If only he could turn his gavel into a magic wand, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi said he could make remarkably fast-paced progress in tackling Rhode Island’s housing crisis.
Instead, without the ability to defy the iron laws of the marketplace, Shekarchi found himself unveiling Thursday another package of bills meant to narrow the disparity between the cost of housing and the ability of Rhode Islanders to pay for it.
“This is the fifth consecutive year that I’ve announced a package on housing legislation,” Shekarchi — who ascended to the speakership in 2021 — said during a Statehouse news conference.
The General Assembly has passed almost 50 housing laws in the last five years, backed by what the speaker called “historic investments, hundreds of millions of dollars, and we’ve made incredible progress.”
The Warwick Democrat acknowledged, though, that signs of progress can seem elusive.
“The reality is that the average family in Rhode Island can not afford to buy a home in Rhode Island,” he said. “In the last five years, the price of a home in Rhode Island has nearly doubled. There’s not a single municipality in Rhode Island where a family of household income under $100,000 can afford to buy a home. According to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, the state’s median household income is $74,000.”
Shekarchi said homelessness has soared in Rhode Island and that according to a report requested by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a $100 hike in median rent translates to a 9% increase in homelessness.
East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva, who spoke during the news conference, said the effect of rising rents is demonstrated when he gets calls from elderly residents “in tears, talking to me about, ‘I just got a new landlord, he’s just raised the rent, I can’t afford this, where am I going to go?’”
Another challenge is posed, Shekarchi said, by how home buyers from Connecticut and Massachusetts find Rhode Island to be a good value due to its relatively less expensive housing.
The latest housing package from the House of Representatives is composed of 12 bills.
Some of the measures would expand electronic permitting; promote the development of state-owned vacant properties for housing; and aim to centralize and streamline the duties of state officials, employees, commissions and boards related to housing fire codes and permitting.
Shekarchi said an increase in housing starts and the development of affordable housing in some communities that were less welcoming to it in the past are signs of progress.
He noted a $120 million housing bond — the largest in state history — passed with almost 70% support last year, and that Rep. June Speakman (D-Warren) and Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Coventry) vanquished opponents characterized by Shekarchi as anti-housing candidates. He said Narragansett town councilors who backed ordinances meant to thwart housing legislation were voted out.
Shekarchi renewed a threat to limit state aid to communities that resist or oppose efforts to build new housing, although he put that off the table for this year.
“Am I ready to inflict penalties on the municipalities? I am not,” he said.
The speaker said he would rather work collaboratively. He said South Kingstown and some communities in western Rhode Island are moving ahead with new affordable housing thanks to that approach.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio.
