Housing justice and labor movements back housing justice legislative package

Legislation seeks to spur public development of housing and deter housing speculation.

“We need a public housing developer that puts union workers to work building the housing we desperately need and an anti-speculation tax to push speculators out of the market,” said Daniel Denvir, Co-Chair of the housing justice and tenant organizing group Reclaim RI at a State House press conference on Thursday. “We need the government to get out of the way when it comes to restrictive zoning rules. Rhode Island must step up its direct involvement: we need a public developer to build the housing that the private sector cannot and to crack down on bad actors flipping homes.”

Legislators have introduced bills to create a public housing developer; a land bank to facilitate public and non-profit housing development on publicly-owned land; and a tax on housing speculation to stop home flippers from driving up the cost of housing:

• A state public housing developer - S2868 (Senator Jake Bissaillon) and H7923 (Representative June Speakman) will create a $50 million revolving fund financed by a bond and managed by the Department of Housing. The revolving fund will finance public housing authorities across the state building a new generation of mixed-income public housing. Major public housing projects will be union-built and with high environmental standards that put the state on track to meet its carbon-emissions obligations under the Act on Climate. Based on a model implemented successfully in Montgomery County, Maryland, market rent units subsidize affordable units. Additional subsidies, whether through the use of federal Section 8 vouchers or direct state provision, can make these housing projects more deeply affordable.

“The legislature has made solving the housing crisis our top priority for good reason, and we’ve taken some huge steps in that direction,” said Representative June Speakman (Democrat, District 68, Bristol, Warren), Chair of the House Housing Affordability Commission. “But Rhode Island must also directly reach into a private market that is broken. The public sector must develop homes that for-profit developers cannot and crack down on bad actors by taxing speculation.”

“Representing thousands of residents in public housing, in particular Carroll Tower and Chad Brown, and countless others dealing with Rhode Island’s housing crisis, I've witnessed firsthand the urgent need for housing solutions,” said Senator Jake Bissaillon (Democrat, District 1, Providence). “From public housing residents to housing-insecure Rhode Islanders on extensive waiting lists, the demand is clear. It's time for bold action. That's why I'm introducing legislation to establish a publicly funded developer model for affordable housing. This innovative approach will allow the state to rehabilitate existing public housing and construct new mixed-income developments, ensuring that all Rhode Islanders have access to safe, affordable housing options. Together, let's invest in the future of our communities and prioritize the well-being of our neighbors.”

• A state land bank for housing production - S2760 (Senator Megan Kallman) and H7922 (Representative June Speakman) will establish a land bank managed by the Department of Housing. The land bank will enable Rhode Island to acquire property (both land and buildings) to develop housing. The property owned by the land bank can only be used to develop housing, either by the state, public housing authorities, or nonprofits. The bill will require all municipalities to provide the Department of Housing with a list of real estate assets that are not in use and to make plans for developing or selling/donating that property to the land bank. Finally, the legislation will allow the Department of Housing the right of first refusal on any sale of municipally-owned property.

“Land acquisition is one of the most expensive factors when it comes to building new housing,” said Senator Meghan Kallman (Democrat, District 15, Pawtucket). “We urgently need the state to mobilize unutilized publicly-held land to build the housing Rhode Islanders urgently need.”

• A new approach to slow housing speculation - S2347 (Senator Dawn Euer)/TBA (Representative June Speakman) will penalize speculators profiting from the housing market. Speculators in residential property are looking for profit, not a home, and they drive up housing prices for everyone. A graduated tax on speculation profits - where quick market flips are taxed heavily while people who live in their houses for a long time are not - can discourage this harmful activity and leave the market to people who are just looking for a place to live. Similar legislation introduced decades ago in Vermont has generated significant revenue for affordable housing while discouraging a practice that drives up property values.

“A tax to discourage speculation is one commonsense policy to restrain the out-of-control cost of housing,” Senator Dawn Euer (Democrat, District 13, Newport, Jamestown) “My constituents have made it clear: homes should be places for people to live, not opportunities for speculators to make a profit. Newport is a canary in the coal mine for all of Rhode Island.”

Reclaim RI was joined by representatives in the labor movement to back the package of housing justice bills meant to ensure that every Rhode Islander has a safe and affordable home:

“The housing crisis is above all else a crisis for working-class Rhode Islanders and the labor movement knows the free market won’t solve it,” said Patrick Crowley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. “We need the State of Rhode Island to step in and put union labor to work building a new generation of mixed-income public housing. We can create good jobs building affordable homes.”

"The underground economy in construction thrives in the residential market. Wage theft, employee misclassification, and dangerous jobs with low pay are the rule, not the exception,” said Justin Kelley, Director of Organizing and Strategy for the Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council. “A public housing developer model will help put an end to this abuse that is happening across Rhode Island. Our members suffer from the sky-high cost of housing just like other working people across the state. Public development will create union jobs building the homes we need to end this crisis.”

“Wage increases don’t matter if workers must hand them over to landlords charging out-of-control rents,” said Jesse Martin, Executive Vice-President of SEIU 1199 NE. “We need the state of Rhode Island to end this housing crisis by financing a new generation of mixed-income public housing and putting an end to housing speculation. At SEIU 1199 NE we're proud to say that the labor movement must be part of the renters’ movement.”

Rhode Island is on track to establish the first state-level public housing developer in the nation this legislative session. Secretary Pryor and Speaker Shekarchi have repeatedly expressed strong interest in replicating the model pioneered in Montgomery County, Maryland. Secretary Pryor has commissioned a study of public housing development and innovation that will deliver interim findings in late April or early May - in time to inform state budget and bonding decisions. Just last week, Secretary Pryor spoke at a major event on social housing and public development at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Rhode Island is on the leading edge of a nationwide movement to use public development to address the housing crisis.