Currently serving her fourth term in the General Assembly, state Sen. Jessica de la Cruz of North Smithfield became Senate Minority leader in July of 2022. A prominent advocate for criminal justice reform, de la Cruz is also a staunch proponent on issues related to Eleanor Slater Hospital and its Zambarano unit in Burrillville.
de la Cruz spoke with Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis about how legislators should act on several topics, including affordability, the housing crisis, and her proposal to cut the state income tax by 10% by 2031.
Interview highlights
On the most pressing concern of her constituents
State Sen. Jessica de la Cruz: Affordability. I mean, that just seems to be the issue… for, gosh, at least four or five, six years where energy prices are just spiraling out of control for them. Grocery prices have increased. We’re a family of five – three boys, teenagers. I mean, my grocery bill is, as you can imagine, pretty high. It just seems like everything is more expensive and it’s not an illusion. It really is. And so it’s tough to enjoy your weekends or your nights off because you just don’t even have enough to enjoy those weekends. There isn’t a lot of expendable income.
On the state’s housing crisis
de la Cruz: We’re overriding local control or local input. And so why do we even have planning and zoning anymore if they’re completely obsolete and the state is taking over? I think, first of all, we can’t be punitive. The state can’t say, “We’re going to punish you if you don’t meet these standards.” We should incentivize behavior that we want. So if we want more housing, we should make it easier to build with less regulation, and we should incentivize the communities to build, to allow building.
The other thing is, I don’t think that this crisis is going to be fixed [by] rural communities on their backs. It’s simply not possible. They don’t have the infrastructure in place. We need to build, but we also need to build – why not in urban areas that are equipped for a large influx of individuals and use blighted properties? That’s the way that we should do it. We should incentivize and we should not be almost delusional to think that it’s going to be fixed in the royal communities. Can they help? Yes. But is it going to be fixed on their backs? Absolutely not.
On her proposal to cut the state income tax by 10% by 2031
de la Cruz: Rhode Island does not have a revenue problem. I say it all the time. They have a spending problem… I can confidently say that we should be working on tax cuts. And 2% on the rate for five years, 2% every year, is a very modest tax cut. It also has what I call a safety valve on it, where if we find that it’s detrimental somehow to the state or not having the effect that we had hoped, we can stop the tax cut immediately. And we have to start somewhere. It’s a small, modest cut, but we have to start somewhere giving Rhode Islanders some relief.
…There are areas in which we can cut, but I think the biggest issue for us is that our budget is an opaque budget. It’s not clear. There are items that are just lumped together and almost – I’m not saying nefariously – like they’re hidden. If we’re going to be serious about these tax cuts, we also have to be serious about a line-item veto, zero-based budgeting, and inspector general to root out waste, fraud and abuse. That’s where we start.
On President Trump threatening Iran and criticizing the Pope
de la Cruz: I don’t have a concern about competency. President Trump has always been, and will always be, a hyperbolic individual. I’m not a fan of those comments. Certainly his little tiff with the Pope; if one wants to engage in politics, then it is what it is. So you have to be ready for the pushback that you’ll receive…But yeah, I mean, he’s been hyperbolic in the past and I don’t expect that that will change, ever.
On her political aspirations
de la Cruz: I think there’ll be a time in which I will run for higher office. A friend of mine reminded me that I was so emphatic that I would never run for office, that politics was a dirty sport and I hated politicians. Joke’s on me, here I am, serving in the legislature. So never say never. I’m adopting that at the moment where I won’t say never, but just not right now.
