Former House speaker hired as a lobbyist for Lifespan
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello has been hired to work as a lobbyist for the state’s largest hospital system.
Lifespan hired Mattiello, a Cranston Democrat. The House speaker is considered one of the most powerful offices in the state due to the chamber’s control of the state budget process.
Lifespan is seeking approval for a merger with Care New England. Lifespan told The Boston Globe that Mattiello was registered as one of its lobbyists so they can engage him as needed, though he would not be lobbying on behalf of the merger.
Mattiello registered as a lobbyist for Westminster Consulting, earning $2,000 a month, according to forms filed with Rhode Island’s secretary of state. He recently became a principal at the Providence law firm Moses Ryan LTD.
Mattiello lost his bid for re-election in November 2020 to Republican activist Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, in a district in western Cranston that backed Donald Trump for president for a second time.
Mattiello rose to House speaker in 2014 after then-Speaker Gordon Fox resigned amid a public corruption investigation.