But last week Pare said in a statement that the senator had been admitted to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence after experiencing “a reaction to a treatment he is undergoing.”

Mr. Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, was considered the “dean” of the Senate, the chamber’s longest-serving member, first winning election in 1985 when he succeeded Senate Majority Leader Rocco Quattrocchi, his one-time father-in-law. He previously served in the state House of Representatives from 1981 to 1984.

Mr. Ruggerio had served as Senate president since March 2017. He served as majority leader from 2010 to 2017, and as majority whip from 2003 through 2010. He retired as an administrator of the New England Laborers Labor Management Coop Trust.

In the Senate, Mr. Ruggerio served as a powerful advocate for union legislation, but he was also an outspoken advocate for business tax cuts and economic development proposals. And while he held conservative views on issues such as abortion and gun control, he played a key role in the passage of legislation that provided for health insurance coverage for abortions and limits on the size of gun magazines.

Mr. Ruggerio represented Senate District 4, which includes portions of North Providence and Providence. “Rhode Islanders are struggling under the weight of inflation, which is why a chief focus for me has been providing relief to struggling residents and businesses,” he said in launching his 2024 reelection campaign. “Serving in the state Senate is a tremendous honor. I work each day to deliver results for the people of North Providence and Providence.”

Last year, Mr. Ruggerio withstood a leadership challenge from former Senate Majority Leader Ryan W. Pearson. “For the sake of our beloved Senate institution, and for the sake of our constituents, it’s time to move past our differences and to come together to work on many issues facing our state,” he said at the time.

Mr. Ruggerio took offense when Pearson visited him at home to discuss his health and future plans in March 2024, and he decided to back Senator Valarie J. Lawson as majority leader. Pearson later decided to challenge Mr. Ruggerio for the Senate presidency, saying the Senate had been disorganized and ineffective with Mr. Ruggerio absent for weeks at a time.

When the 2025 legislative session commenced in January, the 38-member Senate reelected Mr. Ruggerio, with 26 senators voting for Mr. Ruggerio while 12 voted “present,” essentially abstaining from the vote. Surprisingly, Mr. Ruggerio was among those who voted “present.” Afterward, he said he could not hear and misunderstood when he voted “present” rather than voting for himself.

On Feb. 25, the Senate said Mr. Ruggerio would be absent because had “contracted a touch of pneumonia.” On Feb. 28, a Senate spokesman said he was no longer in Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, in North Providence, but was in a rehabilitation facility at Fatima and “doing very well.”

Mr. Ruggerio was known for advocating for tax cuts. In 2023, he championed a tax cut for businesses that exempts the first $50,000 of assessed tangible personal property from taxes. That exemption was expected to remove the tangible tax liability for 75 percent of Rhode Island businesses. Businesses pay the tangible personal property tax on property other than real estate, such as computer equipment, furnishings, and fixtures.

Mr. Ruggerio previously co-sponsored the legislation that slashed the top state income tax rate from 9.9 percent to 5.99 percent. And he regularly opposed proposals to tax the richest Rhode Islanders, warning that the state’s highest earners would move out if Rhode Island raised the top income tax rate.

In 2023, Mr. Ruggerio also championed legislation that now allows online casino gaming, or “iGaming,” in Rhode Island. Bally’s Corporation, the Rhode Island-based casino giant, had unveiled the proposal at a Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon, and Mr. Ruggerio said he had suggested the idea to Bally’s after hearing about iGaming at a gaming conference.

Over the years, Mr. Ruggerio regularly opposed legislation to ban smoking at Rhode Island’s casinos, saying he didn’t want to risk losing the revenue the state receives from the casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton. In 2023, advocates blasted Mr. Ruggerio for saying, during a “Rhode Island Report Live” event, that casino employees knew smoking was allowed when they took their jobs.

For years, Mr. Ruggerio received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association for his opposition to proposed gun control laws, and he described himself as a “Second Amendment person.” But in 2022, he played a pivotal role in the passage of gun bills, including one limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds. Following mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., he said, “We have to do something about what’s happening out there. Every day, it gets worse.”

For years, Mr. Ruggerio maintained that any ban on assault-style weapons should be enacted on the federal level rather than by the state legislature. But during an interview with Globe reporters in December 2024, Mr. Ruggerio said, “That is my former position.” He noted Governor Daniel J. McKee was including an assault weapons ban in his budget, and he said he’d consider the legislation.

Mr. Ruggerio has been endorsed by the Rhode Island Right to Life Committee and opposed abortion rights in the past. But in 2023, he voted for the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act, which allows state employees and Medicaid recipients to receive health insurance coverage for all abortions. He said he viewed the legislation “as a simple insurance equity measure.”

Mr. Ruggerio backed legislation aimed at addressing climate change. In 2022, he championed legislation putting Rhode Island on track to be the first state to require 100 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy sources. The legislation stated that all of the energy provided to Rhode Island by 2033 would come from renewable energy, either directly from renewable energy resources or through offsets in the regional market.

Mr. Ruggerio addressed the state’s opioid overdose crisis by pushing, in 2019, to create a $5 million Opioid Stewardship Fund, assessed on large pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors to provide prevention and treatment services. He also sponsored a law prohibiting life insurance companies from denying coverage based solely on the filling of a prescription for the anti-overdose medication Naloxone.

Mr. Ruggerio also was concerned about animal welfare and has received The Humane Society of the United States’ Humane Legislator Award. He sponsored new laws to put an end to the curbside sale of cats and dogs, and to allow the Rhode Island Family Court to issue restraining orders to protect animals.

Born in Providence in 1948, Mr. Ruggerio graduated from La Salle Academy in 1966. He attended Bryant College and received a bachelor’s degree from Providence College in 1974. He served on the board of the Wanskuck Library and as a member of the Sons of Italy, Loggia Vittoria, and the DaVinci Center Development Committee.

Mr. Ruggerio was the father of two children, Charles and Amanda, and the grandfather to Ava, Mia, Natalie, and Jameson.

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Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.