Rhode Island State Senate

Roberts served five two-year terms in the Rhode Island Senate from 1996 until 2006.^[2] During her tenure in the state Senate, she was an activist for health and medical issues. Roberts also focused on economic development and job growth, and pushed for cleaner air and water, stronger schools, and increased attention to disaster preparedness.^{[citation needed]}

During her tenure in the state Senate she served as the Chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Later, she served as a co-chair of Permanent Joint Committee on Healthcare Oversight, which she used as a vehicle to push for reform for Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the largest provider of health insurance in Rhode Island.^{[citation needed]}

Roberts also helped expand the state's prescription drug program for seniors (RIPAE) and helped expand coverage to more families through Rite Care, the state's public health system. The reform organization Common Cause named Roberts one of the top two senators in Rhode Island in 2006, giving her the second highest rating in the General Assembly at 91% and an “A” for her reform efforts during the legislative session.^{[citation needed]}

Computer system failure and resignation

In February 2017, Roberts resigned from her post in the Raimondo administration.^[1] She left the cabinet-level post for a variety of reasons, but the roll-out of the botched Unified Health Infrastructure Project (a new statewide computer network) overshadowed her tenure.^[1] The disastrous UHIP computer network launch in September 2016 saw scores of people without access government to programs such as food stamps and child care due to glitches in the software, designed^[4] by Deloitte. This crash created a backlog of over 20,000 cases.^[5]