Shekarchi’s Affordable Housing Bills Fail to Address Permanent Source of Funding
Tuesday, March 02, 2021
Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi announced a package of bills to address housing issues on Monday.
But those bills fall far short of the critical need, according to one leading housing advocate.
“Long before the COVID-19 pandemic reached us, Rhode Island was facing a profound housing crisis. Our housing is not affordable, in short supply, and our housing stock is aging and often not in safe, livable condition,” said Speaker Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick). “Rents are out of reach for average-income families, and those making less than that face enormous challenges finding, let alone paying for an apartment. Rhode Island urgently needs action to meet the housing demands of our population.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut last week United Way of Rhode Island CEO Cortney Nicolato, in an appearance on GoLocal LIVE, called housing bonds a "band-aid" -- and stressed the need for a permanent funding source for affordable housing, as other New England states have done.
"In most states, you find it’s a combination of two things — one is bonds, and because that does allow us to move quickly and also rates are low and we are paying back our bonds pretty significantly in the state on a routine basis, so that is important," said Nicolato.
"But I often say — and I’m not dinging on anybody in particular — but bonds are band-aids. To give some comparison, in Rhode Island we invest per capital in housing $11.31 — in Massachusetts, that same per capita investment is $96.07. In Connecticut, it’s something like $81, in Vermont, it’s $58," she added. "Holy moly, we are so far behind the needle. [Bonds] can’t be the be-all, end-all solution and unfortunately when it comes to housing it has been the be-all, end-all solution."
"We need a permanent funding stream as well to complement this kind of insurgence of investments in building safe and preserving safe and affordable housing in the state," said Nicolato. "And so when we think about a permanent funding stream, we were very grateful to Governor Raimondo who put this as a priority area last year and we need a permanent funding stream in the state of Rhode Island."
"Those numbers that I just shared from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont — they have a permanent funding stream as well as routine bonds to help build the infrastructure," she said. "The groundswell of these units are for veterans, seniors, folks who have entry level positions in our state — these are critically important houses."
Shekarchi told GoLocal on Monday night, “It is too early to identify a dedicated funding stream for housing until we know the state budget numbers and the final details of the Biden stimulus package.”
In January, a GoLocal investigation unveiled that Shekarchi’s law firm has been tied to dozens of eviction hearings in the past five years plus representing the Warwick Housing Authority (WHA).
Court records show that both Shekarchi and his associate Joseph Brennan combined have filed numerous eviction notices in 2020 including right up until the pandemic hit in March, before evictions were put on hold first by executive orders and then by the federal government.
One the proposed Shekarchi bills "would create within the Executive Office of Commerce a deputy secretary of commerce and housing, who will oversee housing initiatives and develop a housing plan that will include affordable housing, strong community building and neighborhood revitalization efforts."
And another bill is intended "to create a legislative commission to study all aspects of land use, preservation, development, production, regulation, zoning, housing and the environment. The commission would make recommendations to enable the state to ensure and promote land use that allows for sustainable and equitable economic growth in support of efforts to achieve the state’s affordable housing goals."
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- Shekarchi’s Affordable Housing Bills Fail to Address Permanent Source of Funding
