Rhode Island Voters Back $120M Bond Measure to Support Affordable Housing

Rhode Island voters are projected to pass a ballot initiative to support increased housing through a massive bond issuance.Rhode Island's Question 2 issues $120 million in general-obligation bonds, which could then be used in various costs to increase the supply of affordable housing. The funding would go to pre-development work, new construction, property acquisition, and infrastructure improvements.At 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, an hour after polls closed, the measure had 61% support with 84% of the vote reported, according to the state's Board of Elections. The measure needs 50% support to pass.Of that money, $25 million must go to increasing construction of for-sale homes and $10 million for public housing. The state expects construction on these projects to begin in 2028 and the new housing to come online from 2029 to 2032. That's according to the state's information on the ballot measure, which notes that the total cost of the bond will top out at around $192.5 million with interest. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that Rhode Island, with a population of about 1.1 million people, is short around 23,000 affordable rental homes for low-income renters. Around 30% t...