| Rep. Cherie L. Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket) was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in November 2022. She represents Pawtucket's Fairlawn and Woodlawn neighborhoods, where she was born and raised. She is a member of both the House Judiciary Committee and the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee.
In 2024, Representative Cruz introduced a new law that will help alleviate the state's housing crisis by codifying the existing structure of the State Building Code Office and clarifying the role of the State Building Code Commissioner. She also introduced new laws that permit state child support agencies to bring actions under the child support statute on behalf of a noncustodial parent who is incarcerated and unable to pay child support and that waive the bonding requirement for certified minority business enterprises or women owned businesses for good cause.
During her first legislative session in 2023, Representative Cruz sponsored a law which eliminates certain housing rental application fees. She also introduced legislation which would create the Office of Early Childhood Development and Learning to provide access to affordable, quality child care and to create a child care system that supports families, workers, and the Rhode Island economy. Representative Cruz also introduced a bill which would provide legal representation to tenants in eviction proceedings, along with various tenant protections bills to address housing conditions.
She is a graduate of Brown University, with a Bachelor's degree in Education Studies Cum Laude and a Master's degree in Urban Education Policy as the Urban Education Policy Fellow. She also earned an Associate's degree with Highest Honors in Liberal Arts at the Community College of Rhode Island.
Representative Cruz is a tenant organizer with ReclaimRI. Previously, she ran an early-childhood development program, Parents as Teachers, at CCAP through the Love That Baby program supported by the Rhode Island Department of Health. Representative Cruz is a certified CLC and CPRS.
She currently serves on the Joint Commission on Reducing the Recidivism of Women. She has served as a board member of the RI Welcome Back Center, The Reentry Campus Program, and The Transcending Through Education Foundation, on the executive board of the RI American Civil Liberties Association, and is the co-founder of the Formerly Incarcerated Union of Rhode Island. In addition, her past public service includes ​appointments on the Rhode Island Special Education Advisory Committee and the RI Governor's Council on Behavioral Health.
Born on January 14, she is the mother of four children, Christopher, Charice, Aaron and Terrell, and grandmother to Jazzlynn. |