Providence Mayor Vetoes Rent Control! People OUTRAGED!

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Providence Mayor Brett Smiley issued the second veto of his first term to reject a city council's rent control proposal, which was passed for the second time last night in a 9-6 vote. The ordinance would cap annual rent increases at 4% for some households. Smiley has instead proposed a short-term rent relief fund and other investments he says truly get at the root of the housing crisis, which is, he believes, increasing supply. He thinks the council's proposal is flawed and has too many unanswered questions.

[00:00:30]We followed up with a host of additional questions that we felt needed to be answered in order to adequately map out how much this might cost both in terms of administration and impact to the city's tax base. Those questions were never answered. And so again, if this were ever re-introduced in the future, then you need to answer those questions.

[00:00:51]The council now has 30 calendar days to hold a vote if they want to override the mayor's veto. They need a 2/3 majority or 10 votes to override. In the meantime, Smiley's Democratic challenger, State Representative David Morales, supports rent control. He issued a statement today calling the mayor's veto out of touch.

[00:01:08]>> I mean, you got to do something. You got to do something. Like the way these rents are like just going up and up. It's way out of control. And there has to be something has to be done.