Representative Michelle McGaw
Member, House State Government and Elections Committee
Member, House Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Member, House Corporations Committee
Member, House Health and Human Services Committee
Representative Michelle McGaw (D) was first elected in 2020 to represent the people of District 71 in Portsmouth, Tiverton, and Little Compton. She is a member of the House State Government and Elections Committee, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, the House Corporations Committee, and the House Health and Human Services Committee.
In 2023, Representative McGaw was the House sponsor of a new law requiring private and nonprofit health insurers and HMOs in Rhode Island to cover the full cost of life-saving epinephrine injectors, commonly known by the brand name EpiPen. She has cosponsored laws that raised the legal age for purchasing firearms and ammunition to 21 and required the Department of Health to set standards for toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water. She has pushed for the state to strengthen its commitments to the environment and clean energy, introducing legislation to prohibit any type of new high-heat solid waste processing facilities in environmentally sensitive areas, and to require the state's Energy Facility Siting Board to deny applications for power plants that would adversely affect Rhode Island's ability to meet its carbon-emissions-reduction obligations. In 2024, she sponsored a new law enabling Rhode Island to join in an interstate licensing compact for physical therapists, enabling better access to providers for Rhode Islanders and making it easier for qualified providers to work in the state.
She is a 1984 graduate of St. Paul Catholic High School and graduated from University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy in 1989. She is a consultant pharmacist serving the long-term care community.
Representative McGaw is a member of the Portsmouth Democratic Town Committee and served on the Portsmouth Waste and Recycling Committee and the 2020 Portsmouth Charter Review Committee. She is a former board member for the Rhode Island Democratic Women's Caucus. She was involved in youth recreation and local Little League baseball for many years, including the Little League Challenger Division.
A resident of Portsmouth for more than 30 years, Representative McGaw and her husband James are the parents of two adult sons, Jake and Max.