Representative Arthur J. Corvese
Deputy Majority Leader
Chair, House Labor Committee
Second Vice Chair, House State Government and Elections Committee
Member, House Judiciary Committee
Member, House Rules Committee
Arthur J. Corvese is a Democrat who has represented District 55 in North Providence since first being elected in November 1998. Representative Corvese is a Deputy Majority Leader and chairs the House Labor Committee. He is the second vice chair of the House State Government and Elections Committee and is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Rules Committee.
During his tenure, Representative Corvese has sponsored bills to create laws that help address the opioid crisis by stiffening the penalties for fentanyl possession, prevent misuse of the food assistance program (SNAP), and enable police to seize pimps' proceeds from prostitution as well as proceeds from conspiracy to violate controlled substances laws. He has been a voice for responsible stewardship of taxpayers' dollars throughout his time in the House. He has sponsored laws enacted as part of the housing packages backed by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi creating an online database to help Rhode Islanders find available affordable housing and updating public notice laws for land development. A law he sponsored in 2024 will require all health care facilities to have an automatic external defibrillator on hand.
Representative Corvese served on the North Providence School Committee from 1987 to 1998. He is a member of the North Providence Democratic Town Committee and is the secretary of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee.
An optometrist, he is a member of both the American Optometric Association and the Rhode Island Optometric Association.
A graduate of North Providence High School, Representative Corvese earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Providence College in 1977 and he received his doctor of optometry degree from the New England College of Optometry in 1981.
Representative Corvese was born on January 14, 1956. He lives in North Providence with his wife, Terry. They have two children and two grandchildren.