Housing commission to meet today
STATE HOUSE – The Special Commission to Study the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act will meet today, Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. in the House Lounge on the second floor of the State House.
On the agenda is a presentation by Rhode Island Housing on State Fiscal Recovery Funds spending, as well as a discussion of United Way of Rhode Island’s recommendations for potential legislative changes to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, which were presented to the commission on Jan. 10.
Public comment will be accepted at this meeting. Written testimony is strongly encouraged and may be submitted to Charles Donovan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., preferably as a .pdf file, no later than 10 a.m. tomorrow. Those submitting should indicate their name and organization, if applicable. Every effort will be made to share written testimony submitted before the deadline with commission members prior to the hearing. Testimony received after deadline will be posted to the website as soon as possible. Written testimony is considered public and will be posted to and accessible on the General Assembly website at https://www.rilegislature.gov/commissions/LMIHA/Pages/hmaterials.aspx.
The meeting will be live streamed at http://rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx and will be televised on Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox channel 15 and 61 for high definition, on i3Broadband on channel 15 and on channel 34 by Verizon subscribers.
The commission, led by Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol), is studying barriers to affordable housing creation and identify ways to help cities and towns meet their obligations under the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act to ensure that at least 10 percent of their housing stock qualifies as affordable.
Besides Chairwoman Speakman, the commission includes House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale (R-Dist. 40, Foster, Glocester, Coventry), Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil Steinberg, ONE Neighborhood Builders President and Executive Director Jennifer Hawkins, Grow Smart Rhode Island Executive Director Scott Wolf, Pawtucket Central Falls Development Corporation Executive Director Linda Weisinger, Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness Executive Director Caitlin Frumerie, Rhode Island Association of Realtors Government Affairs Director David Salvatore, Rhode Island Builders Vice President David Caldwell, Housing Network of Rhode Island/Community Housing Land Trust of Rhode Island Executive Director Melina Lodge, Rhode Island Housing Executive Director Carol Ventura, Robert Marshall of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council, Glocester Town Planner Karen Scott, Providence Department of Planning Director Community Development Emily Freedman, Barrington Tax Assessor Ken Mallette and Jongsung Kim of the Bryant University Department of Economics.
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