{"id":429,"date":"2026-05-15T23:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:04:12","slug":"rent-control-is-dead-in-providence-for-now-after-failed-veto-override","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429","title":{"rendered":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PROVIDENCE \u2014 The Providence City Council failed to override Mayor Brett Smiley\u2019s veto of its rent stabilization plan on Friday night, killing the proposal for now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=427\">Golden Knights docked second-round pick, coach John Tortorella fined $100K for breaking media rules<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Supporters of the plan hope the failure will help bolster progressive campaigns this fall, when every City Council seat and the mayor\u2019s office are on the ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>City council leaders did not have the votes to overturn the veto going into the rare Friday night meeting. Two previous votes on the matter were 9 to 6, enough to pass the measure but not enough to override the veto, which requires a two-thirds majority of the council. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>The same 9 councilors voted to override the veto on Friday, short of the 10 needed. Only one of the councilors in opposition, Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan, showed up to the meeting, and voted no again.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Rhode Map<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The clock runs out on the ability to reverse the veto this weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>The housing battle that could make or break Mayor Smiley&#8217;s political career<\/div>\n<p><span>Despite failing to flip any votes, Council President Rachel Miller said it was important to continue the debate up until the deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cRent stabilization is bigger than the 15 councilors,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt has brought hundreds of residents into the conversation, and people whose future depend on this policy deserve as much time as possible to speak with their councilors and communicate why it\u2019s so important to them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Miller previously said if the override were to fail, \u201clandlords will continue to be allowed unlimited increases that price families out of their homes and neighborhoods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The proposed ordinance would have set a 4 percent cap on annual rental increases in the city, but with a expansive set of exemptions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Landlords who live in one of their properties would be able to exempt two buildings of four units or fewer, and newly constructed apartments would be exempt for up to 20 years. Existing apartments would not be subject to the rent limits until five years after they were constructed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The council was never able to calculate what percentage of the city\u2019s apartments would be actually be rent stabilized, citing a lack of available data. The mayor\u2019s office estimated it would be fewer than half.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Most of the landlords on the council, and Smiley himself, would not have been subject to the rent control rules in their properties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The September Democratic primary could be a litmus test for how important the issue is to voters. Smiley is facing a challenge from State Representative David Morales, a Democratic Socialist who has promised to sign rent stabilization into law if elected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Reclaim Rhode Island, a progressive group focused on housing, is targeting its political efforts towards the mayor\u2019s race and the race for Ward 1, currently held by Councilman John Goncalves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=425\">Just about anything could happen when the 151st Preakness is run at Laurel Park on Saturday<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think that both Mayor Smiley and Councilman Goncalves have sided with powerful real estate interests over the working-class people of Providence,\u201d chair Dan Denvir said. \u201cThey are on the wrong side of an incredibly popular issue, and voters are going to make that clear in September.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ward 1 includes Fox Point on the East Side of Providence, and part of downtown. A primary challenger for Goncalves has not yet been announced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In voting against the ordinance, Goncalves argued the policy moved through the council too fast, and required more analysis. He also expressed concern about shifting the city\u2019s tax burden to homeowners if apartment buildings decrease in value because they are rent controlled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He did not attend the override vote, nor did Councilors James Taylor, Ana Vargas, Oscar Vargas and Pedro Espinal, all of whom had previously voted against the ordinance. The other 9 councilors were in favor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>All 15 councilors are Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ryan, who is running for the state representative seat being vacated by Morales, said the ordinance \u201cthreatens to kill\u201d any progress made in housing investments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She said she supports other affordable housing initiatives including an emergency rent fund proposal proposed by Smiley.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smiley has acknowledged that rent stabilization is popular in public polling, but argues the policy could slow down housing construction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think on first blush, if you talk to anybody and say \u2018I\u2019d like to freeze your rent,\u2019 that probably sounds pretty good,\u201d Smiley said last month. \u201cWhat a poll doesn\u2019t capture is the reality of these policies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNo one\u2019s rent actually gets lower, all it does it slow the rate of growth of some people\u2019s rent,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if you think rent control is a good idea, this is a bad version of a bad policy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The two sides have agreed on other housing proposals, including last week\u2019s first-ever enforcement of the city\u2019s ban on rent-setting algorithms. Both the City Council and Smiley touted a new complaint filed against the owner of the 95 Lofts, where tenants reported getting a 44 percent rent increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Councilor Justin Roias questioned why those who supported the algorithm ordinance could not support rent stabilization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf it is wrong for landlords to use software to drive rents higher, why is it suddenly acceptable when they do it without the software?\u201d Roias said. \u201cThat irony is impossible for me to ignore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=423\">Thursday\u2019s nine HS sports takeaways, with football scholar-athletes and lots of college check-ins<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supporters of the plan hope the failure will help bolster progressive campaigns this fall, when every City Council seat and the mayor\u2019s office are on the ballot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Supporters of the plan hope the failure will help bolster progressive campaigns this fall, when every City Council seat and the mayor\u2019s office are on the ballot.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429\"},\"wordCount\":940,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429\",\"name\":\"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=429#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Boston Relocation Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider","og_description":"Supporters of the plan hope the failure will help bolster progressive campaigns this fall, when every City Council seat and the mayor\u2019s office are on the ballot.","og_url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429","og_site_name":"Boston Relocation Insider","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"headline":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override","datePublished":"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429"},"wordCount":940,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429","name":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override - Boston Relocation Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-15T23:04:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ea04d77eb60ee0580c89609eded6618d.avif","width":1440,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=429#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rent control is dead in Providence, for now, after failed veto override"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/","name":"Boston Relocation Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}