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7/3/2024
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Speaker Shekarchi, Sen. DiPalma Highlight New Steps to Reduce Housing Costs in Rhode Island
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PROVIDENCE, RI – Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi and Sen. Louis P. DiPalma joined U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Congressman Seth Magaziner, and U.S. Congressman Gabe Amo today to welcome U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Assistant Secretary Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations Dr. Kimberly McLain to Rhode Island.
Dr. McClain was in Rhode Island to highlight grant funding for the federal Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program. PRO Housing aims to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation and lower housing costs.
Last week, Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Jack Reed, announced the award of a $3.8 million PRO Housing grant from HUD for the Ocean State to address various barriers to affordable housing and ease housing burdens for working families.
HUD received considerable interest in this first round of PRO Housing funding. Applications were submitted from more than 175 communities – representing a wide variety of demographics, geographies and population sizes – across 47 States and territories.
“I am thrilled to join Dr. Kimberly McClain to highlight the great strides we have made in addressing Rhode Island’s housing crisis, and I am incredibly proud that Rhode Island has received this competitive funding award,” said Speaker Shekarchi. “For the past several years, the General Assembly has been laser-focused on creating legislative solutions to remove barriers to development. Those efforts helped strengthen Rhode Island’s grant application. I am also very thankful to our Congressional delegation, who continuously deliver for Rhode Island. Thanks to their advocacy, this PRO Housing grant will enable more working Rhode Islanders to achieve the dream of having a safe, sustainable home.”
Rhode Island’s PRO Housing application builds on a number of recent, major steps the state has taken to lower barriers to new development and create more affordable housing. This includes: creating a new Department of Housing to craft statewide housing policies and lead efforts to expand housing supply; investing nearly 30 percent ($321.5 million) of Rhode Island’s State Fiscal Recovery Fund allotment in housing development and homeless assistance programs; creating a new $30 million state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; and enacting a package of 13 housing reform bills.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Louis DiPalma said, “Rhode Island residents are struggling at unprecedented levels in their attempts to find affordable housing. I’d like to thank our federal delegation, Senators Reed and Whitehouse, and Representatives Magaziner and Amo, for their dedicated efforts in helping to secure this vital grant, as well as Senate President Ruggerio and House Speaker Shekarchi for their ongoing commitment to addressing this crisis.”
The majority of funding will go toward expanding the state’s Health Equity Zone (HEZ) housing program in both Bristol County and Washington County. In July 2022, Rhode Island launched a HEZ Housing pilot with six HEZ communities to a develop a pipeline of affordable, supportive housing units in some of the most housing cost burdened communities across the state. Each HEZ community received funding to contract with a local community developer and convene a stakeholder group that included resident leaders, municipalities/zoning officials, public housing authorities, home stabilization service providers, and local community-based organizations. The broader community was engaged frequently through listening sessions that provided residents with a voice and a healthy neighborhoods workgroup.
In partnership with the Health Equity Zones in Bristol and Washington County, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Rhode Island Department of Housing will implement strategic approaches to advance the identification and development of community appropriate affordable housing projects with a specific focus on accessibility, proximity to transit, co-location of community supportive services, economic opportunity of future residents, access to quality education, environmental hazard mitigation, access to staple goods, and longevity of affordability.
Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation helped Congress appropriate $185 million for the PRO Housing grant program this year. HUD is allocating a total of $85 million in PRO Housing grant funding in this round and plans to award $100 million later this year during a second round of the competitive application process.
A 2016 report by Roger Williams University’s HousingWorks RI that was commissioned by RIHousing noted the Ocean State needed to build 34,610 to 40,230 housing units over the next decade to keep pace with demand. But only half that amount have been added. In fact, Rhode Island built fewer new homes per capita in 2022 than any other state and was last in new permits issued per capita in 2023.
For more information, contact:
Emily Martineau, Deputy Director of Communications for the Office of the Speaker
State House Room 323
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2466
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