Representative Teresa A. Tanzi
Member, House Finance Committee
Member, House Innovation, Internet and Technology Committee
Member, House State Government and Elections Committee
Teresa Tanzi (D) has served the people of Narragansett and South
Kingstown in District 34 since she was first elected in November 2010.
She is a member of the House Finance Committee and chairs its Human
Services Subcommittee. She is also a member of the House Innovation,
Internet and Technology Committee and the House State Government and
Elections Committee.
Representative Tanzi has been a leader in safeguarding the limited
resources Rhode Island has for economic development by making sure new
and existing
tax incentives
provide a benefit to the state’s economy and its residents.
Her passions include the development of bicycle-
and pedestrian-friendly community infrastructure,
working to increase availability of multi-modal transit options for
commuters, and working to enact greater
prevention measures
for teen tobacco and nicotine addiction, including laws she sponsored
requiring that e-cigarette
liquid be
sold in child-proof packages and banning e-cigarette use on school
property.
In 2022, she was the sponsor of a law that raised the minimum age for
gun and ammunition purchases to 21
in Rhode Island. In 2017, the General Assembly enacted her legislation
to disarm
domestic abusers to
protect the lives of their victims. The bill was the result of intense
negotiations over the course of the three years since it was first
introduced, and was the subject of strong public campaigns both for and
against it.
Other signature legislative accomplishments include bringing benefit
corporations to
Rhode Island, the 2015
Cesspool Elimination Act,
helping to close
a loophole that
allowed large companies to evade taxes in Rhode Island, requiring
comprehensive economic development tax
incentive analyses and
reporting and offering protection
to seniors from
door-to-door solicitations.
She has studied at Middlesex County College, the University of Rhode
Island and Brown University. Born on November 3, 1971, she is a Realtor
at Lila Delman Real Estate in Narragansett. She and her husband, Dr.
Eric Buchbaum, live in Wakefield with their daughter, Delia Tanzi
Buchbaum, where they foster puppies and raise chickens and bees.