H 7123Cities & Towns

Towns and Cities - Low and Moderate Income Housing

This bill requires the Rhode Island Housing Authority to verify and document Tiverton's affordable housing stock twice a year.

Held for study

Population
Affected

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Introduced Jan 15, 2026Committee House Municipal Government & Housing

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the state laws regarding low and moderate-income housing to place a specific requirement on the Rhode Island Housing Authority. The bill mandates that the Authority must formally verify and document the amount of affordable housing stock located specifically within the town of Tiverton. This verification process is required to take place twice every year. The bill takes effect immediately upon passage.

For younger readers

There is a town called Tiverton in Rhode Island. The state government wants to know exactly how many homes in that town are affordable for people who don't have a lot of money. This new law tells a group called the Housing Authority that they must count these affordable homes two times every year. They have to write down the number so that everyone knows for sure how many affordable homes are there.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Tiverton residentsRhode Island Housing AuthorityLow-income rentersProperty developersTown planners

Impacted communities

Tiverton

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost

Amount unknown

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Increases accountability by ensuring accurate, state-verified data regarding the availability of affordable housing in Tiverton, preventing local obfuscation of housing numbers.
Provides housing advocates and policymakers with reliable, up-to-date statistics to support efforts to enforce state mandates for low-income housing quotas.
Strengthens state-level oversight of municipal housing inventories, ensuring that the needs of low-income residents are being monitored rather than ignored by local officials.
Fails to mandate the actual construction of new affordable housing units, limiting the legislation to administrative observation rather than material improvement for the poor.
Targets only one specific town rather than establishing a comprehensive, statewide verification system, potentially ignoring housing inequities in other wealthy municipalities.
Uses administrative resources for repetitive counting and paperwork that could otherwise be directed toward funding housing assistance or social services.

For Conservatives

Promotes transparency and factual accuracy in government reporting, ensuring that policy decisions regarding the town are based on verified data rather than assumptions.
Ensures that the town of Tiverton is accurately credited for its existing housing stock, potentially protecting the municipality from unwarranted criticism or legal action based on incorrect data.
Utilizes an existing state authority to perform the verification, avoiding the creation of new government agencies or significant new spending programs.
Represents state government overreach into local municipal affairs, undermining the principle of local control and home rule for the town of Tiverton.
Creates unnecessary bureaucratic red tape by mandating a specific, repetitive administrative task twice a year, which may be a waste of taxpayer resources.
Singles out a specific community for state scrutiny, setting a negative precedent for the legislature to target individual towns with unique mandates.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 3 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 45-53 of the General Laws entitled "Low and Moderate Income Housing" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 45-53-17. Affordable housing stock in Tiverton. The Rhode Island housing authority shall verify and document the count of affordable housing stock in the town of Tiverton two (2) times per year.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.