2020 -- H 8154

========

LC005583

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

____________

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING REPRESENTATIVE RAYMOND H. JOHNSTON, JR., FOR HIS SERVICE TO

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Filippi, Casimiro, and Kazarian

     Date Introduced: December 14, 2020

     Referred To: Placed on the House Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, It has been said that there are six essential qualities a person must possess in

order to be successful in life. They are sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom

and charity, and so it is not hard to understand why Ray Johnston has had such a long and

dedicated career serving the citizens of Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Ray Johnston graduated from Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket and

attended Roger Williams University. He began his public service with the Pawtucket Police

Department, ultimately retiring as a detective. His first involvement with politics was as a

member of Pawtucket’s Democratic City Committee; and

     WHEREAS, In November of 2010, the people of the City of Pawtucket elected

Representative Johnston to the Rhode Island General Assembly as the State Representative for

District 61. During his decade at the State House, he has served in myriad capacities, most

recently as a Deputy Majority Leader, First Vice Chairman of the House Committee on

Corporations and the House Committee on Oversight, and as a member of the House Committee

on Environment and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Municipal Government; and

     WHEREAS, During his tenure, Representative Johnston has sponsored a panoply of

essential bills including, legislation to streamline the procedure for the merger approval of

nonprofit hospitals, legislation requiring every public and private school in Rhode Island to post

clear and visible signs that provide the state’s child abuse hotline number for students, legislation

expanding the number of pharmacists eligible to engage in collaborative pharmacy practice with

physicians, and legislation to address the fines imposed on school bus drivers who use wireless

devices on school buses, to name just a few of his most recent efforts; and

     WHEREAS, Always a diligent advocate for his constituency, Representative Johnston

worked with the Department of Transportation to prioritize a $5 million project to repair and

resurface a portion of Newport Avenue in Pawtucket, and, over the past two years, secured an

additional $4.4 million in educational state funding for Pawtucket public schools and $4.2 million

to repair the schools; and

     WHEREAS, It is with sadness that we must bid farewell to our good friend and colleague

Representative Johnston. He will most assuredly be missed; now, therefore be it

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

honors Representative Raymond Johnston for his service to the people of Pawtucket and the State

of Rhode Island. 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 Raymond H. Johnston, Jr.

========

LC005583

========

LC005583 - Page 2 of 2