House ready to tackle challenges of new session

The Rhode Island House of Representatives officially opened its 2025 legislative session this month, and it’s shaping up to be a busy – and challenging – year. In the face of great need, we anticipate a sizeable budget deficit, estimated at more than $300 million.

We have been extremely strategic with our resources in recent years, passing five balanced budgets with no broad-based tax increases. In fact, we provided tax relief that affects virtually every Rhode Islander: families with children, seniors, military retirees and small businesses, and we eliminated the car tax permanently.

Along with the projected budget shortfall, there is immense pressure on some of our most critical systems: housing, health care and our workforce, which are experiencing dire shortages. We have been laser-focused on these areas over the last four years and have already made substantial investments and critical policy initiatives to improve them.

Rhode Island’s housing crisis affects every community. Both housing prices and rents exceed what is affordable for households earning the state’s median income, and the price of a home in Rhode Island has nearly doubled in the last five years. There is not a single municipality where a family with a household income under $100,000 can affordably purchase a home.

The legislature has enacted almost 50 new housing laws, created Rhode Island’s first-ever permanent funding stream for housing development, and passed the largest-ever state housing bond of $120 million. We also invested about one-third of our state’s federal State Fiscal Recovery Funds – $332 million – in affordable- housing initiatives.

During this session, we will focus on ensuring that these significant investments in housing are executed in a way that delivers maximum benefit in the least amount of time. We will also monitor progress made by our state Housing Department, which has yet to become the driver of consistent housing policy.

In particular, I am deeply concerned that resources directed to address homelessness have not been deployed as quickly or effectively as I intended. The Housing Department’s new secretary recently appeared before our Housing Affordability Commission, and I hope she will make the needed adjustments to achieve the department’s mission.

Another area of focus and concern across the country is health care. To help address our challenges, the state budget included funding for many health care programs and initiatives, including more than $160 million for rate increases for home- and community-based behavioral health care and children’s services.

As the son of a doctor, I realize we need to build on this foundation to address critical shortages in the health care system, particularly the looming shortfall of primary care physicians.

We must ensure that access to quality medical care is protected for every Rhode Islander, and we will work with our partners in health care − hospitals, insurers and providers – to chart the path ahead. Our attorney general has been doing an excellent job in ensuring oversight of hospital conversions, and our colleagues in the Senate have also made health care issues a priority. I look forward to continuing to work with them on efforts to reform health care.

The House will continue to utilize its power of oversight into the management of some immediate crises, such as the reconstruction of the Washington Bridge, which will require immense resources. The effectiveness of the state’s response to this crisis impacts so many Rhode Islanders, and they deserve timely and accurate information.

Our oversight committee will be asking tough questions as the state embarks upon rebuilding this vital thoroughfare, and it will also scrutinize the large-scale cyberattack that impacted some of our most vulnerable residents.

The good news is that Rhode Island has a unique ability to connect and collaborate. Our small size is one of our greatest assets. We are nimble and have the ability to move quickly, which has helped us retain some of our industry leaders. Last year, Citizens Bank had concerns about Rhode Island’s tax structure making us less competitive compared with those of our neighbors. We listened, acted quickly, passed legislation and kept Citizens within our borders.

Here, companies have direct access to government leaders, and our partners in government enjoy an extremely collaborative working relationship. As the past several legislative sessions have demonstrated, the boat moves much faster when we are all rowing in the same direction.

In the House, we will tackle today’s issues collaboratively, and with commitment, creativity and compassion. We welcome the input of the public and encourage the participation of all Rhode Islanders as we begin this new session.

Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi is a Democrat representing House District 23 in Warwick