policies are in line with state priorities.”
“I am so proud that Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy is putting Rhode Island on the map within a national organization such as the NCSL in his new leadership role. This is the first time in history that a Rhode Island legislator has risen so high within the ranks of the NCSL and it is my hope that through Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy’s new position, Rhode Island will be able to soon host a national NCSL conference, demonstrating to leaders across the country what our small state has to offer. This was a true bipartisan effort with both the House and Senate Democratic and Republican leadership supporting Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy’s effort to become the NCSL’s new vice president. I know he will continue to serve the people of Rhode Island and the NCSL in the same honorable and dedicated way he has served the residents of District 38 for the past 33 years,” said Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick).
Kennedy has served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives since November 1988. He led the House Corporations Committee for 20 years and most recently serves as the Speaker Pro Tempore. He has also been an active member of NCSL and has served on numerous NCSL committees including the Executive Committee, Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee, most recently serving as co-chair of the NCSL Executive Task Force on Insurance.
Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy, an estate broker and appraiser for Kennedy Realty Appraisal, has a master’s degree in business administration from Anna Maria College in 1987. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Providence College in 1983. He is a member of Chariho Regional High School’s Class of 1979. He was born Jan. 3, 1961.
For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922
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