(Providence, RI) -- State Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed is stepping down to become president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. A tearful Paiva Weed adjourned the Senate for the final time and then made the announcement that she would begin her new job May 1st. Paiva Weed was elected to the State Senate in 1992 and became its first female leader in 2008. Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio is viewed as her likely successor.