Valarie Jean Lawson

Sponsored a law, signed on June 22, 2026, that widened guaranteed rights to buy Medicare supplement plans for people who enroll outside their first enrollment period.

June 22, 2026Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 2, 2025, that added consumer protections to the state's Medicare supplement insurance law.

July 2, 2025Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 27, 2025, that made the insurance coverage requirement for PANDAS and PANS treatment permanent by removing its 2025 end date.

June 27, 2025Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 25, 2024, that lets nursing school graduates work before they take and get results from the national nursing licensing exam.

June 25, 2024Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 26, 2023, that lets people over 65 on Medicare buy a Medicare supplement plan without being turned down for their health.

June 26, 2023Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to guarantee individual health coverage without exclusions for preexisting conditions and to require 10 essential health benefits. It passed the Senate 27-10.

May 9, 2023Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 30, 2022, that requires health insurers to cover treatment for PANDAS and PANS, sudden-onset brain disorders in children linked to infections.

June 30, 2022Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a bill to keep Medicaid coverage for people in their first and last 30 days in state prison. It passed the Senate on June 14, 2022, but did not become law.

June 14, 2022Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 22, 2026, that created a statewide mobile crisis response program to help children and teens in a mental health crisis where they are.

June 22, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to ban plants that burn or chemically break down waste and plastics into fuel at the Quonset industrial park until June 2027. It passed the Senate 29-9.

June 10, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on June 27, 2025, that created a rare disease advisory council in the state health department.

June 27, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to make kratom legal to sell to adults 21 and over, with labeling rules and a ban on mixing it with harmful substances. It passed the Senate 23-10.

June 21, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to replace the 10-member coastal council with a 7-member board whose members must have environmental expertise. It passed the Senate 25-10.

June 20, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to require that cosmetic procedures at medical spas be done by a doctor or by staff a doctor supervises on site. It passed the Senate 28-9.

June 17, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to keep Rhode Island's supervised drug-use centers open two more years, to March 2028. The centers are meant to prevent overdose deaths. It passed the Senate 27-7.

May 13, 2025Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, which took effect on June 23, 2023, that updated state opioid prescribing rules to 2022 federal guidelines and protects doctors who prescribe opioids in a medically sound way.

June 23, 2023Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 19, 2023, that lets people sue a property owner who fails to fix lead hazards for damages and attorney fees.

June 19, 2023Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 12, 2021, that requires the state newborn screening program to test for all disorders where early detection helps treatment, adding new ones within two years.

July 12, 2021Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted for a two-year pilot of supervised sites where people can use drugs under medical watch to prevent overdose deaths. It passed the Senate 30-7.

July 1, 2021Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for the 2021 Act on Climate, which made the state's greenhouse gas reduction targets mandatory. It passed the Senate 28-9.

April 6, 2021Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 15, 2019, that requires public and private schools, including elementary schools, to keep the overdose-reversal drug naloxone on site.

July 15, 2019Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to raise the minimum wage from $11.50 to $15 an hour over four years. It passed the Senate 29-7.

May 18, 2021Supports Reduce Wealth Gap

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 18, 2026, that limits how many self-service checkout stations a grocery store may have and how many a worker must watch.

June 18, 2026Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to treat a police officer's heart disease, stroke or high blood pressure as a job-related disability, as firefighters are already treated. It passed the Senate 29-8.

May 15, 2025Supports Labor Rights

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on June 25, 2024, that expanded paid caregiver leave to cover care recipients and raised it from six to eight weeks over two years.

June 25, 2024Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, which took effect on July 6, 2022, that gave teachers until the 2025-2026 school year to show they know science-based reading instruction.

July 6, 2022Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 27, 2022, that bars school lunch contracts unless lunch workers and aides are paid for 180 days or the full school year.

June 27, 2022Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a bill letting city and town union arbitrators issue binding awards on all contract terms, including pay. It passed the Senate 31-7 on April 12, 2022, but did not become law.

April 12, 2022Supports Labor Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 9, 2021, that bars school bus contracts unless bus drivers, monitors and aides are paid for 180 days or the full school year.

July 9, 2021Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 6, 2021, that raised paid caregiver leave under the state's temporary caregiver insurance program to six weeks in 2022 and eight weeks in 2023.

July 6, 2021Supports Labor Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to raise the minimum wage from $11.50 to $15 an hour over four years. It passed the Senate 29-7.

May 18, 2021Supports Labor Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to keep all terms of teacher and city worker union contracts in force while a new contract is being negotiated. It passed the Senate 28-8.

May 1, 2019Supports Labor Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to lower the amount at which campaign donations must be reported to the state from over $100 to $25. It passed the Senate 27-11.

June 27, 2019Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on May 10, 2024, that requires the state transportation department to publish a monthly report on repairs to the closed Washington Bridge.

May 10, 2024Supports Government Efficiency

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to let Providence raise its property tax levy by up to 8 percent in one year, above the usual state cap. It passed the Senate 28-7.

June 20, 2025Opposes Cost of Living Reduction

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to bury part of a high-voltage power line in Providence and East Providence. Electric customers in those two cities pay the extra cost through their bills. It passed the Senate 28-9.

June 18, 2025Opposes Cost of Living Reduction

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to keep federal immigration agents at least 200 feet from any polling place while voting is going on. It passed the Senate 29-8.

June 9, 2026Supports Immigration

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to bar state and local agencies from voluntarily helping with federal civil immigration enforcement, except under a court warrant or order. It passed the Senate 30-8.

June 3, 2026Supports Immigration

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to let residents who cannot prove legal immigration status get a Rhode Island state ID card. It passed the Senate 27-9.

June 15, 2023Supports Immigration

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to make it a crime for a prisoner to use force or a weapon to resist a lawful order from a corrections officer. It passed the Senate 25-13.

June 11, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on June 10, 2026, that made real estate title fraud a crime and lets towns refuse to record suspicious documents.

June 10, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to make towns answer a written zoning question within 20 days instead of 15, and to let the applicant appeal that answer. It passed the Senate 28-7.

June 21, 2025Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to require town zoning rules to allow attached single-family homes, such as townhouses, in designated districts. It passed the Senate 23-12.

June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to define co-living housing, where residents rent a private room and share a kitchen or bath, and let towns allow it. It passed the Senate 25-10.

June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to require town zoning rules to allow homes in commercial districts, including apartments above shops. It passed the Senate 25-10.

June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to require town zoning rules to allow housing other than detached single-family homes in sewered areas inside the urban services boundary. It passed the Senate 23-12.

June 20, 2025Supports Housing Affordability

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on June 19, 2023, that lets people sue a property owner who fails to fix lead hazards for damages and attorney fees.

June 19, 2023Supports Housing Affordability

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to make turning commercial buildings into homes an allowed use under local zoning. It passed the Senate 27-9.

June 15, 2023Supports Housing Affordability

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 22, 2026, that created a statewide mobile crisis response program to help children and teens in a mental health crisis where they are.

June 22, 2026Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 26, 2025, that raised the wage base taxed for the state's temporary disability insurance from $38,000 to $100,000 or the level needed for maximum benefits.

June 26, 2025Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 25, 2024, that expanded paid caregiver leave to cover care recipients and raised it from six to eight weeks over two years.

June 25, 2024Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a bill to keep Medicaid coverage for people in their first and last 30 days in state prison. It passed the Senate on June 14, 2022, but did not become law.

June 14, 2022Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 6, 2021, that raised paid caregiver leave under the state's temporary caregiver insurance program to six weeks in 2022 and eight weeks in 2023.

July 6, 2021Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored the Senior Savings Protection Act, signed on July 15, 2019, which requires reporting of suspected financial exploitation of people over 60 and adults with disabilities.

July 15, 2019Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 10, 2026, that ends transaction fees for school lunch payments by requiring at least one no-fee way to pay in every district.

June 10, 2026Supports Public Education Quality

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 27, 2022, that requires CCRI, Rhode Island College and URI to give college credit for an Advanced Placement exam score of 3 or higher.

June 27, 2022Supports Public Education Quality

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 2, 2021, that requires all public schools to provide free menstrual products to students.

July 2, 2021Supports Public Education Quality

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on July 15, 2019, that requires public and private schools, including elementary schools, to keep the overdose-reversal drug naloxone on site.

July 15, 2019Supports Public Education Quality

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to ban the sale, manufacture and purchase of assault-style firearms in Rhode Island starting July 2026. It passed the Senate 25-11.

June 20, 2025Supports Gun Control

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to require gun owners to store firearms safely, with civil and criminal penalties. It passed the Senate 30-7.

June 6, 2024Supports Gun Control

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to ban buying a gun for someone who may not legally have one and to raise penalties for lying on gun purchase forms. It passed the Senate 26-12.

June 30, 2021Supports Gun Control

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to ban guns on school grounds, except for police, retired officers and school security. It passed the Senate 28-10.

June 30, 2021Supports Gun Control

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to shield Rhode Island providers of abortion and gender-affirming care from legal action by other states. It passed the Senate 30-7.

May 2, 2024Supports Women's Reproductive Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to cover abortion in Medicaid and state employee health plans. It passed the Senate 24-13.

May 18, 2023Supports Women's Reproductive Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for the Reproductive Privacy Act, which wrote abortion rights into state law. It passed the Senate 21-17.

June 19, 2019Supports Women's Reproductive Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to keep federal immigration agents at least 200 feet from any polling place while voting is going on. It passed the Senate 29-8.

June 9, 2026Supports Election Integrity

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on May 31, 2024, that bars car insurers from charging widowed people more than married people.

May 31, 2024Supports Civil Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 20, 2023, that created an elections liaison in the secretary of state's office and added accessible voting machines to the state's election equipment.

June 20, 2023Supports Civil Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 19, 2023, that lets 17-year-olds vote in a primary if they will be 18 by the general election.

June 19, 2023Supports Civil Rights

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Voted to let voters with disabilities and military voters use ballots sent electronically. It passed the Senate 25-12.

June 22, 2022Supports Civil Rights

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to bury part of a high-voltage power line in Providence and East Providence. Electric customers in those two cities pay the extra cost through their bills. It passed the Senate 28-9.

June 18, 2025Supports Public Infrastructure

Source: legiscan.com

Voted to let Rhode Island's electric utility buy nuclear power and sign long-term contracts for it. It passed the Senate 23-14.

June 18, 2025Supports Public Infrastructure

Source: legiscan.com

Sponsored a law, signed on May 10, 2024, that requires the state transportation department to publish a monthly report on repairs to the closed Washington Bridge.

May 10, 2024Supports Public Infrastructure

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

Sponsored a law, signed on June 28, 2019, that requires state road and bridge contractors on jobs over $150,000 to post a bond of at least half the contract price.

June 28, 2019Supports Public Infrastructure

Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov

The state Ethics Commission voted 4-1 on September 1, 2026, to dismiss a complaint that her votes on a charter school moratorium and a union card-check bill broke the ethics code.

September 1, 2026

Source: bostonglobe.com

Received Clean Water Action's endorsement for her 2026 Senate race.

August 10, 2026

Source: cleanwater.org

Voted for the state budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2026. It passed the Senate 32-6.

June 9, 2026

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for a three-year pause on approving new or expanded charter schools, starting with the 2026-2027 school year. It passed the Senate 31-6.

June 4, 2026

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Received the Rhode Island AFL-CIO's endorsement for her 2026 Senate District 14 race.

May 5, 2026

Source: rhodeislandaflcio.org

The state Ethics Commission ruled 7-1 on June 10, 2025, in an advisory opinion, that she may serve as Senate president while also leading the NEARI teachers union, if she recuses from votes involving the union.

June 10, 2025

Source: bostonglobe.com

As Senate president, recused herself from the vote on a 2025 bill requiring public employers to give unions regular lists of the workers they represent. It passed the Senate 28-5.

June 4, 2025

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

As Senate president, recused herself from the vote on a 2025 bill widening who counts as an employee under the state labor relations law. It passed the Senate 29-5.

June 4, 2025

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Was elected President of the Rhode Island Senate on April 29, 2025, winning 24 votes to 8 for Ryan Pearson and 4 for Jessica de la Cruz.

April 29, 2025

Source: bostonglobe.com

Received Clean Water Action Rhode Island's endorsement for her 2024 Senate District 14 race.

August 9, 2024

Source: cleanwater.org

Voted against a bill raising campaign contribution limits and the threshold for reporting donors. It passed the Senate 22-14.

June 14, 2023

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, which legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older. It passed the Senate 32-6.

May 24, 2022

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for the 2022 redistricting plan that redrew state legislative and congressional district lines. It passed the Senate 29-9.

February 15, 2022

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted for a 2021 bill to license and tax sales of marijuana to adults. It passed the Senate 29-9.

June 22, 2021

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to let the state lottery extend its contracts with IGT and Twin River casinos. It passed the Senate 28-7.

June 1, 2021

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov

Voted to require presidential and vice presidential candidates to file five years of federal tax returns with the state, to be posted online. It passed the Senate 28-10.

April 10, 2019

Source: votes.rilegislature.gov