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1/6/2026
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House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi remarks on start of 2026 legislative session
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 By Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi
Opening Day of House Session – January 6, 2026
Members of the House: welcome.
We open our session with heavy hearts: just a few short weeks ago, our community was rocked by an act of horrific violence right here in Providence when a gunman opened fire on a group of Brown University students studying for final exams.
Many House members are parents, and I know you eagerly wait for your college-aged children to come home for the holidays. Our hearts are broken for the parents whose children did not return, for the countless others injured and impacted by this senseless violence, and for the loved ones of all those affected.
These events have greatly rattled our community. As we continue to process and heal, I have been heartened by how effectively our city, state, and federal agencies responded in unison to the unspeakable.
First responders and frontline workers – Providence police, fire, and EMTs; state police; federal marshals; hospital staff, doctors, and nurses – all stepped up. They courageously ran in, triaged the scene, and cared for the victims.
We are fortunate to have a Level One Trauma Center right here at Rhode Island Hospital. Specialized doctors were on hand immediately. This tragedy would undoubtedly have been even more catastrophic had our first responders and medical personnel not been trained to act so quickly and effectively.
These last difficult weeks have emphasized what we all know to be true: Rhode Islanders come together in difficult times.
Today, as state representatives, we come together once again in this esteemed chamber to do our job for the people of Rhode Island. My philosophy – which many of you share – is that government is at its best when it is able to take care of people. When we craft our state budget every year, it is our responsibility to meet the moment.
Meeting the moment this year will require us to look for ways to mitigate the impact of massive changes at the federal level. Approximately one-third of our annual state budget is derived from federal funding. It is abundantly clear that we face great uncertainty in virtually all areas of national policy, from education, environment, to healthcare initiatives. I am hearing mounting concern about this from every part of the community: working families, veterans, and older Rhode Islanders alike.
And, this concern is well-founded. As we have witnessed at the federal level, spending cuts in government often have unintended consequences. “Reducing spending” can also mean that needy families no longer have the SNAP benefits they rely upon to feed their children. It means that thousands of Rhode Islanders could be in jeopardy of losing their health insurance. And, it means that our state can no longer rely upon many of the funding streams we have leveraged for programs including infrastructure and education.
Fortunately, we anticipated federal changes and did what we could to plan ahead. The General Assembly required reports from the administration on how the federal legislation will impact our state, and we will use this critical data to guide our decision-making going forward.
Our state budget is so much more than a balance sheet: it's a policy statement about our values. Government does not function like a corporation, nor should it. Our bottom line isn't about profits or shareholders; it's about the well-being of the people of Rhode Island: our children, our students, our workers, our older Rhode Islanders.
I am proud that since I became Speaker, we have passed six bipartisan, balanced budgets.
These budgets have prioritized healthcare, education, and taking care of our most vulnerable.
Over the last five years, we have worked together as a body to meet the very pressing needs of the Rhode Islanders we serve. Notwithstanding the current uncertainty and change, we will continue to build upon the good work of previous sessions--especially in key areas like health care, housing and home energy costs. We are abundantly aware that these costs are rising quickly for Rhode Island families. I pledge to continue to bring people together to provide relief to families struggling with these mounting costs.
In 2025, healthcare was a major focus. In addition to containing rising costs, we have been very concerned about access to care. When we crafted our state budget, we allocated about $40 million toward Medicaid rate increases for primary care providers, not only to make Rhode Island more aligned with neighboring states, but also to keep our valued doctors here in Rhode Island. The General Assembly also allocated an additional $38 million over the governor's proposal for hospital reimbursement rates and direct support payments.
We also added $12 million above the governor's proposal to increase reimbursement rates for staff at nursing homes as part of our revision to the state's safe staffing law.
In addition to allocating necessary funding, we also implemented targeted legislative solutions to help our overburdened healthcare system and the patients who use it. By bringing stakeholders to the table, we offered meaningful new protections to Rhode Islanders dealing with crushing medical debt.
Additionally, we created a pilot program prohibiting insurers from requiring prior authorization for medically necessary health care services – removing a roadblock that slows patient care and takes up hours of provider and staff time every day.
All last session, I worked hard with both Republicans and Democrats on a new law sponsored by our Independent member. This law protects 340B, a critical discount program that enables safety-net health care agencies to provide lower cost prescription drugs.
I am highlighting just a few of the measures we undertook in the past session to bolster our healthcare system. We must continue to connect stakeholders and patients in order to provide cost relief and new solutions across the healthcare spectrum.
For much of the past year, my attention has been on our state's safety net hospitals. This summer, I spent many hours in negotiations, bringing parties together, and ultimately helped resolve the Butler Hospital strike.
Currently, there is significant concern about the situation around Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals. My father was a surgeon at Pawtucket Memorial Hospital, and I saw how much the surrounding communities were impacted when that hospital closed. I do not want to see a major disruption to the already burdened healthcare system. I will continue to work with the attorney general, the governor, Senate leaders, and the workers of both hospitals on the best path forward.
There is no doubt that healthcare will continue to be at the top of our agenda, and we will be laser focused on increasing accessibility and lowering costs in 2026.
I appreciate that so many of you continue to share my strong commitment to making housing affordable. In the last five years, we have passed more than 60 new housing laws to streamline development, cut red tape, and increase production.
Other states are noticing what we've been doing, and they're following our lead! Over the summer, I met with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, and most of our discussion was about housing and how our states could potentially work together on regional solutions.
I also spoke at the first-ever housing policy summit held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Housing is a top issue for every state. Robust housing supply is essential for economic development. Housing is where jobs go to sleep at night!
In Rhode Island, we are seeing positive results: building permits have been up – a 70% increase from 2022 to 2023, and they rose again in 2024. This is the biggest increase since the Great Recession. Increasing our housing stock is critical to bring down the costs of rent for Rhode Island families, a priority for this chamber.
In addition to the escalating costs of housing and medical care, consumers are also being hit hard with energy cost hikes this winter.
I am very proud of our record on environmental initiatives: combatting climate change, creating good clean energy jobs, and addressing increasing utility costs for Rhode Island households.
However, we are now facing significant headwinds at the federal level. Numerous emission regulations and clean energy incentives have been rolled back. The nearly completed Revolution Wind project, which would be able to provide power for about 350,000 homes and help reduce energy costs, has been significantly delayed.
Although the federal position has changed, we will continue to press forward. Our goals remain: clean, renewable energy at prices our families can afford.
Difficult decisions await us as we navigate this changing federal landscape, which often feels chaotic.
And on this fifth anniversary of January 6th, stress on the constitutional order and the rule of law is on the minds of many in this nation and in this room. All states will be forced to confront new burdens related to significant policy and funding shifts on the federal level. We are no different.
There is no doubt that families are shouldering great burdens: many are simultaneously caring for older parents and young children while the cost of everything increases. It is not easy.
I am also extremely mindful that each day when the school bell rings, there is real strain on students, parents, and educators who worry about the physical and mental well-being of every student in Rhode Island.
We passed an important law last session. It will ban cell phone use during the school day. I am hopeful that this law will provide a measurable improvement in the social and learning environments for all of our students.
Studies have shown that banning cell phones helps educational outcomes. I firmly believe that it will also improve school communities and help ease the mental health burdens of our treasured students.
Strong communities take care of each other, especially in difficult times. Strong legislatures listen to the community and strive to meet the moment.
Colleagues, let's buckle up and buckle down. It's going to be a very challenging year, but our constituents and our state need our thoughtful hard work - now more than ever.
I pledge to work as hard as I can to live up to the trust that my neighbors and all of you have placed in me. Having seen all the good we've done together, I have faith that inclusion, collaboration, and bringing people together is the best way to find good solutions that help all Rhode Islanders.
Now, let's get to work to meet the moment for the great people of the State of Rhode Island!
God bless you all.
For more information, contact:
Larry Berman, Communications Director for the Office of the Speaker
State House Room 322
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 447-2655
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