In one of his first moves as the new president of the state Senate, Dominick Ruggerio has removed Sen. Daniel DaPonte (D-East Providence) as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, replacing him with another East Providence senator, Billy Conley.
Ruggerio announced changes in committee assignments at the start of Tuesday’s session.
“I have great respect for Senator DaPonte, and I am grateful for his eight years of service as Finance Committee Chairman,” Ruggerio said in a statement to RIPR. “Every new Senate President has the opportunity to appoint his leadership team and committees. I believe it is important to put in place chairmen who are supportive of our leadership team.”
Ruggerio added. “I have the highest regard for Bill Conley, who has a wealth of experience with municipal budgets, having worked with numerous cities and towns. Senator Conley has tremendous intellect, an even temperament, and a strong dedication to public service on behalf of our state. I am confident he will make an exceptional Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.”
In another change, Ruggerio has brought on Stephen Iannazzi, his special assistant as majority leader, to serve as his chief of staff.
Earlier, DaPonte used Facebook to announce that he’d been removed from his committee chairmanship.
“Yesterday, I was informed by the Senate President that he’s removing me as chair of the Senate Finance Committee,” DaPonte wrote. “His reason: I called senators to gauge support for Majority Leader. If this is a window into how the new ‘team’ will operate, it does not bode well for the institution or the citizens of Rhode Island.”
Sen. Michael McCaffrey of Warwick had the inside track to become Ruggerio’s majority leader and was elected to that post during a Democratic caucus last Thursday. The changes were set in place when former Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed accepted a job as president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island.
Ahead of Tuesday’s Senate session, RIPR confirmed that Conley would succeed DaPonte as Finance chairman. Conley is a lawyer.
DaPonte has served in the Senate since first winning election in 1998.
DaPonte’s ouster as Finance chairman threatened to continue a downward trend in the political influence of East Providence, which reached a high point during former Governor Lincoln Chafee’s time in office. At that point, former House Majority Leader George Caruolo re-emerged as a powerful inside player in city and state politics, although he stepped back after serving as chair of the state Board of Education. Then, House Finance Chairman Helio Melo (D-East Providence) sided with the losing faction during a 2014 leadership fight and wound up getting stripped of his chairmanship before deciding not to seek re-election.
“During my eight year tenure as chair, it’s been an honor to work with many talented colleagues, committee members and professional staff,” DaPonte writes in his Facebook post. “It has also been a privilege to have played an integral role in reforming our personal and corporate income tax codes, pension reform saving billions of dollars and establishing an education funding formula and technology infrastructure fund.”
Sen. Erin Lynch Prata of Warwick will succeed McCaffrey as chairman of the Judiciary Committee following McCaffrey’s rise from that post to majority leader.
In a statement, Lynch Prata said, “It is a true honor to be appointed as the Judiciary Chairwoman and I thank President Ruggerio and my colleagues for having the faith in me to helm this integral committee in the Senate. There are many significant issues that will come before the committee this session and I am looking forward to working with my fellow committee members in tackling the issues that are important to all Rhode Islanders.”
This post has been updated.