| Representative June S. Speakman was first elected to represent District 68 in Warren and Bristol in March 2019. She is the second vice chair of the Municipal Government and Housing Committee. She serves on the House Oversight Committee and chairs its Government Efficiency Subcommittee. She is also a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the House Health and Human Services Committee. Additionally, Representative Speakman is a delegate to the New England Board of Higher Education.
Representative Speakman is the Chair of the House Commission on Housing Affordability and has long been interested in housing policy. In 2021, she championed an amendment to the state budget to establish Rhode Island's first permanent funding stream for affordable housing, which will make an estimated $4 million available annually to help address the state's critical shortage of affordable housing. Since 2021, she has been leading a special legislative commission, created through legislation she sponsored, to study housing affordability in Rhode Island. She was the sponsor of two laws enacted in 2022 resulting from the commission's work, both aimed at making the development process of affordable housing more efficient, as well as a 2024 law to enable more Rhode Island homeowners to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their properties.
Representative Speakman is a strong advocate for environmental protection and climate change resiliency, and has been pushing for laws to prevent exposure to cancer-linked polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In 2023, she sponsored a new law reforming the state's net metering and renewable energy growth programs to expand solar development while protecting forests, creating well-paying jobs, and stabilizing costs for ratepayers. She was the sponsor of the 2022 law requiring the Department of Health to set standards for PFAS chemicals in drinking water and sponsored the 2021 law establishing the Forest Conservation Commission.
She has also worked on numerous government transparency and accountability efforts, including a law she sponsored in 2024 to improve elections integrity by clarifying the process for reporting suspicious signatures on nomination paperwork.
In 2023, Representative Speakman's legislative work for the environment was recognized by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, which gave her its Legislative Leadership Award, and by Clean Water Action, which honored her with its Environmental Champion award. Her leadership on affordable housing earned her the Housing Network of Rhode Island's Friend of the Network award in 2023. In 2022, Grow Smart RI honored her with its Smart Growth Leadership Award for her work on housing and the environment.
A resident of Warren, Representative Speakman was a member of the Planning Board prior to her election to the House. Before moving to Warren, she lived in Barrington, where she served on the Barrington Town Council from 2002 through 2016, and was its president for the final eight of those years.
Having previously taught at Rutgers University and the Claremont Colleges, in 1995 Representative Speakman joined the faculty of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Roger Williams University, where she teaches American politics, state and local government, and public policy. She has served in numerous leadership positions at the university, including department chair, Faculty Senate president, and president of the RWU Faculty Association (NEARI).
Representative Speakman holds a bachelor's degree in economics from University of Massachusetts, Amherst; a master's degree in economics from the New School for Social Research; and a Ph.D. in political science from City University of New York.
She is the mother of two adult sons, Jason and Adam. |