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5/27/2026
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Senate passes Sen. Kallman bill to allow faith-based organizations to build affordable housing on their land
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STATE HOUSE — The Senate today voted to approve legislation from Sen. Meghan E. Kallman to help address Rhode Island’s housing crisis by allowing faith-based organizations to build affordable housing on their land.
“As attendance at houses of worship has broadly declined over the decades, many congregations find themselves land rich and cash poor, with vacant and underused buildings and property. At the same time, housing prices have risen sharply, leaving Rhode Islanders struggling to find housing they can afford. There’s a solution here,” said Senator Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence). “By intelligently and thoughtfully developing these spaces, faith-based organizations can help close the tremendous affordable housing gap both here in Rhode Island and nationally. This bill offers a streamlined permitting process that allows these organizations to continue to serve their communities by providing an essential service while generating revenue to support their continuing mission.”
Senator Kallman’s bill is part of the national Yes in God’s Backyard (YIGBY) movement — a spinoff of the pro-housing Yes in My Backyard movement — that aims to address housing shortages by allowing faith-based organizations to build housing on vacant and under-used land they own.
The bill (2026-S 2268Aaa) would allow a faith-based organization to build housing on land it owns through the comprehensive permit process, so long as at least 50% of the units developed are low- or moderate-income housing.
The comprehensive permit is a streamlined approval process that allows a developer of an affordable housing project to make a single application to the local review board, instead of having to submit separate applications to all applicable local boards.
One report suggests as many as 100,000 places of worship could close over the next few years. Senator Kallman sees legislation like this as a way to shore up the finances of shrinking congregations and provide much-needed affordable housing at the same time.
The bill would preserve local historical zoning areas and the authority of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, and it would not permit the demolition of any property listed in either the National or State Register of Historic Places without written approval from the state historic preservation officer.
If passed by the General Assembly, Rhode Island would join California, Florida, Kentucky, Oregon and Virginia in passing legislation to streamline affordable housing development on land owned by faith-based organizations.
The bill now goes to the House, where Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) has introduced similar legislation (2026-H 7445).
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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