About elizabeth
Elizabeth H. Roberts was inaugurated as the 68th lieutenant governor of Rhode Island on January 2, 2007, making history as the first woman elected to the position.
Before taking office, Elizabeth spent more than a decade distinguishing herself as a Democratic state senator from District 28, serving Cranston and Warwick, with a statewide reputation as a tireless leader on health-care issues.
Throughout her career, she has also been a leader in economic development and job growth, pushing for cleaner air and water, stronger schools, and open and effective state government.
Access to quality health care
Elizabeth is leading the fight for all Rhode Islanders to have access to quality health care at a cost they can afford. An expert in the complexities of health care reform, she continues to look for ways to bend the cost curve downward, serve as an advocate for consumers and small business owners, and ensure reform measures out of Washington are implemented locally as smoothly as possible. Read more about Elizabeth's
views on health care.
Economic development
Elizabeth is also a leading voice for economic development in Rhode Island. She sees the need to attract and develop new business sources in the state through new energy and high-tech initiatives — such as the Brown-IBM partnership that expects to bring a supercomputing center to Rhode Island — while actively supporting small businesses, the backbone of the state’s economy, through initiatives such as
Buy Local RI.
Her Buy Local/Main Street tours resulted in a struggling Rhode Island business, Jamiel’s Shoe World in Warren, receiving the state’s first Small Business Administration loan to be backed by the federal stimulus in April 2009, allowing the store to keep its doors open. Read more about Elizabeth's
views on economic development.
An accessible style
As lieutenant governor, she serves as chair of the Long Term Care Coordinating Council, the Small Business Advocacy Council, and the Emergency Management Advisory Council.
Elizabeth’s community involvement extends well beyond her official roles. She is known for her accessible style, can be found at public events on many evenings and is honorary chair of a number of notable area causes.
In addition, Elizabeth has made the lieutenant governor’s office a clearinghouse for citizens in search of solutions, working to connect them with state resources and officials that can best resolve their issues.
In early 2009, for example, Elizabeth established a hotline to connect recently unemployed Rhode Islanders to a federal subsidy for continued health coverage. In doing so, she uncovered, and then promptly worked to close, a gap that would have prevented hundreds of laid-off Rhode Islanders from accessing federal help. This is the type of advocacy the public has come to expect from her office.
Elizabeth has consistently made clear her positions on disputed issues of the day, bringing a sense of calm reason to the debate. A staunch supporter of reproductive rights, Elizabeth is the highest-ranking state official who supports a women's right to choose. She also supports marriage equality becoming civil law in Rhode Island.
And an avid fan
She’s an avid fan of New England sports teams, most especially the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox—and has been known to road-trip extensively to see the Sox in action.
Elizabeth graduated from Brown University in 1978 with a degree in human biology and earned an MBA in health care management from Boston University in 1984. Elizabeth has worked as a business strategy consultant, policy analyst, and health care manager.
She is married to Tom Roberts, and they have two daughters, Kathleen and Nora. Tom and Elizabeth have been residents of Cranston's Edgewood neighborhood for more than 25 years.