Shekarchi doubles down on housing; Ruggerio keeps it brief on first day of legislative session

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi raises his hand as he takes the oath of office for his third term leading the chamber. Holding his family bible is his niece Samantha Shekarchi. Administering the oath is Rhode Island Supreme Court Associate Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

The familiar shrill of a bell reverberated through the Rhode Island State House hallways Tuesday afternoon, signaling the start of the 2025 legislative session.

Lawmakers hugged and laughed, posing for selfies with each other and family and friends who came to celebrate. Yet the proceedings across the rotunda offered two very different looks at how legislative leaders are approaching a grueling six months ahead of tough policy choices, set against the backdrop of a projected $330 million deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi came ready with pages upon pages of prepared remarks celebrating the lower chamber’s accomplishments and previewing the priorities ahead. By contrast, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, fresh off a challenge from his right flank for the president role, spoke for mere minutes, with long pauses reminiscent of his appearance during the 2024 session as he faced health challenges.

“I think that was the shortest opening remarks in my 13-year-history,” said Sen. Ryan Pearson, the former Senate majority leader who unsuccessfully challenged Ruggerio for the president position during a November caucus.

Shekarchi enjoyed unanimous support from the 62 House Democrats in his formal reelection to the leadership role Tuesday, facing no challenger. All 10 members of the Republican caucus voted for House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale of Foster. 

“If my head math is right, I will overtake that rostrum in 2038,” Chippendale quipped.

Rep. Enrique Sanchez, a Providence Democrat, abstained from the speaker vote. Cranston Democrats Arthur Handy and Jacquelyn Baginski were not present, but wrote to the House clerk they would have voted for Shekarchi.

After he was sworn in, Shekarchi got down to business.

“Along with the projected budget shortfall, there is immense pressure on some of our most critical systems: housing, health care, and our workforce are experiencing dire shortages,” he said.

Housing has been Shekarchi’s top priority since winning the speaker’s gavel in 2021. His opening remarks highlighted passing close to 50 new laws meant to remove the red tape preventing more homes from being built across the state. He also pointed to voters’ recent approval of a $120 million housing bond, which includes a $10 million carveout in seed money for the state to become a public developer.

“A focal point of this session will be ensuring that these significant investments in housing are executed in a way that delivers maximum benefit in the least amount of time,” Shekarchi said.

He also plans to closely monitor the state’s Department of Housing, which Shekarchi said “has yet to become the driver of consistent housing policy.” However, he was optimistic that new Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard can make some positive change.

Across the rotunda, Senate President Ruggerio was reaffirmed as Senate president by a 26-12 vote, with the dozen Democratic senators voting “present” as a symbol of lack of confidence. Ruggerio’s opening remarks acknowledged the topics he considered “pressing” only by name — health care, housing, economy and education — without further elaboration. Yet he too struck a rosy tone despite the mountain of touch political and financial decisions facing lawmakers this year.

“As we work to build upon the progress we have made, we are fortunate to have a talented and diverse membership, each of whom brings different expertise and perspectives,” Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, said.

His speech offered no recognition of the rifts among Senate Democrats, despite the fact that nearly one-third of the chamber did not vote for him as Senate president.

The usual pomp and circumstance proceedings of the first day consumed most of the 90-minute session in the upper chamber — far shorter than usual, according to Pearson. 

Yet there was still pageantry aplenty, from a color guard march to formal introductions of the dozens of friends and family members crammed elbow-to-elbow into folding chairs behind the lawmakers.

The real work is soon beginning, including by a soon-to-be-formalized Senate panel tasked with studying artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Ruggerio mentioned the new committee in his remarks Tuesday, with plans to name Westerly Democratic Sen. Victoria Gu as its chair. Gu, first elected in 2022, works as a software engineer and data analyst.

The committee is expected to be codified, with membership named next Tuesday, Jan. 14, Greg Pare, a Senate spokesperson said. A Senate vote is required to create new committees. 

Also coming soon to the legislative calendar: oversight hearings on the Washington Bridge and the RIBridges cyberattack, which Shekarchi previously said he expected to occur in January.

“The effectiveness of the state’s response to this crisis impacts so many Rhode Islanders,” Shekarchi said Tuesday. “In turn, our constituents deserve timely and accurate information.”

Shekarchi’s remarks never mentioned what the state will do to keep Hasbro Inc. headquartered in Rhode Island. The Pawtucket-based toy and gaming empire hinted last year it was looking to relocate to Massachusetts; Shekarchi in a December interview deferred to Gov. Dan McKee to take the lead on negotiations with Hasbro.

However, Shekarchi was eager to point to the General Assembly’s role in keeping other companies — IGT and Bally’s Corp — in the Ocean State.

“Here, companies have direct access to government leaders, and our partners in government enjoy an extremely collaborative working relationship,” Shekarchi said.

Gov. Dan McKee will offer his own set of priorities in the annual State of the State address, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14.