Incumbent advantage vs. mayoral endorsement in House District 58

Rep. Cherie Cruz says housing is still her top priority

Name: Cherie Cruz

Party: Democrat

Race: House District 58

Age: 52

Residence: Pawtucket 

Job: Tenant organizer

Years lived in Rhode Island: Lifelong resident 

Political bio: One term as R.I. state representative 

What are your top 3 legislative priorities if elected?

My top priorities for my next term as state representative remain the same: taking on big landlords, big business, and insiders to deliver real results for our community. I’ve focused on amplifying the voices of Pawtucket residents at the State House, especially around my number one issue, housing. In my first term, we achieved major housing victories, including the major victory of banning rental application fees. This change alone will save renters hundreds of dollars by eliminating predatory fees imposed by property management companies. I will continue to prioritize housing next term.

I’m also committed to improving child care access. With my background in early education, I know how difficult access to child care has become for everyone. I will keep working to increase staffing, open more seats, improve wages and benefits for child care workers, and reduce costs for families. Child care is too expensive, and I will advocate for expanded subsidies so that all families can access the care they need without going into debt.

Finally, I will continue fighting for a greener, more beautiful Pawtucket. I did it when I stood up to city insiders and helped protect Morley Field — where so many of us played growing up — from being turned into a parking lot. I’ll continue pushing at the state level for investments in green space, green energy, and clean air — and to hire more workers who will make those things happen right here in our city.

What more can the state and its legislators do to attract and retain primary health care workers that is not already being done? What role would a state medical school play, if any?

I have spoken with workers and patients across our community about this issue. There just aren’t enough health care workers in our system. We made a huge step forward on this issue this past session by increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates, but that will take some time before Rhode Islanders feel its impact. The best thing we can do, short-term, is to stem the tide of losing workers by making sure that the professionals we have are paid well, with good salaries and benefits, so they stay here in our state, caring for our communities.

A state medical school could help. I am excited about the possibility of it drawing more local students from our high schools, providing Pawtucket’s youth with long-term employment opportunities. And hopefully, too, those young people will choose to stay in our state and give back. But, it’s a huge proposal, and I look forward to learning more.

Do you support applying the 5% state hotel tax to short-term rentals? If so, how would you propose to use that revenue?

As I’ve said before, housing is my top priority, and the impact that the short-term rental market (for things like Airbnbs) has had on home and apartment prices over the last few years cannot be overstated. With so few units on the market across the state, we need to do everything we can to make sure that the houses and apartments are used, first and foremost, for living in. The 5% state hotel tax can help get this market under control, and can help put our state’s actual hotels (and their full-time workers) on better footing to compete. Then we can use the funds generated to support housing construction and rental subsidies for people who actually live in our state.