2023 -- H 5061

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LC000298

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING REPRESENTATIVE BERNARD A. HAWKINS FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Slater, Diaz, Casey, Solomon,
Casimiro, Kazarian, O'Brien, and Kennedy

     Date Introduced: January 11, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, In November of 2018, the Honorable Bernard Hawkins was elected to the

Rhode Island House of Representatives in District 53 which encompasses neighborhoods in the

towns of Smithfield and Glocester; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Hawkins is a graduate of Smithfield High School and

attended Southern Connecticut State College. Prior to serving in the General Assembly, he had

been elected as a member of the Smithfield Town Council from 2006 through 2008, and 2010

through 2016, and served as Town Council President during his 2014-2016 term; and

     WHEREAS, During his four years in the General Assembly, Representative Hawkins

served as the Second Vice Chair of the House Special Legislation Committee, and as a member

of the House Corporations Committee, the House Labor Committee, and the House Oversight

Committee; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Hawkins has sponsored numerous legislative acts during his

tenure at the State House including the successful passage of a bill that prevents owners from

misrepresenting a pet as a service animal. He also co-sponsored a law establishing the Senior

Savings Protection Act, and a law requiring all schools, public and private, to provide and

maintain Narcan to potentially save lives in the event of drug overdoses, and legislation which

vests the Traffic Tribunal with jurisdiction over the adjudication of alleged violations of the

harassment of hunters, trappers and fishers law; and

     WHEREAS, Most recently, Representative Hawkins sponsored a law which relieves

regulatory burden by authorizing submission of certified payroll using federal forms for all public

works, and legislation that amends the public law establishing the Smithfield Land Trust by

requiring a four-fifths affirmative vote of the Town Council to dispose of land that no longer

meets the needs of the trust; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Hawkins makes his home in the Village of Greenville, is the

father of one son, William and is an employee of the Providence Water Supply; and

     WHEREAS, The Honorable Bernard Hawkins has been a valued member of the Rhode

Island House of Representatives who has demonstrated abiding dedication to serving the best

interests of his constituency; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

honors Representative Bernard A. Hawkins as he concludes his service in the Rhode Island

General Assembly. We thank him for a job well done, and extend our sincere wishes for his

continued health, happiness, and success; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Honorable Bernard A. Hawkins.

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