Sheehan Will Chair Oversight Committee

Release courtesy of the Legislative Press Bureau.

Sen. James C. Sheehan (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown) has been appointed the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Oversight for the 2013-2014 General Assembly session.

The appointment was announced Wednesday by the president of the Senate, M. Teresa Paiva Weed.

Senator Sheehan, who is serving his seventh term in the Rhode Island Senate, was the vice chairman of the Oversight Committee during the previous legislative session.

The Senate Committee on Government Oversight considers appointments of the governor that are sent to it by the Senate for advice and consent.

The committee also monitors and evaluates past, current and prospective performance of public bodies and statutory entities, including quasi-public agencies; considers the organization, reorganization, creation or termination of such public bodies, and reviews and considers reports of the General Assembly’s Auditor General.

“Government Oversight Committee serves a vital role in ensuring greater government transparency and accountability,” Sheehan said. “Taken together, the committee endeavors to make our government serve its people efficiently and effectively.”

Sheehan, a teacher in the Warwick School Department, is a graduate of North Kingstown High School. He received his BA from the University of Rhode Island, his MA from Catholic University and his teacher’s certificate from Rhode Island College.

Sheehan and his wife Meredith have two children, Colin and Liam. They live in North Kingstown.