Representative Michelle McGaw

Michelle McGaw is a Democratic representative serving District 71 in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, which encompasses Northern Portsmouth, Southern Tiverton, and all of Little Compton. She was first elected in 2020.

McGaw has lived in Portsmouth for over 30 years, where she raised a family and worked as a pharmacist specializing in elder care. Throughout her tenure in the state legislature, she has been active in advocating for climate policy, protection of reproductive rights, improvements to healthcare, and increased participation in state government.

Education

McGaw graduated from St. Paul Catholic High School in 1984 and earned her degree from the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy in 1989.

Political Experience

Committee Memberships:

McGaw serves on four House committees: the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, the House Health and Human Services Committee, the House State Government and Elections Committee, and the House Corporations Committee. She also serves on the National Conference of State Legislatures' Health Standing Committee and its Children, Families and Human Services Committee.

Notable Achievements:

Her legislative work includes cosponsoring 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 introduced legislation to prohibit 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 carbon-emissions-reduction obligations.

Community Involvement:

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 and was involved in youth recreation and local Little League baseball for many years, including the Little League Challenger Division.