We Need to Use Every Tool in the Toolbox

The following testimony was submitted to the Joint Committee on Housing on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

Chairman Crighton, Chairman Honan, and Members of the Joint Committee on Housing:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to fighting for an equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

It is because of those values that we write today in support of H.3924 (An Act enabling local options for tenant protections) and S.773 (An Act supporting affordable housing with a local option for a fee to be applied to certain real estate transactions).

Massachusetts has a lot to offer, but that does little if people can’t afford to live here. The US News & World Report’s annual state rankings put Massachusetts at #41 in housing affordability (and #43 in cost of living).[1] A worker earning minimum wage in Massachusetts would have to work 91 hours a week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at market rate (and 113 hours for a modest two-bedroom).[2] Monthly median rents have gone up by more than one-third since 2010, outpacing income growth.[3]

Clearly, Massachusetts has an affordable housing crisis. This is unsustainable. It has led to expanding economic inequality, increased homelessness, and damage to our economy, as talented workers often leave the state for less expensive regions.

Solving this affordable housing crisis will require us to use every tool in the toolbox.

That requires zoning reform that encourages the creation of walkable, sustainable, and inclusive communities.

But it also requires public investment. Over the last ten years, the need for affordable housing has increased, while funds for affordable housing have decreased at both federal and state levels.

And it requires strengthening tenant protections that ensure that communities can remain affordable, inclusive, and stable.

However, municipalities across Massachusetts are blocked from taking the necessary steps to address the housing crisis. The misguided statewide ban on rent stabilization policies and a stringent home rule system that prevents municipalities from passing their own laws to govern the basic aspects of civil affairs hamstring municipalities.

H.3924 provides the appropriate redress. It repeals the outdated and misguided statewide ban on rent stabilization policies and enables cities and towns to pass policies aimed to regulate rents, limit condo conversions, prevent landlords from evicting tenants without just cause (e.g., failure to pay rent, illegal activity), require landlords to inform tenants of their rights, and take other steps to protect tenants and ensure long-term affordability.

S.773 also removes barriers that cities and towns face in addressing the housing crisis. It would enable cities and towns to raise additional revenue for affordable housing by levying a small fee on real estate transactions (with the ability to establish exemptions as appropriate in each municipality).

There is no silver bullet to solving our affordable housing crisis. But if we are to have a chance at solving it, we must empower municipalities to take action. We thus encourage you to give a favorable report to H.3924 and S.773.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts  

[1] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/affordability

[2] http://nlihc.org/oor/massachusetts

[3] https://www.zillow.com/ma/home-values/

“A security that disenfranchises is no security at all.”

VOTE

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

 Chairman Finegold, Chairman Lawn, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:  

I’m writing on behalf of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide member-driven advocacy organization committed to advancing progressive policy in our state. Since our founding, good government and strong democracy have been an essential part of our mission.  

As the 2020 election approaches, we need to be thinking about how we can best improve the security of our elections and the participation in our elections. Too often, security and participation are pitted against each other, and a security that disenfranchises is no security at all.  

Post-Election Audits 

Risk-limiting audits are an essential way to confirm the accuracy of elections and boost voter faith in the democratic process. The post-election audits that were created by the 2015 election modernization bill are limited to the presidential general election and rely on a sample of just 3% of total ballots, without confirming whether or not the election result is correct. Risk-limiting audits, by contrast, ensure that the reported winners of elections are the actual winners and can catch problems resulting from foreign interference, technological glitches, or simple human error.

We urge you to give a favorable report to S. 388, H. 687, H. 721, and H. 694. The first three bills would enact risk-limiting post-election audits, the gold standard reform. H. 694 strengthens the current system by applying the current 3% audit to presidential primaries and state general elections. 

Language Access

Language should not be a barrier to participation in our democracy. Accordingly, we also urge a favorable report to H.690 (An Act concerning certain ballots). This bill would require the full translation of all ballots, including transliteration of candidates’ names in languages that do not use the Roman alphabet. This particularly impacts limited English proficient Chinese and Cambodian voters.  

Transliteration affirms the right to a secret ballot, ensuring that all voters are able to mark their ballot for their intended candidates independently. This is a clear win-win for security and participation.  

Early Voting

Early voting, which was authorized by the 2015 election modernization bill, was a success. However, it was limited to state and federal elections. The City of Boston has a home rule petition to expand early voting to city elections, and we urge a favorable report to this petition, H. 3859. Due to work, school, or familial engagements, many people are unable to find the time to go to the polls on Election Day. Expanding early voting ensures that scheduling conflicts are not a barrier to participation and reduces any confusion people might have about which elections offer early voting.  

Our democracy is our most cherished institution, and we need to strengthen it.

Sincerely,

 Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Driver’s Licenses: An Equity Issue and a Public Safety Issue

Chairman Boncore, Chairman Straus, and members of the Joint Committee on Transportation, my name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am pleased to offer testimony. Progressive Massachusetts would like to go on record in support of S.2061 / H.3012: An Act relative to work and family mobility.

The Work and Family Mobility Act would enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard Massachusetts driver’s license, regardless of immigration status, to increase road and public safety and allow for greater mobility across our Commonwealth.  

Immigrants are a core part of the fabric of our community, but regressive laws still on the books hinder their ability to fully participate. Notably, our state still prevents undocumented residents from obtaining driver’s licenses, hindering their ability to work and to engage in the community. 

This is bad for our economy and bad for public safety. In 2016, undocumented immigrants contributed $8.8 billion to the Massachusetts economy, and not being able to obtain a driver’s license prevents their full participation in the economy, especially as our underfunded public transit system too often provides irregular hours and insufficient reach.

Moreover, this situation is bad for public safety. All drivers on the road should have the appropriate training that comes with a license: that makes everyone — fellow drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians — safer. 

But a true definition of public safety is much broader. In the first two years of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people with no criminal convictions more than tripled, fueled by a fivefold increase in arrests of immigrants who’ve been charged with an offense but not yet convicted. The most common charges are traffic offenses. Massachusetts can and should reduce our complicity with a federal immigration agenda out of step with our values and priorities as a Commonwealth. 

Other states have realized that changing the law so that immigration status is no longer a barrier to obtaining a license is common-sense policy. Fourteen states have already passed such laws, including our neighbors in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. It’s past time that we do too. We urge a prompt favorable report for S.2061 / H.3012: An Act relative to work and family mobility.

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts 

💯% Renewable Energy: We Have the Technology. We Need the Policy.

The following testimony was submitted to the TUE Committee on July 22, 2019.

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Chairman Barrett, Chairman Golden, and Members of the Joint Cte on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy organization devoted to advancing progressive policy in the Commonwealth. As such, we are committed to fighting for an energy system that reduces pollution, promotes clean energy, reduces greenhouse gasses and protects our natural climate and environment.

The 100% Renewable Energy Act (S.1958/H.2836) will help us achieve that, and we urge you to give these bills a favorable report.

As a coastal state, Massachusetts will be hit especially hard by climate change; indeed, we already have. According to the latest report from the IPCC, we have to start acting fast if we want to avoid climate chaos, slashing global greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. The clock is ticking.

Although we have been a leader in energy efficiency, we still get most of our power from dirty fuel, particularly natural gas. Our current Renewable Portfolio Standard only requires utilities to source 14% of electricity from renewable energy, and this was only modestly increased in the last session.

We can do better, and we need to do better.

Renewable energy has been a win-win in Massachusetts, creating new job opportunities and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We’re generating more than 240 times as much solar energy in Massachusetts as we did just 10 years ago. Offshore wind as well as new technologies like electric vehicles, energy storage, and air source heat pumps augur well for the future.

But we can’t sit passively by and hope that such a more ecologically sustainable future comes to pass. We need policy to make it happen.

These bills will accelerate the growth of clean energy and set out clear, enforceable requirements to ensure we stay on track to achieve 100 percent renewable energy. Moreover, these bills acknowledge that the energy transition must be a just one, containing core provisions to ensure that displaced workers and the low-income communities and communities of color that have faced the brunt of fossil fuel pollution have a seat at the table.

Mother Nature doesn’t wait. The more we delay the bold, comprehensive climate action that we need, the worse we will fare in the future. It’s time to pass the 100% Renewable Energy Act.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

Will MA Be a Leader on Housing Access & Equity?

Chairman Eldridge, Chairwoman Cronin, and Members of the Judiciary Committee: 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for shared prosperity and racial and social justice. 

Shared prosperity is impossible in a state where people cannot afford to live or are barred from opportunities for housing. Tackling our affordable housing crisis requires action on a wide variety of fronts, and curbing the outsize role of eviction records in access to housing is an important part. We urge you to give a favorable report to the HOMES Act (S.824/H.3566). 

Having an eviction record is creating a devastating barrier for tenants looking for housing. Since 1988, over 1 million eviction cases have been filed in Massachusetts. Records are created as soon as a case is filed and are publicly available forever––regardless of the outcome. These records impact people’s ability to obtain housing, credit, and employment, harming many, especially women and people of color. 

Regardless of whether one does anything wrong or is actually evicted, being party to an eviction or housing case is being unfairly held against tenants when they try to rent a new place. Even winning in court hurts tenants. If an eviction case is not the fault of the tenant, is dismissed, or ends with a tenant satisfying an agreement, these records should not be made public.

Even worse, under the current system, children being named in eviction proceedings and burdened with eviction records that follow them into adulthood, complicating their efforts to obtain housing and credit. 

Moreover, under the current system, mistakes, errors, and common names result in incorrect information being reported to landlords. Housing should be viewed as a human right, and no one should lose their rights due to a clerical error. 

With the HOMES act, Massachusetts has the opportunity to be a leader in ensuring that housing is accessible for all. We hope that you take it. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts