Political Profile: Deb Fellela Is a Candidate for House District 43
GoLocalProv Political Team
Political Profile: Deb Fellela Is a Candidate for House District 43
1. What do you think is the biggest political issue this campaign season in Rhode Island?
I believe our biggest issue is the economy. Like many, I worry about this upcoming fall and winter with the electric rates, gas, and oil rates which will be on the rise significantly.
2. What do we need to do to improve Rhode Island's economy?
Rhode Island's economy needs stabilization. Everywhere you go, you see the “now hiring” signs or hear the workers apologize because they are short-staffed. The state has worked well with and for small businesses and that needs to continue.
3. What is the greatest challenge facing Rhode Island as a state?
A challenge within Rhode Island is the availability of homeless shelters. More shelters for the homeless population are needed. Ideally, I wouldn’t like to see anyone need this type of assistance; however, the issue has persisted and grown in our state, so we cannot neglect it any longer.
4. Why are you running for office? What makes you uniquely qualified?
I am running for re-election because I love my community. If I can help one person, resolving an issue they may have or listening to concerns and answering questions, I feel I have done my job. I’ve held this seat for several years, and I believe I have the experience and ability to accomplish the best for my constituents. Throughout the years, I’ve gotten to know many residents and have always put their best interests first when voting on issues on the House floor.
5. Who is your inspiration?
My grandmother inspires me. She was an immigrant from Portugal that came to the United States. She raised my dad and four other children all on her own once her husband passed and still provided for her family while working as a seamstress. She installed hardworking ethics that I have and have passed on to my four kids.
BIO:
Deborah represents District 43 in Johnston. First elected to her seat in November 2006, Representative Fellela is the Senior Deputy Majority Leader, making her a member of the House Leadership Team. She is the second vice chair of the House Conduct Committee and is a member of the House Labor Committee, the House Oversight Committee and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
During the most recent legislative session, she sponsored a law targeting reckless prescription practices, increasing fines to help ease the opioid epidemic. She also sponsored a new law that makes it easier for adopted adult children and their birth parents and siblings to find each other through mutual consent.
During the 2019 session, she cosponsored a child-protection law specifying the circumstances when the Office of the Child Advocate would investigate child fatalities. She also cosponsored animal protection legislation that requires pet trainers to be licensed.
In 2016, she worked in conjunction with the governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force to craft legislation aimed at addressing the opioid overdose crisis. She introduced legislation improve the usefulness and value of the prescription drug monitoring database program by adding analytical functions and allowing pharmacists to see all prescriptions for a patient. The new law helps detect abhorrent prescribing and dispensing patterns.
She is also a communicant at Our Lady of Grace Church and a member of the St. Anne Sodality.
A 1974 graduate of East Providence High School, Representative Fellela retired in July 2020 after 28 years with the Providence School Department.
Deborah has four children: Henry III, Matthew, Kyle and Ally; and three grandchildren: Mia, Elvis and Franco.
Facebook Page: State Representative Deborah Fellela
Twitter: repdfellela43