The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless (RICH), an NLIHC State Coalition Partner, has succeeded in securing $750,000 for rental assistance in the 2013 state budget, a significant first step toward improving housing affordability in Rhode Island. Advocates also won a victory when Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) vetoed legislation that would have increased property taxes on affordable housing. RICH credits these achievements to its new “Adopt a Champion” strategy.Created by RICH’s government relations committee, Adopt a Champion is a coordinated effort between RICH and its allies to target legislators sympathetic to affordable housing issues and to advancing priority legislation. Once RICH identifies legislators, it secures a commitment from allied nonprofits or individuals in their districts to “adopt” them and use appropriate strategies to secure their support. This approach proved particularly successful during the short deliberation period after the state budget was brought to the floor, when advocates won support for rental assistance funds from legislative leaders.To assure that state leaders followed through on their commitment to invest resources in Rhode Island’s Plan to End Homelessness, advocates pushed for a rental assistance fund to help alleviate significant overcrowding in the shelter system. They expected that inaction would exacerbate the 25% cut in federal Emergency Shelter Grant funding resulting from sequestration. In addition, advocates reported that 4,868 unique Rhode Islanders entered the state homeless system, including 1,277 children, in 2012. When the House Finance Committee introduced the 2013 budget, it did not include rental assistance funding. Advocates worked throughout the session to urge house and senate legislators to provide a $3.24 million dedicated funding stream for rental vouchers, a sufficient sum to start the state’s homelessness plan. In the week preceding the vote, RICH activated the Adopt a Champion network, which led legislators to include $1 million for rental vouchers, later scaled back to $750,000 in the final budget. In the session’s last moments, the General Assembly voted to allow cities and towns to raise their property tax rates on affordable housing by 10%. Advocates opposed the move, which would have disrupted affordable housing across the state. Landlords could not raise rents to meet the higher rates, and even if they could, residents would not have been able to afford the increase. Led by Housing Network of Rhode Island, another NLIHC State Coalition Partner, advocates persuaded Governor Chafee to veto the legislation. Their efforts were bolstered by an editorial in The Providence Journal, the state’s leading newspaper. “We are looking at Adopt a Champion as the establishment of a new program,” said RICH Executive Director Jim Ryczek. “It allows us to focus our advocacy in the most efficient way possible.” For more information, contact Jim Ryczek, [email protected].