State Legislative Updates

ELECTION BILLS UNDER CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE

(March 24, 2025) The House Committee on State Government and Elections, chaired by State Rep. Evan Shanley, is scheduled to meet tomorrow to hear several election bills. The meeting will be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv, where a recording will be available to view on demand. The EGRTC recommends that you let the committee know that you APPROVE of the bills highlighted in green, and you DO NOT APPROVE of the bills highlighted in red. Instructions for sharing your views with the committee are explained below.

- 2025-H 5086 — This bill, introduced by Rep David Bennett, R.N., (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston), would propose an amendment to the State Constitution that would allow four-year terms for General Assembly members, commencing with the 2028 election.

- 2025-H 5275 — This bill, introduced by Rep. Rebecca Kislak (D-Dist. 4, Providence), would establish an instant runoff form of ranked choice voting limited to General Assembly primary elections, with three or more candidates. We warned about this Ranked Choice Voting in a previous communication.

- 2025-H 5276 —This bill, introduced by Chairman Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick, East Greenwich), would establish the Ranked Choice Voting for Rhode Island Presidential Primaries and provide for new sections on ranked choice voting tabulation and results reporting. We warned about Ranked Choice Voting in a previous communication.

- 2025-H 5277 — This bill, introduced by Rep. Arthur J. Corvese (D-Dist. 55, North Providence), would change the process of nominating candidates for the general election, by replacing the political party primary with a primary general election.

- 2025-H 5520 — This bill, introduced by Representative Brian C. Newberry (R-Dist. 48, North Smithfield, Burrillville), would change the manner by which presidential electoral college electors are elected and create a system of grouping of municipalities of equal populations, one of each of Rhode Island’s electoral votes.

- 2025-H 5708 — This bill, introduced by Representative Richard Fascia (R-Dist. 42, Johnston, Cranston), would allow automatic voter registration for Rhode Islanders applying for hunting and fishing licenses.

- 2025-H 5712 — This bill, introduced by RI State Representative John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton), would establish fusion voting in Rhode Island, allowing candidates to appear on ballots as nominees of multiple political parties, for the same office.

- 2025-H 5734— This bill, introduced by House Minority Whip David J Place (R-Dist. 47, Burrillville, Glocester), would propose an amendment to the State Constitution to grant the governor a line-item veto on the budget and other appropriation bills.

- 2025-H 5874 — This bill, introduced by Rep. Cherie Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket), would make it easier to vote for people eligible to vote who are incarcerated at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute and creates the position of “voting coordinator,” within the Department of Corrections.

We have made it easy for you to let the House State Government and Elections Committee members know whether you support these bills. 

EMAIL: Please take a moment to send this prewritten email, and feel free to make any modifications you prefer. You will need to write your name at the end of the email. 

CALL: 401-222-6899

TESTIFY IN PERSON: Attend the meeting tomorrow at the rise of the House (about 5 p.m.) in Room 101 on the first floor of the State House. 

Please share this email with everyone you know who cares about election integrity, and encourage them to subscribe to our email for future updates. Thank you for taking action!

DEMOCRAT HOUSING POLICY: AN EVER-MOVING TARGET

(Marcg 13, 2025) Recently, RI House Bill 5801 was introduced by several Democrat representatives, and a hearing was held before the House Municipal Government & Housing Committee. This act would amend several aspects of the approval process relating to affordable housing, and we want to draw your attention to two alarming revisions.

For many years, the will of cities and towns across Rhode Island has been usurped in a race to reach the state-imposed mandated goal that 10% of our housing be affordable. We have been describing the unintended consequences when our own planning board has almost no power to deny another development on Division Road, for example, where we could lose a thriving farm business that provides wellness services to those in need through its equine assisted psychotherapy. Of course, this is only one of many examples of developers leveraging the comprehensive permit that allows almost guaranteed approval for high-density housing developments when at least 25% of units are designated as affordable.

This bill makes the 10% a moving target by stating that for-profit developers can still obtain a comprehensive permit to build more units totaling up to 1% of the total number of units in the town. In other words, every year after we reach our 10% goal, a developer could get approval to build ~55 high density units anywhere he can find land to purchase. Where a sewer connection already exists, he can build up to 12 units per acre, and where septic is necessary, he can develop up to 8 units per acre. While ~55 additional units a year that bypass local planning may sound reasonable compared to the 410+ unit development already underway on Division Road, the aggregate of all of this out-of-control development will forever change the character of our town. 

For non-profit developers where 100% of the units are affordable, they will continue to be able to obtain a comprehensive permit without any limitations even after we reach our 10% goal. Non-profits would be exempt from the 1% cap that applies to for-profits in 10%+ towns. This means that multiple non-profit developments could be built in East Greenwich each year. One example of a non-profit housing development is the 66-unit, four-story apartment building on Frenchtown Road known as Soria. There are several other non-profit developments throughout town such as Frenchtown Road Apartments, Shoreside Apartments, Marlborough Crossing, Bedford Farms, and Cottages on the Green. 

Furthermore, the bill states that municipalities cannot mandate more than one parking space per unit if the unit has two bedrooms or fewer, which could exacerbate the already tight parking situation downtown. And the bill allows for automatic approvals if our planning board misses a tight deadline—90 days for preliminary plans— which limits residents’ voices, turning our planning process into a rubber stamp. Finally, the bill states that towns cannot impose moratoriums or caps on residential development permits, so even if East Greenwich wanted to put a temporary hold on all new developments to ensure that we had the proper infrastructure to support this growth, we would be unable to do so.

We’re striving for 10%, but House Bill 5801 rigs the game against us. Where once farmland, nature, and peace prevailed, someday East Greenwich could resemble Warwick or any other town blighted by suburban sprawl. Lawmakers must reject this mess. To reach out to your elected officials who are supposed to represent your interests, we urge you to send an email before this legislation passes, preferably by March 20th when this bill is scheduled for consideration. 

Rep. Justine Caldwell: rep-caldwell@rilegislature.gov

Rep. Evan Shanley: rep-shanley@rilegislature.gov

EG Town Council: towncouncil@eastgreenwichri.com

THE CASE OF THE MISSING STATE REP.

(January 16, 2025) Whose priorities will your elected representatives be focusing on in this legislative session? An upcoming Legislative Forum, hosted by EG News, has been advertised as a chance for voters to “hear from both legislators about their plans and priorities for the 2025 session.” 

At this January 22nd event, Rep. Evan Shanley and Sen. Bridget Valverde will be participating, but Rep. Justine Caldwell has declined, which was not stated in the EG News piece but which we learned by inquiring. Also, Caldwell “did not respond to multiple requests for comment by EG News” for a 2023 article entitled General Assembly Roundup. Why won’t our representative engage with her constituents? Perhaps she knows that voters are not happy about her broken promisemade at the 2022 Candidate Forum in which she vowed to restore local control to our planning and zoning decisions and prevent state overreach and developer abuse leading to out-of-control development. Since making that promise, she has voted to approve several housing laws that have done the opposite. Local zoning and planning laws are there for a reason, to allow East Greenwich to grow at a responsible rate ensuring that we have suitable infrastructure to support that growth. The housing laws that Caldwell approved actually prevent EG from considering whether we have enough classrooms and teachers for incoming students, whether we wish to have hundreds of additional cars on our rural roads, and whether the quality of life for current residents is negatively affected.

Although we are pleased to see Valverde’s participation in the upcoming forum, she also voted to approve the same housing laws. Yet she made similar promises at the 2022 Forum in which she stated that she would work to prevent state overreach of our local zoning and planning if it is the will of her constituents. Ultimately, Valverde voted to approve all the housing laws that take local control away. It is no coincidence that residents who live close to the proposed 410+ unit development on Division Road felt compelled to hire their own lawyer to represent them in this matter. We currently await the state superior court’s decision on the town’s appeal of the developer’s application and will keep you informed about this topic. Meanwhile, other developments in town are in the works turning farmland into condos. 

It should be noted that Valverde and Caldwell ran unopposed in 2024, rewarding these legislators for their broken promises. When there is a lack of balance in our local and state offices, there is no one to offer another perspective, and some politicians are likely to care less about “the consent of the governed” and focus more on their own priorities. 

The Legislative Forum will be taking place at Cole Middle School on January 22nd, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Constituents are asked to register to attend and let them know in advance what you want to hear about. The EGRTC is concerned that perhaps our reps will not be taking live questions from the public but will be choosing from preapproved topics. We had the same concerns when EG News hosted a 2023 community forum with school and town officials about the school bond referendum where EG News delivered preselected questions to members of the panel. Our elected officials should not be buffered but rather should be challenged by journalists and residents to uphold their promises and represent your best interests and priorities.

And it is extremely important that, in 2026, Republicans and Unaffiliated candidates step forward to give voters a choice. If you would like to run for local or state office, please reach out our Vice Chair of Candidate Development, Peter Carney at pcarney1433@gmail.com. If you cannot run but wish to help us in our candidate search, please join our recruitment committee by completing this form.