Rhode Island Senate President Valarie Lawson is facing a new ethics complaint alleging that she used her position in the state legislature to advance the legislative priorities of the teachers union that also employs her.
The complaint, filed Monday by Defending Education, argues that Lawson’s dual roles as president of the Rhode Island Senate and president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI) created conflicts of interest that required her to recuse herself from votes directly affecting the union’s agenda. Instead, the organization alleges, Lawson participated in key votes that aligned with NEARI’s publicly stated legislative priorities.
Lawson serves as the salaried president of NEARI while simultaneously presiding over the Rhode Island Senate. According to InfluenceWatch, her total compensation from the union is $167,742.
Neither Lawson’s office nor NEARI immediately responded to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Among the votes highlighted in the complaint is Senate Bill S2787A, which Lawson supported on June 4. The legislation freezes charter school expansion and reduces the amount of charter school growth permitted in the state. Defending Education notes that NEARI identified the measure as one of its legislative priorities.
The complaint also cites Lawson’s vote in favor of Senate Bill S2924 on May 28. That legislation requires employer neutrality during certain public-sector labor organizing efforts and likewise appeared on NEARI’s legislative agenda.
According to Defending Education, the circumstances surrounding S2924 raise additional ethical concerns because NEARI’s government relations director testified before the Rhode Island Senate Committee on Labor & Gaming on May 13 in support of the bill. The complaint argues that Lawson later voted on the legislation despite previously receiving an ethics opinion indicating she should not participate in matters in which a “business associate” presents evidence or arguments before the legislature.
“Elected officials are expected to act in the best interest of their constituents—not themselves,” Defending Education President Nicki Neily told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Unfortunately, Sen. Lawson appears to be betraying the public’s trust by failing to recuse herself from votes on education which directly benefit the union that employs her, in direct contravention of an opinion by the state’s Ethics Commission.”
This is not the first time Lawson’s legislative voting has drawn ethics scrutiny. A complaint filed in 2019 challenged her participation in legislation involving collective bargaining for public school teachers. That complaint was ultimately dismissed after the Rhode Island Ethics Commission concluded there was insufficient evidence that the legislation would produce a significant financial impact on NEARI itself.
Defending Education argues that the current complaint differs in an important respect. Unlike the legislation at issue in 2019, the organization contends that Senate Bill S2787A directly advances NEARI’s financial interests because of the union’s publicly stated policy objectives regarding charter schools.
Neily said the organization hopes the Ethics Commission will closely examine the allegations.
“We look forward to the Commission’s deliberation on this important matter—because Rhode Island residents deserve a state legislature that represents the views of all, and not just a privileged few,” she told the DCNF.
