Biography

Representative Michelle McGaw (D) was first elected in 2020 to represent the people of District 71 in Portsmouth, Tiverton, and Little Compton. She is a member of the House State Government and Elections Committee, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and the House Health and Human Services Committee.

A consultant pharmacist who serves the long-term care community, she has championed numerous laws to expand and protect prescription access and affordability for Rhode Islanders. In 2025, the Assembly enacted her legislation allowing 90-day ADHD prescriptions, as well as her bills enabling patients get their prescriptions expeditiously in situations when their prescriber can’t be reached, or when their insurers want to substitute equivalent drugs or devices, and her legislation ensuring all college housing is equipped with Narcan. She was the sponsor of the 2023 law requiring private and nonprofit health insurers and HMOs to cover the full cost of life-saving epinephrine injectors, commonly known by the brand name EpiPen.