| Alana M. DiMario is a Democrat representing District 36 (Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) in the Rhode Island Senate.
Since being elected to the Senate in November 2020, Sen. DiMario has advanced legislation regarding small businesses, child care, health care and climate action.
Since January 2023, she has served as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture. She helped pass many bills to protect our environment, including a law she sponsored that promotes solar development while protecting forests and ratepayers.
She also sponsored laws in 2023 to better train police officers to interact with individuals with disabilities, elevate educator and parent voices in educational decisions, extend outdoor dining throughout the state and protect workers by banning mandatory non-disclosure agreements in cases of alleged sexual harassment, civil rights violations or illegal activity. She successfully advocated for the state budget to fund pilot programs for statewide paratransit accessibility for Rhode Islanders with disabilities and free child care for most child care workers.
In 2022, Sen. DiMario passed many bills to promote mental health. One helps encourage diversity in social work licenses, another addresses the shortage of mental health counselors by creating a two-tiered license structure, and a third increases access to professional psychological services. She also helped secure significant funding for the state's behavioral health care system.
Also in 2022, Sen. DiMario sponsored a law to address child abuse in military families and allow many child victims of sexual abuse to record their testimony remotely to avoid trauma.
In 2021, Sen. DiMario sponsored several new laws, including a bill requiring that DCYF report all suspected cases of childhood sexual abuse to the Children's Advocacy Center, a bill allowing restaurants to continue expanded outdoor dining, and a bill barring insurers from charging co-pays for COVID-19 treatments during Rhode Island's state of emergency.
She was a cosponsor of the RI Child Care is Essential Act, which focused on improving access to high-quality and affordable child care and proposed a Renewable Ready program to help brownfield sites prepare for solar development. She has completed a fellowship with National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on Maternal and Child Health and is currently enrolled in the Legislative Horizon Energy Institute and the Clean Energy Legislative Academy.
Sen. DiMario was born on Sept. 23, 1978. She is married to Eric DiMario and has three children, Leo, Samuel and Morgan.
A licensed mental health counselor in private practice, she earned a Bachelor's Degree from Wells College and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Bridgewater State University.
She previously served on the board of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Women (RINOW). She recently completed a fellowship in Early Childhood with the National Conference of State Legislatures. |