Background
Ruggerio, Dominick J. was born on December 19, 1948.
Ruggerio, Dominick J. was born on December 19, 1948.
Dominick Rugerio graduated from Louisiana Salle Academy in 1966. Ruggerio then attended Bryant College and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 from Providence College.
He is currently Majority Leader of the He is an Administrator for the New England Laborers Labor Management Cooperative(s) Trust. Senator Ruggerio served as Majority Whip from 2003 through 2010. He also previously served as Deputy Majority Leader.
Senator Ruggerio is the “Dean”, or most senior member, of the Senate.
He served as a Policy Aide for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor from 1977 through 1981. In January 2013, Senator Ruggerio was one of five senators to file legislation seeking a voter referendum to define marriage as being between solely a man and a woman in the Rhode Island Constitution.
He has co-sponsored the ’s initiatives aimed at easing the burdens placed on businesses in Rhode Island by reforming the income tax code, cutting red tape, improving access to capital and building the skills of the workforce. He co-sponsored the legislation to reform the state income tax by reducing the top marginal rate from 9.9 percent to 5.99 percent.
Other initiatives Senator Ruggerio has sponsored include the law, enacted in 2007, allowing automobile dealerships to open on Sundays.
Senator Ruggerio co-sponsored the law, enacted in 2010, establishing a fair and predictable formula for state aid to education in Rhode Island. Senator Ruggerio has been an advocate for Catholic and parochial schools in Rhode Island, supporting issues such as a tax cr program enabling businesses to establish scholarships for students at these schools and a text book sharing program He has also pushed legislation to preserve the environment, including new laws to institute a recycling program for mercury used in automobiles and improve collection and disposal rules for mercury thermostats.
State senator Ruggerio, of Providence, was arrested in September 1990 for shoplifting condoms from a Caremark Corporation drug store, in Cranston.
Ruggerio was not prosecuted. Majority Leader Ruggerio was arrested in Barrington and charged with Driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a breathalyzer.
He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Wanskuck Librarym the Sons of Italy, Loggia Vittoria, and the DaVinci Center Development Committee. As Majority Leader, Senator Ruggerio serves as an ex officio member of all standing Senate committees. He has previously served as a member and as Vice Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Transportation, and as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Labor Committee, and the Joint Committee on Accounts and Claims.
Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Senator Ruggerio was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1981 through 1984, and was a member of the House Labor Committee and House Corporations Committee.
Children: Charles, Amanda.