Claiming the need to keep progressives, women and experience in the Rhode Island Senate, Rhoda Perry P'91 hopes Brown students voting in Rhode Island will support her in her reelection bid for State Senate District 3 against independent challenger Barry Fain.
"I am a progressive candidate. I see that the State Senate is getting more and more conservative, so we need to keep progressives," Perry said.
Perry has been in the State Senate for seven terms, or 14 years. She said experience is the most significant difference between her and her challenger.
"I have performed, and I have a record. The best indicator of future performance is what you have done in the past," she said.
The most important issue on Perry's platform is health care, which she calls her "forte." She is a member of the Health and Human Services Committee.
Among her recent achievements in health care legislation, she said, is a bill allowing citizens to purchase pharmaceuticals from Canada, where drug costs are often lower than in the United States.
She supported the Mental Health Parity Act, which required insurance companies to fund mental health treatment in the same way they pay for physical health care. Prior to the creation of the legislation, patients faced "many problems" with health insurance coverage of mental health services, she said.
Perry argued that women need to be included in politics at all levels. Of the 38 State Senate posts, up to seven might be filled by women next term, she said.
Women, on average, tend to get involved in politics about 15 years after men. But they come with more experience in community organizations, she said.
Women's participation in politics is especially important because they "tend to put forth different types of legislation," she said.
She cited her advocacy of the Contraceptive Parity Act, which requires health insurance companies to fund "all federally approved methods of family planning."
"At a time when men could get Viagra (covered by their health insurance), women could not get birth control pills without paying out of pocket," she said.
Perry hopes to continue her record of advancing progressive legislation in the upcoming term.
"The care of the elderly is an important priority for me," she said. She wants to investigate problems of abuse and neglect in nursing homes, she said.
Perry, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said she wants to push for a "homicide prevention act," which did not pass last session on a tied vote because of a strong anti-gun control lobby. The act would require domestic abusers who have a restraining order filed against them to relinquish their guns.
Perry legislated Rhode Island's first gun safety measure, requiring trigger locks on guns.
Perry also said that changes are needed to ensure that the "underfunded" Rhode Island Public Transit Authority provides "proper service."
"Public transportation is good economically, socially and environmentally. I don't think we should dismantle it," she said.
She suggested a change to the fare structure or supplemental funding as ways to improve RIPTA.
Perry supported state efforts to reduce income and automobile taxes. She called promoting economic development an important goal.
The three components of economic development are "land, labor and capital," she said. The state legislature has already made many infrastructure improvements to support the first component, but she thinks more needs to be done to improve education and literacy to provide an educated workforce.
She lauded the tax credits that have been passed to promote historic preservation efforts. Rhode Island is respected nationwide for its "innovative" support of historic preservation, she said.
Perry was the chair of the Rhode Island Women's Political Caucus before joining the State Senate. Her mission there was to get women involved in politics by participating in community organizations before running for elected positions.
Perry said she has been thrilled by the "wonderful" support her campaign has received from Brown students. She hopes that Brown support will continue on Election Day. "I want their support, and I need their support," she said.
