McCaffrey looks to continue family’s legacy of leadership

By Tessa Roy
Posted 3/30/17

Newly minted Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey says his basic goals aren’t much different from those of his father.

“When he was mayor, he wanted to make Warwick a better place to live …

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McCaffrey looks to continue family’s legacy of leadership

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Newly minted Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey says his basic goals aren’t much different from those of his father.

“When he was mayor, he wanted to make Warwick a better place to live and grow and have your family raised and go to school here. I’d like to continue that same thing,” he said in an interview on Monday.

McCaffrey, who was Warwick’s Assistant City Solicitor before being elected to represent District 29 in the state Senate in 1994, attended Bishop Hendricken High School. Later, he furthered his education at Providence College and Suffolk University Law School. Now a married father of four, he comes from a long line of public servants. He works as an attorney with his father and brother, John, at their practice McCaffrey & McCaffrey. His sister Mary is a district court judge; brother William is director of the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center and brother Eugene III is the state jury commissioner. McCaffrey’s grandfather was a Providence alderman, his father a state representative, senator, and then mayor from 1973 to 1977.

“We’re proud of him. I think he built a good reputation on the judiciary committee and think he’ll do well in his new position,” his father Eugene McCaffrey said. “We’ve been fortunate with our children.”

Though he said he’s sure he had an impact on his son’s career decisions, Eugene McCaffrey credits his wife, Ann, a teacher, with having even more influence on him.

Despite his father having held the post, a mayoral run doesn’t seem to be in the cards for McCaffrey for the foreseeable future.

“At this point right now, I’m enjoying what I’m doing at the State House. With these new responsibilities, it will be a lot more time probably to comprehend the different areas of the legislature,” he said. “As majority leader you’re overseeing all the different committees and aspects of what goes on in those committees.”

As Majority Leader, McCaffrey is one of the top Democrats in the Senate, second to President Dominick Ruggerio. McCaffrey said he’s sure Ruggerio will serve the presidential position well and that he’ll address the unique issues each Senator brings to the table.

“He’s going to be as inclusive as he can be,” McCaffrey said of Ruggerio. On recently departed Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, he remarks “We weren’t always on the same side of issues, but we were always friends.”

McCaffrey formerly headed the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be taken over by another Warwick Senator, Erin Lynch Prata. Though he’ll be overseeing a number of new issues on a higher level, McCaffrey said he still remains dedicated to representing Warwick as best he can. He’s paid attention to school issues in particular, citing recently voiced concerns about conditions at Warwick Veterans, debates between the School Committee and City Council on spending, and fire alarm systems at Norwood and Holliman elementary schools.

“I think those are issues that should be addressed so that Warwick gets the reputation it had before; being a good, solid school system where people want to come to Warwick to live,” he said.

He already has some enthusiastic support on the school side – Warwick School Committee Member Karen Bachus was particularly excited upon learning McCaffrey was elected Majority Leader.

“Senator McCaffrey hails from a great Warwick family. He is a very good man, and a thoughtful, deliberative legislator,” she said. “He will do a fantastic job as Senate Majority Leader.”

On a statewide level, McCaffrey points to the highly debated issues of the car tax and Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposal to send students to state schools with two years paid for. The “devil will be in the details” and there’s more room for discussion on both ends, McCaffrey said.

“I think there’s going to be more discussion on it. Is it good to help kids go to school? It certainly is. Is it good for kids to get college degrees nowadays? It is,” he remarked on the tuition plan. “But you’ve got to see what is it going to cost and what are the details of the plan.”

He also noted ways in which issues have changed – McCaffrey voted against same sex marriage in 2013, as did then Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, but said that views in the state on that issue have evolved.

“We’ve been passing since then special bills for same sex people to marry. If you look back at the history of same sex marriage you’d see a number of senators from Rhode Island supported the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA]. Obviously, they’ve changed as society has changed,” he said.

In terms of national issues, McCaffrey said that many of the cuts made in Washington and ways Rhode Island may be affected are yet to be determined, but that “It seems we may have survived some of the cuts that were probably coming with respect to healthcare.”

After being unanimously elected Majority Leader by all Senators present (Senators Gayle Goldin and Jeanine Calkin were absent), McCaffrey received accolades from his colleagues during the caucus and later from some friends in the House – House Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi said he was eager to team up with him to advocate for Warwick. McCaffrey spoke similarly, then indicated that he could stand to learn from Shekarchi.

“I said ‘you have a lot more stripes in the position you’re in right now so you’ll have to guide me along the way,’” McCaffrey recalled from his conversation with Shekarchi when Shekarchi had called him to congratulate him on the new position.

Even Attorney General Peter Kilmartin chimed in on McCaffrey, issuing a statement congratulating him and Ruggerio after their elections.

“As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Majority Leader McCaffrey and I have worked together to strengthen the State’s drunk driving laws, improve our open government laws, and ensure fairness in our criminal justice system while protecting public safety,” Kilmartin stated. “Serving with both the President and the Majority Leader in the General Assembly and as Attorney General, I know their great love for this state and have confidence they will continue to make the best interests of our citizens a top priority in moving our state forward.”

Former Senator William Walaska’s sentiments were similarly glowing. He recalled campaigning around the same time McCaffrey did, and calls him his closest friend in the Senate (one of the many McCaffrey appears to have). McCaffrey’s an involved parent and a hard worker, he said, hypothesizing that he must work 18 hours a day.

“He’s very intelligent, fastidious, and very methodical,” Walaska said. “It’s not a surprise to me at all that he’s got the second top spot in the Senate.”

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