Lawmakers could OK driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants in RI next year

Rhode Island lawmakers appear closer than ever to granting driver's licenses to people not in the country legally and making big investments in housing affordability.

Those issues, along with marijuana legalization, should be on the agenda when the General Assembly returns next year, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi told The Journal in a wide-ranging interview previewing the year ahead.

That's if the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't derail the start of next year's legislative session.

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Shekarchi on Tuesday said he expects the House will convene in the State House in January and not move to a venue with more space and better ventilation, something he did last year and the Senate is considering again as infections rise.

While Shekarchi hopes his members wear masks, with Republicans objecting to Gov. Dan McKee's mask mandate, he is not requiring it.

Shekarchi said in the House floor lawmakers will have to wear a mask only if they are unvaccinated, as would be the case in a business holding 250 or fewer people.

Any unvaccinated lawmakers will be asked to sit upstairs in one of the two House galleries a floor above the chamber.

The other gallery will be reserved for House members who don't feel comfortable being around mask-less colleagues.

"We'll ask, and if they are vaccinated, they don't have to wear a mask," Shekarchi said. "If they don't want to tell us we will ask them politely to go to the gallery."

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On the first day back in session, the House, like the Senate, expects to vote on spending $119 million in federal American Rescue Plan money and likely override more than one of McKee's summer vetoes.

McKee vetoed three bills in July and Shekarchi said the House is seriously considering a three-fifths override vote on two of them.

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One involves auto-body shop mark-ups and would declare an insurer guilty of an "unfair claims practice" for ''refusing to compensate an auto body shop for their documented charges'' for paint, body and refinishing materials if they reflect automotive industry-recognized costs.

A second veto facing an override called for a registry of short-term rentals through websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.

The call for a short-term rentals database originated on tourist-heavy Aquidneck Island with the support of municipal leaders and residents who feel neighborhood streets are being transformed into hotel districts.

Immigrant licenses

After years of unsuccessful lobbying by immigrant-rights advocates, the Senate for the first time in June passed a bill that would allow the issuance of driver's licenses to people living in Rhode Island who are "unable to establish legal presence in the United States."

But the House had already passed the state budget and didn't take up the issue on the grounds that the Division of Motor Vehicles would have no way to pay for the program.

On Tuesday, Shekarchi said the initial license program had cost $7 million, but by charging more for those licenses than for a traditional driver's license, "we can work that down to a more reasonable number."

He said the state is looking at a permit system based on what is issued in Virginia.

"The Virginia model spells out what the driver's license does and does not do," Shekarchi said. "It cannot be used for voting and for things other than a driver's license, no naturalization rights."

Affordable housing

Asked how he thinks the state should spend the bulk of the $1.1 billion the state got from the American Rescue Plan, Shekarchi said that will be worked out through the normal House budget process that typically ends in June.

The one other thing he said about the money is that Rhode Islanders should expect some of it will go to housing, one of his long-time policy interests.

And the House might go further on housing than just new spending. Shekarchi is looking at overhauling the state's land-use laws.

"The zoning laws need to be looked at," he said. "They are impediments to affordable housing. Everyone wants affordable housing, but no one wants it in their back yard."

Specifically, Shekarchi said potential reforms include stricter enforcement of the law requiring that 10% of a community's homes be affordable and making it easier to convert factories, schools and other properties to housing.

And he is not ruling out more radical changes, like California's legalization of "accessory dwelling units" on residential properties, effectively getting rid of pure single-family zoning.

"It is something that needs to be looked at," he said.

'Superman Building'

Shekarchi said the owner of Rhode Island's tallest building, Providence's vacant Industrial Trust Building, has not asked the House for anything to help renovate the building.

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But Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor in September told Shekarchi he thinks a deal might be made to convert the tower to apartments and offices using existing programs.

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Shoreline access

Shekarchi anticipated legislation would emerge from a study led by Rep. Terri Cortvriend, and he said it's the kind of effort that has produced a lot of "misinformation."

Among the false issues he cited: that strangers would be able to set up their beach chairs and umbrellas in the backyards of waterfront homeowners, or sue for "slip-and-fall" injuries if allowed to exercise their constitutionally given right to shoreline access.

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Nursing homes

While not ruling out a "possible delay in all or part" of the new minimum-staffing requirements lawmakers imposed earlier this year on nursing homes, Shekarchi said legislative action may not be necessary.

He said the new law gives "a lot of latitude to the director of the Department of Health," who can declare the severe staffing shortage across much of the state's medical landscape — including the nursing homes — as an "unforeseen event."

"Maybe it's a delay of the penalties,'' or something else, he said. "We are working with the industry ... [and] our partners in government in the Senate. I also will talk to my members as well."

Marijuana

After negotiating all summer and fall with McKee and Senate leaders, Shekarchi again said an agreement on legalizing recreational marijuana is close and he expects to release a framework plan next month.

The sticking point has been whether a Senate-approved commission or the Department of Business Regulation will issue licenses; Shekarchi said talks are centered on a "hybrid" model, but would not elaborate.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI closer to driver's licenses for people not in the country legally