Monday, June 26, 2023
Chair Edwards, Chair Arciero, and Members of the Joint Committee on Housing:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to fighting for an equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.
We urge you to give a favorable report to S.856 and H.1312: The Upstream RAFT Act, sponsored by Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Marjorie Decker. This bill would improve access to the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT), restore COVID-era protections, and codify the RAFT program into state statute.
We often hear rhetoric about the housing crisis in Massachusetts. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, it would take more than 90 hours working at minimum wage to afford a modest 1-bedroom rental home in Massachusetts at Fair Market Rent. With the cost of housing so high, housing insecurity abounds. According to data from the Eviction Lab, the number of evictions in Boston jumped significantly over the past year and is now higher than pre-COVID levels, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown families.
Addressing our housing crisis requires a vast array of policy reforms, but at the most basic level, we must take swift action in the near term to curb the growth of displacement. The RAFT program is a lifeline for low-income families, providing emergency, short-term financial assistance for low-income tenants who are at risk of eviction—regardless of immigration status. During the pandemic, this emergency assistance saved many families from homelessness.
But the program has also failed to reach its full potential because of barriers to access, and the Upstream RAFT bill seeks to address them. This bill eliminates the requirement of a “notice to quit” so that tenants can access assistance before a housing emergency becomes an eviction. Many tenants mistake a “notice to quit” for an eviction, losing out not only on their home but also on the supports the state can provide them.
It eliminates the arbitrary $10,000 annual cap on assistance and adopts a 12-month limit instead: tenants are not the ones to blame for rising rents, and they should not be punished for it.
It further reduces obstacles by providing workarounds to enable tenants with uncooperative landlords to receive assistance. No tenant should have to depend on their landlord to receive essential assistance for housing security.
And lastly, the bill would codify the RAFT program into statute in order to add long-term stability to a vital program.
We urge you to act swiftly and advance S.856 and H.312 to improve housing stability in the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
