DiPalma to Lead Finance Subcommittee on Education and Human Services

Sen. Lou DiPalma has been appointed Deputy Chairman for the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Education and Human Services, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed announced in a press release on Friday.

Senator DiPalma, a Democrat who represents District 12 in Middletown, Little Compton, Newport and Tiverton, has served on both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Education Committee since he won election to the Senate in 2008.

The Finance Committee considers all matters relating to revenue, appropriations, taxes and veterans' affairs, and its Subcommittee on Education and Human Services considers financial matters relating to those areas of government.

Senator DiPalma last year sponsored a law that raised the statewide cap on charter schools from 20 to 35. He has served on a number of organizations related to education, including the Middletown School Facilities Core Committee; the Rhode Island Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Committee; the Physics First Advisory Board; the St. Philomena School Board of Trustees; the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Computer and Electrical/Computer Engineering Advisory Committee; and formerly served on the Portsmouth Abbey Parents Committee. He is also a former vice chairman of the Diocese of Providence Catholic School Board.