| R 284 |
| 2024 -- H 8146 Enacted 05/15/2024 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| EXTENDING THE REPORTING AND EXPIRATIONS DATES AND AMENDING THE PURPOSE OF THE SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO REVIEW AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICIES THAT DEAL WITH NUMEROUS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SHORT-TERM RENTALS ISSUES |
Introduced By: Representatives Carson, Cortvriend, and Noret |
| Date Introduced: April 05, 2024 |
| RESOLVED, That the special House commission created by resolution No. 422 passed |
| by the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2023, and approved June 14, 2023, |
| entitled "HOUSE RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO |
| REVIEW AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICIES THAT DEAL WITH |
| NUMEROUS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SHORT-TERM RENTALS ISSUES" is hereby |
| authorized to continue its study and make a report to the House of Representatives on or before |
| September 30, 2025, and said commission shall expire on December 10, 2025; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the time for reporting authorized by resolution No. 422 passed by the |
| House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2023, and approved June 14, 2023, be and |
| the same is hereby rescinded; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the purpose of said legislative commission is hereby amended and |
| expanded to include: |
| The purpose of said commission shall be to study the effects and impact of short-term |
| rentals on the State of Rhode Island, Rhode Island's municipalities, and on the Rhode Island |
| Tourism Industry. The study shall include, but not be limited to: |
| • Review of all current and existing Rhode Island statutes on short-term rentals; |
| • An update on the DBR registrations process and enforcement; |
| • Municipal vs. state regulation: pre-emption; |
| • Taxation: whole house, impact fee; |
| • Taxation: accuracy of hotel and sales tax collection/review of the process; |
| • Impact on year-round and local housing market and neighborhoods; |
| • Health and safety concerns and issues; and |
| • Best practice in other states/communities. |
| In addition, the commission shall: |
| • Establish a working definition of "short-term rentals"; |
| • Engage the public and community stakeholders including property owners, |
| industry representatives, Police and Fire Chiefs, and zoning and planning officials, etc., for input; |
| • Develop an understanding of the nature, extent, and scope of short-term rental |
| activity and identify specific benefits, problems, or issues associated with "short-term rentals" and |
| how it varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, and municipality to municipality; |
| • Engage with the RI League of Cities and Towns to develop a baseline and |
| enforceable (consistent) state policy/framework that includes all existing municipal policies and |
| ordinances by December 15, 2025; |
| • Engage with the RI Division of Taxation to propose a policy to ensure that: |
| (1) All hotel, municipal and sales taxes are submitted to the State by short-term |
| rental websites to ensure tax compliance; |
| (2) Propose a transparent state policy for all taxes remitted by short-term rental |
| websites to include tax data by property including the address of each rental which shall be |
| submitted with each monthly remittance; and |
| (3) Propose methods to increase the State's ability to conduct complete audits by |
| short-term rental property with enforcement mechanisms to be completed no later than December |
| 15, 2024; and |
| • Engage with the Department of Business Regulation to review the State's short- |
| term rental registration system: |
| (1) To ensure that all short-term rental websites are requiring that their listed |
| properties are registered with enforcement mechanisms; |
| (2) Ensure that theses short-term rental websites are in compliance; and |
| (3) Propose a system of coordination between any municipal registration systems |
| and the State registration system by December 15, 2024. |
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| LC005846 |
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