Shekarchi has spearheaded efforts to create more housing, but progress has been incremental and the cost of a home or apartment remains unaffordable for many people. The state faces other challenges with healthcare and the economy, including the potential loss of the storied toymaker Hasbro. So what would it take to make up more ground on these difficult issues, and do state leaders have the right plan for moving forward?
This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi.
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Ian Donnis: Welcome back to the Public’s Radio.
Speaker Shekarchi: Always a great time to be back here. Thank you very much.
Donnis: What are your top goals for the new legislative session?
Shekarchi: You know, I get that question asked almost every year by every reporter, and it’s the same answer, but this year it’s a little bit more important. Clearly the budget. We need to make sure that we do a very good job. It’s the single most important thing we do as a House of Representatives. It’s our constitutional obligation, and we take that very seriously. And it’s going to be quite a challenge this year because we have about a $330 million deficit.
Donnis: Well, speaking of that, Rhode Island seems to be heading back into a new era of perennial budget deficits. The budget has to be balanced by the around the start of the new fiscal year. But why has the state been unable to eliminate this disparity between revenue and spending that causes a long term structural deficit?
Shekarchi: Well, the revenues change dramatically, and also we account for a lot of federal revenue. So when we have extra federal revenue, we, unlike some other states, we collect that and pass it through the budget process. And that’s why you see the ups and downs with the revenue. So significantly, it depends on federal revenue that comes in and then it gets all put into general revenue. In addition to that, when we do generate a surplus from the state perspective, there is also so many people and so many needs and so many wants in the state, it’s very hard to say, Oh, we’re going to take, we have an extra $30 million. We’re going to take it. We’re not going to give it to your organization or this organization or that organization. We’re going to put it in our rainy day fund.
Donnis: How about cutting spending?
Shekarchi: Well, we try and we have cut spending in certain areas and cut taxes strategically. Since I’ve been Speaker, we have not raised taxes. We’ve actually lowered taxes. We lowered, eliminated taxes completely on military pensions. We’ve eliminated the car tax permanently. We raised the exemption for Social Security. And we cut significantly for 75 percent of small businesses in Rhode Island. All tangible taxes. So instead of cutting spending, we’ve cut taxes. So it’s where we can do it strategically, look at the best possible way to do that. But ultimately, you know, the budget is a product of our needs as a community and our state. So whatever the need is at that particular year, that’s the need, you know, we try to fund.
Donnis: Are you open to any tax increases this year, such as higher taxes on affluent Rhode Islanders?
Shekarchi: Well, I would be you know, open to taxes on everybody and everything, and I’ve said this at numerous interviews, that everything literally is on the table. Tax increases, cuts in spending, cuts in programming, everything is on the table, and it has to be on the table, because we just don’t know what our fiscal situation is going to be when it rolls around in May. Now, next week, the governor will be delivering a budget to the General Assembly. I’m presuming it will be balanced, so we’ll see how the governor’s first blush at that and then we’ll begin a very open and robust public process of debating this and examining this and we’ll take input from public and stakeholders and then we’ll ultimately set a budget sometime in mid to late May once we have a May revenue conference.
Donnis: State officials seemed surprised last year by the news that Hasbro may relocate outside of Rhode Island. Did Governor McKee drop the ball by not staying in closer touch with Hasbro to make sure that it was planning to stay in Rhode Island?
Shekarchi: I wouldn’t say that at all, because Hasbro does not have a lobbyist, Hasbro has not really asked for anything, even as of right now, today. I know there’s negotiations going on, I think there’s a, you know, likelihood that Hasbro will stay, also the likelihood that it would not stay, so we’ll have to wait and see, but I will tell you that we in the General Assembly, and that’s what I’m going to speak for, I’m not going to speak for the Governor, executive branch, that we have an open door policy.
Citizens, as you know, came forward last year. They wanted some changes in the tax structure. They were being wooed by Massachusetts. At any given moment, we try to be a very open door policy and I try to meet and talk to, I go to all chamber events, all rotary events, I meet with the partnership. I try, if industry in Rhode Island wants to speak or talk or need anything or want anything from the Speaker of the House, they will get it, and they’ll get it within 24 hours.
Donnis: Your counterpart across the rotunda, Senate President Dominic Ruggerio, is 76, and almost a third of senators think his health condition is such that he should no longer lead the Senate. If President Ruggerio asked you, would you encourage him to walk away from the presidency of the Senate?
Shekarchi: I would absolutely, wait in any way, shape, or form, weigh in on that matter. That’s a very personal decision that he has to make. He tells me he’s getting better. I believe him when he tells me that. And I have learned a long time ago that the best position for the speaker is to take no position on the internal workings of the other chamber. I will not comment on whether the Senate president should stay or not. I will tell you, he tells me he wants to stay. And I think if that’s what he wants, then he should do it. He tells me he’s well enough to run the Senate, and I believe him. And we’ll let the process play out over there. I am not going to comment or speculate on a friend and his health condition. But from all indications, from everything I’ve seen in the last 30 days. He is very interested in maintaining his position and looking forward to it. And he looks and acts, at least with me and my interactions, very well suited and able to run the Senate.
Donnis: Ruggerio’s former number two, Senator Ryan Pearson, says that your chamber, the House of Representatives, had the upper hand in the previous session because of Ruggerio’s health issues. Is Pearson right?
Shekarchi: No, he’s not and I understand that there’s the internal politics and everybody has to rally around some cause or whatever but the Senate was very engaged last session. I was engaged with the president, I may not have met with him as frequently as he did, but we had phone conversations. I did visit at his home. I had text messages. I worked through his senior staff. I worked through his legal counsel. I worked through other senators as well. We the finance committees have met with DiPalma as well. The product of the legislation, the budget last year had its usual input from the Senate and its usual Senate priorities were also included. If a bill didn’t pass for whatever reason, it’s because it didn’t pass. It had nothing to do with the House being more dominant or the Senate being less dominant.
Donnis: You recently told Joe Paolino that you think it’s most likely the new westbound Washington Bridge will not be complete until 2028. Why is that your view?
Shekarchi: Because we don’t have a bid right now, we don’t have a contractor, we don’t have a bid completed, we don’t have a design, and just from my you know, interaction in the private sector, a major public works project like that takes a long time to order materials, and we still have, you know, work stoppages, and you know, supply chain issues you know, it is 2026. Right excuse me, it’s 2025 and I don’t think we will actually have a design or construction started for a long time. So I would rather be a little early and be excited to get the bridge open earlier and manage people’s expectations to say that. Now the governor and the DOT were going to have oversight and I’m waiting for a schedule from him. That’s just my opinion of where I think things are. Now if we can have more information from the experts from DOT and they can tell us they can get it done in one year or two years, then I’m all happy about it. I’m a celebrate that. But I want people to understand this is where I think that we’re going because we seem to have, you know, with the first rounds of bid not to receive any bids has to slow us down. We also have, which nobody’s taking into consideration, we also have a lawsuit going on and lawsuits just tend to slow things down. That’s just my experience as a practicing attorney, they don’t necessarily act as a catalyst to move a project along. You saw this recently with the demolition. The demolition had to stop for a period of time because of the lawsuit.
Donnis: What are your top concerns about the incoming Trump administration and what that administration means for Rhode Island?
Shekarchi: My top concern with the Trump administration is the economic one, or I would say the federal aid that Rhode Island has enjoyed so robustly under President Biden, due in large part to our congressional delegation. I honestly don’t think we will be as successful. It’s not through lack of efforts by Senator Reed or Senator Whitehouse or Congressman Magaziner or Congressman Amo. It’s just that I don’t think Rhode Island is a high priority for the Trump administration when it comes to allocating federal resources. We were clearly under Biden. We did very well with bridge allocations under Secretary Buttigieg. I don’t think we’ll do as well under the Trump administration.
Donnis: You are sitting on more than 3 million in your campaign account, and we’re coming up on an election for governor next year. Is it still your position that you will not run for governor if Governor McKee seeks reelection?
Shekarchi: I think my statement has been I can’t see myself running against Governor McKee, and nothing has changed in that position.
Donnis: Do you think there’s any question about whether Governor McKee will seek reelection?
Shekarchi: That you’ll have to ask him. My concentration, I know it’s a lot of speculation in the media, my concentration is honestly in running the house, especially this year, we’re going to have a very challenging budget year. I want to be the best speaker I can be. I want to put together the best budget I can for the people of Rhode Island and I’ll let the future worry about the future.
Donnis: You’ve been the main driver on trying to create more housing in Rhode Island, and during your opening day speech in the House on Tuesday, you said the State Housing Department has yet to become a driver of consistent housing policy. What is the problem? What needs to happen differently?
Shekarchi: We need some stability there. Here’s my concern is that we’ve had four directors in three years, so we need to continue and hopefully that this new director has the experience and the staying power to get it done. It’s a very difficult job. I want people to understand it’s not an easy job. If it was an easy job, we would have solved this problem a long time ago. I understand and I recognize the difficulties that she faced. The other thing that this office needs to do is they clearly need to have a much better PR skills. They need to publicize the good work that we’re doing. And they need to let the public know when there’s availability for shelters, when there’s availability for funding, when there’s availability for stuff, that would be my two biggest criticisms is stability and a better PR thing. So I made those concerns known to the new director and I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt. And I want to give her every opportunity to be successful.
Donnis: Former Governor Gina Raimondo’s time as U. S. Commerce Secretary is winding down due to the incoming Trump administration. You’re a friend of Gina. You ran her 2010 campaign for treasurer. Has she communicated anything to you about what’s in her future?
Shekarchi: Her immediate future is to stay in Washington for the short term. I would say the next four to five months. Her son, Tommy, will be graduating from high school. She’ll entertain offers she has received many offers in the private sector and also academia as well. I think she’ll entertain offers and she’ll decide what’s best for her and her family going forward. But I’ll just make this prediction, I don’t think the people have heard the last of Gina Raimondo in a political sense.
Donnis: Do you think she’s a credible, prospective candidate for president next time out?
Shekarchi: I think that her chances would be just as good as anyone else. That’s a long, long way off. And there’s a lot to do. I don’t have any idea if that’s something that she aspires to, but I think that wherever Gina Raimondo lands, people will know about it. And I think whatever she decides to do, she’ll be very successful at.
Donnis: We’ve got to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us, Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi.
Shekarchi: Thank you, Ian Donnis. It’s always a pleasure to come on your show.
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Some politicians have a tough time walking away from politics. That was true with President Biden last year. Now, while the Rhode Island Senate is headed to a leadership transition at some point in the future, the timing remains unclear. And Rhode Island’s longest-serving lawmaker, 76-year-old Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, is being closely watched because of questions about his health. You can read more about that in my Friday TGIF politics column, posting around 4 this afternoon on X, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and at thepublicsradio.org/TGIF.
That’s it for our show. Political Roundtable is a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is James Baumgartner. Our editor is Alex Nunes. I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.
