Jay Edwards | |
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| Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from the 70th[1] district | |
| Assumed office January 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Amaral |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 7, 1958 Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Tiverton, Rhode Island |
| Alma mater | Northeastern University |
| Profession | Construction Project Manager |
| Website | elect-jay |
John 'Jay' Gustav Edwards IV[2] (born April 7, 1958 in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing District 70 since January 2009. On March 25, 2014, Rep. Edwards was elected House Majority Whip by the House Democratic Caucus when Nicholas Mattiello became Speaker in 2014. Prior to that he had served as the Senior Deputy Majority Leader under Speaker Gordon Fox. In 2021, after Joe Shekarchi was elected speaker, Edwards was appointed Majority Floor Manager and replaced as Majority Whip by Katherine Kazarian. Edwards serves on the House Finance, House Oversight, House Municipal Government and House Labor Committees. In September 2014, Edwards became a CSG Henry Toll Fellow.
In the 2021 Legislative year, Rep. Edwards was able to have his legislation setting up a pilot program for safe injection sites enacted in RI, making Rhode Island the first state in the country to do so. Along with Senator Miller, Edwards was also able to decriminalize simple possession of buprenorphine making RI the 2nd state in the US to do so. In his freshman year, Rep Edwards was able to push through legislation that would increase the fines on industrial polluters from $1,000/day to $25,000/day in response to an environmental problem that occurred in the Bay Street area of his district in 2002. In 2012 Rhode Island became the 15th state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana under legislation championed by Rep Edwards. The major legislation that Edwards is responsible for is stopping the toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge that spans both towns represented by Edwards, Tiverton & Portsmouth. Included in the 2015 Rhode Island Budget, Edwards was able to have the toll removed, increased funding added to RIDOT and to have a statewide infrastructure program established outside of the state's budget. In 2022, Representative Edwards was the sole member of either the House or Senate and of either political party to vote against including Asian American history in the state's K-12 curriculum, a measure touted by Asian American advocates in the state to be a counter to anti-Asian American violence.[3]
Edwards attended the Centre Scolaire St. Marc a Lyons in Lyons, France during his junior year in high school and graduated from St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island in 1976. He earned his Bachelor degree in political science from Northeastern University.