Shekarchi Draws Crowd in Richmond

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

February 24th 2025

RICHMOND – A Town Hall meeting on Saturday morning at Clark Memorial Library attracted more than 40 people who came to hear House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi. The event was organized by Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Richmond, Exeter, Hopkinton, and the Richmond Democratic Town Committee.

Cotter said the turnout had been larger than usual, for a couple of reasons.

“I think there were some people that were there with specific issues that they wanted to hear the Speaker talk about and, definitely, the [political] climate,” she said.

The Rhode Island Budget

Shekarchi described Rhode Island’s current fiscal challenges in the context of the preparation of the state budget.

“We don’t have any more federal money,” he said. “The COVID money is gone, the CARES Act money, the infrastructure money – all of that is gone. We don’t have that ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] money. We have spent it. We have allocated it, and that’s a good thing. We’ve taken that federal money, we did not give a dime back to the federal government, and we spent it here in Rhode Island.”

Public input is welcome, Shekarchi said, in the state budget process.

“The budget, first glance, the budget, first review, the budget in the details, and then we begin a process that’s very open and transparent and we take, and we accept, and we encourage input from the public and stakeholders on that budget,” he said. “And that includes healthcare, it includes, Medicare, Medicaid.”

Housing

“Housing is important to me, it’s important to the state. We have a problem.” Shekarchi said. “…We simply do not have enough housing.”

Shekarchi said he had introduced 45 pieces of housing legislation, some of which has elicited pushback from officials in the smaller rural towns like Richmond.

“We’ve become more and more restrictive,” he said. “Some of it is environmental, some of it is NIMBYism, some of it is ‘we have a beautiful home. We don’t want anybody from the city here, or those kind of people here’ and I tell people, everybody wants affordable housing. Everybody does. But nobody wants it near them.”

Decisions on housing, Shekarchi said, are made by the members of Planning and Zoning Boards in the cities and towns, not state legislators.

“We don’t make decisions at the State House and say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to any project at all. We let the local cities and towns do that,” he said.

Healthcare

Possible cuts to Medicaid are a major concern to Rhode Islanders.

“We’re going to do our best, but we’re Rhode Island, and I try to explain this to my colleagues and everyone else, that the smallest state of all 50 states, and elections have consequences,” Shekarchi said. “Donald Trump won, and he is our President, and we have to learn to accept that and we have to work to get the best opportunities for Rhode Island. And sometimes that may mean working with him, and sometimes, that may mean fighting with him, and I’m prepared to do both.”

On reproductive health, Shekarchi said that despite the state’s codifying Roe v Wade, a federal abortion ban, if enacted, would apply in Rhode Island.

“There’s no exemption for Rhode Island and there’s nothing we can do if there’s a federal ban,” he said.

Renewable Energy

Federal renewable energy funding is most likely gone. However, Shekarchi said the state would further regulate the siting of solar energy facilities.

“The League of Cities and Towns wants to have a bill that automatically allows solar on superfund sites and old landfills. No local permits required to do that,” he said. “So I said ‘look, I’ll keep an open mind. Bring it before us. I think it’s a good idea.’”

Shekarchi also noted that Rhode Island is the national leader in offshore wind, but it is unlikely that additional federal funds will be allocated to those initiatives.

“Offshore wind is a child, a vehicle, a protégé of the federal government and a lot of federal tax credits. Those are gone,” he said.

Local Issues

Shekarchi, an attorney with experience in land use issues, met recently with Cotter and Town Council members Dan Madnick and Jim Palmisciano to discuss the vacant Chariho Plaza and what might be done to revitalize the area.

“Jim Palmisciano came to me with an idea, a legislative idea, to get movement on the Chariho Plaza,” Cotter said. “I coincidentally had a breakfast planned with the Speaker that same day, and so we had breakfast together and I brought it up then and he said ‘… we don’t need to legislate this. There’s existing laws in place. Why don’t we do this? Set up a meeting. You, me, and some of your town councilors, and I will give them the exact road map on how to create a redevelopment agency and what they have to do.’”

A meeting did take place, with a lawyer referred by Shekarchi, to discuss the town’s options regarding the property.

Cotter said she would not continue to be involved in the process unless the council asked for her input.

“If they tell me they need my help, then I’m all about it, and if they don’t the road map is there and they have the tools they need to successfully do that,” she said.

The Preserve

Cotter described meeting with Shekarchi to discuss legislation proposed in 2023 by a previous Town Council that would have made it possible for the town to give tax exemptions to owners of homes at the Preserve.

The enabling legislation was submitted without Cotter’s knowledge, and she pulled the House and Senate bills.

“I went to him practically in tears, begging him to kill this bill that came from your Town Council,” she said. “I was really  upset with that bill and many of you wrote to me  and we stopped that.”