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3/10/2025
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Media Advisory: Committee to hear bills from Speaker’s housing package
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STATE HOUSE — The House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing will meet Tuesday to hear several bills from Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) 12-bill package of housing legislation.
The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, March 11, at the rise of the House, sometime after 4:30 p.m. in Room 101 on the first floor of the State House. The committee is scheduled to hear several bills, including:
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2025-H 5796 — This legislation sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight (D-Dist. 67, Barrington, Warren) is designed to encourage higher density development in areas within the urban services boundary. The legislation provides that the city or town shall allow residential uses other than solely single-family units in these areas where public water and sewer are available.
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2025-H 5797 — This legislation sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) would enable municipalities to allow for the use of co-housing arrangements as energy-efficient, low-cost housing options similar to dorms in which there are common spaces, amenities and facilities, but residents have separate private bedrooms.
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2025-H 5798 — This legislation by Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) is based on feedback from housing advocates and financial institutions regarding the demand for lower-cost home ownership opportunities, such as townhomes. This legislation encourages municipalities to allow such units where the structures share a party wall and a lot line, but are independent lots. The legislation would allow such type of units where zoning already allows the same density in a vertical style, by way of tenement or other two-, three- or multi-family structures.
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2025-H 5799 — This legislation introduced by Rep. Cherie L. Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket) would allow oversized lots to be subdivided if the resulting lots are equal to or greater than the lots in the immediate area. Additionally, the legislation would allow administrative modifications of dimensional requirements based on the average dimensional standard of the surrounding structures.
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2025-H 5800 — This legislation sponsored by Rep. Robert E. Craven (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown) would require municipalities to provide for village or mixed-use zoning to allow residential use in some or all areas of their commercial zoning districts.
The committee will also vote on one bill:
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2025-H 5703 — This legislation sponsored by Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown) would increase the maximum amount of the Kingston water district’s bonding authority from $4 million to $15 million.
Written testimony must be submitted to HouseMunicipalGovernmentandHousing@rilegislature.gov. Testimony must include your name, the bill number, and your viewpoint, whether for, against, or neither. Sign-up sheets for in-person testimony will be available in the hearing room.
The meeting will be televised by Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox channel 61, on i3Broadband channel 15 and on Verizon channel 34. It will be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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