Testimony

Evictions Are Rapidly Rising. The Legislature Needs to Act.

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

housing

Universities and Hospitals Should Pay Their Fair Share. PILOT Reform Would Help.

Thursday, July 23, 2023

Chair Moran, Chair Cusack, and Members of the Joint Committee on Revenue:

We urge a favorable report for H.2963 and S.1836: An Act relative to payments in lieu of taxation by organizations exempt from the property tax (Rep. Uyterhoeven & Sen. Gomez).

Massachusetts is lucky to be home to many world-class hospitals and universities. But these large institutions, despite often operating indistinguishably from for-profit institutions, do not have to pay taxes. Given their large footprint, that is a fiscal drain for many communities across the Commonwealth, especially as communities are looking to find much-needed funds for investments in schools, housing, and infrastructure.

This bill would address this discrepancy by requiring large hospitals and universities to pay 25% of commercial property taxes to municipalities, based on the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement in Boston. Under this bill, municipalities could opt in to requiring a mandatory PILOT rather than having to engage in drawn-out negotiations or chasing down institutions one by one.

Why 25%? This number reflects the costs posed by such large institutions to municipal services like police, fire departments, and departments of public works. It is still a good deal for the institutions, who are still paying far less in property taxes than an individual would have to pay. And, by applying only to institutions with property worth over $15 million, the bill would avoid risking any adverse impact on smaller institutions.

We need to be empowering municipalities to take action to address the many crises before us, but they need the funds to do so. Our cities and towns are severely limited in how they can raise funds, as municipal budgets are disproportionately based on property taxes—and we are stuck living in the misguided Reagan-era holdover of a “Prop 2 ½” regime. If our cities and towns have wealthy institutional neighbors, they shouldn’t be forced to be stuck in struggling fiscal straits.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

revenue

If Cities and Towns Want to Deepen Democracy, We Should Let Them.

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Chairman Keenan, Chairman Ryan, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:

At a time when democracy is under attack in many states, municipalities across Massachusetts are instead seeking to strengthen democracy by expanding both who can participate in our elections and how reflective of the electorate the outcomes are. We ask you to allow them to take the lead by giving a favorable report to several enabling bills:

H.725: An Act ensuring municipal power over whether elections are reformed
S.438: An Act ensuring municipal participation of the widest eligible range
H.706/S.415: An Act extending voting rights in municipal elections to noncitizen voters of the Commonwealth
H.711/S.433: An Act providing a local option for ranked choice voting in municipal elections

Enabling Municipalities to Expand the Local Electorate: S.438, H.706, S.415

Cities and towns across the Commonwealth have also sought to expand representation in local elections, by extending the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds or legal non-citizens. The case for both is clear.

With the voting age at 18, many experience their first time voting when they are away at college, often voting by absentee back home if at all. 16 and 17-year-olds, by contrast, know their local polling locations well: they are the elementary schools, the middle schools, the high schools, the town halls, the libraries. They feel the impact of a school committee election directly. And they can get a powerful experience of democracy in action, which is the best civic education.

Similarly, voting and civic engagement are ways of integrating new community members and strengthening the whole community. Non-citizen parent involvement in school affairs (through school committee elections) can increase students’ academic performance, and democracy works best when all communities are reflected in governance.

Moreover, both teen voting and all-resident voting embody the basic principle of no taxation with representation.

Ranked Choice Voting Local Option: H.711/S.433

When voters get to the ballot box, they can face complicated choices. Our first-past-the-post system forces ordinary voters to weigh whether they can vote for their preferred candidate or whether doing so would lead to a “spoiler effect” that gives a candidate they like less a clearer path to victory. This same dynamic can lead candidates and their supporters to try to force similar candidates out of a race due to a fear of “vote splitting.”

Within the current system, the ultimate winner may command less than a majority support, a contradiction of a basic tenet of democracy and a far too common occurrence in Massachusetts elections. Ranked Choice Voting would eliminate these problems by enabling voters to rank the order of their preferences on the ballot and ensuring that whoever wins does so with majority support.

Although the ballot initiative to implement Ranked Choice Voting for state and county elections did not pass, the measure did pass in 78 municipalities in varying parts of the Commonwealth. If such municipalities wish to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for local elections, they should not have to face undue hurdles to doing so.

The number of cities and towns passing home rule petitions on these three issues grows every year, and yet such petitions continue to die in the Legislature. We urge you to stop being a roadblock to democracy and pass these enabling bills.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

election modernization voting rights

We Need a Siting Reform Process That Isn’t Buried in the Past

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Chair Barrett and Members of the Senate Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and the Environment:

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.2113/H.3187: An Act Relative to Energy Facilities Siting Reform to Address Environmental Justice, Climate, and Public Health (DiDomenico/ Madaro).

Our state has strong climate goals, but goals are only as good as the plans to meet them. If we want to meet our emissions targets, then we need to be accelerating the transition to renewable energy and building the sustainable, distributed grid that can make that a reality.

Our current energy facility siting system is an obstacle to achieving these goals. Utility companies like Eversource and National Grid exploit our outdated siting system to maximize their profits at the expense of communities and ratepayers. They build expensive, heavy-polluting facilities based on fuels that need to be left in the ground, and against the will of environmental justice communities.

We need a process that works smoothly and one that engages communities before projects get started. Engaging community at the start in an intentional way lowers costs and produces better outcomes for all, as does providing early attention to the climate and public health impacts of a siting decision.

That’s where the Siting Improvement bill comes in. It updates the Siting Board to incorporate public health and climate into approval criteria and adds seats for a representative of environmental justice populations and an Indigenous representative. Moreover, it recognizes that effective process starts early by requiring upfront community engagement and analysis, and it prohibits projects that increase pollution in already overburdened communities.

We need to be scaling up our deployment of renewable energy, and we need a siting reform process that works to achieve that, rather than one that keeps us buried in the past.

We additionally urge a favorable report for S.2150/H.3225: An Act to Encourage Solar Development on Buildings and Disturbed Land (Mark /Sabadosa – Garballey). This bill would incentivize new community solar projects in the built and disturbed environment, allowing more renters to access the benefits of solar and helping us; the bill is a win-win proposal that helps us accelerate clean energy, reduce pressure on natural lands, and create economic opportunities.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

climate

We Already Know Mandatory Minimums Don’t Work

Friday, June 16, 2023

Chair Eldridge, Chair Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I’m the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide, member-based grassroots advocacy organization fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic Commonwealth.

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1051/H.1800: An Act restoring judicial discretion in controlled substance cases, filed by Sen. Liz Miranda and Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven.

In 2018, the Legislature took bold action to turn the tide on mass incarceration and address the disparities created by our criminal legal system; however, the Legislature also misguidedly decided to create new mandatory minimums for certain drug-related offenses.

The research about the flaws of mandatory minimums is well-known by the Legislature: that is why you eliminated many of them.

Mandatory minimum sentences do not deter crime: numerous studies have shown that increasing penalties is not a serious deterrent to criminal activity.

Mandatory minimum sentences do not reduce drug use or addiction: the Legislature chose to expand mandatory sentences for opioid-related offenses, but a real response to our opioid crisis would need to address the failures of our health care system and other service gaps.

Mandatory minimum sentences exacerbate racial inequities, as studies have shown that Black defendants are much more likely to be sentenced to crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences.

Mandatory minimum sentences helped fuel the era of mass incarceration. We know that era failed, creating broken communities and broken people. We have taken steps to move past it, but we must go all the way.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

decarceration

This Bill Can Help Us Wean Our State off Plastics

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Chair Rausch, Chair Cahill, and members of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources:

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.882/S.570: An Act to reduce plastics (The Plastics Reduction Act), filed by Rep. Ted Philips and Sen. Becca Rausch.

Many of us are familiar with the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle.” We too often focus on the third command and ignore the first. Indeed, when it comes to plastics, a focus on reduction is vital, not simply because “reduce” should always be the first part of the hierarchy, but because plastics recycling lacks the success of paper (especially cardboard) and metal recycling, where clear markets for repurposing materials exist. Many plastic items put into recycling bins end up in landfills because of such a lack. I personally own a number of shirts that are made from polyester from recycled plastic, but that is a niche market. Melting down and recomposing plastic is expensive, and plastic degrades each time it is used.

Moreover, as plastic is a petroleum-based product, we need to wean ourselves off it—and do so quickly—if we are to meet climate goals. Fossil fuels need to be left in the ground, not dug up to be turned into products that end up buried under the ground in landfills.

These bills take a comprehensive approach. They would enact a statewide plastic bag ban: more than two-thirds of our state’s population live in municipalities where such a ban already exists, and we are the only Northeastern state other than New Hampshire not to have passed a statewide law yet. To ensure that people in environmental justice communities who already bear the burden of pollution do not face undue burden from a new fee on paper bags, the bill would create a fund to cover the costs of reusable bags in such communities. The bill would limit disposable food service packaging (bowls, plates, cuts, cartons, straws, etc.) to biodegradable or compostable products; limit the sale and public purchasing of smaller plastic water bottles; and take other important steps.

When we keep our parks, streets, and rivers clean; reduce the trash that goes into landfills that leak methane and pollute groundwater; and leave fossil fuels in the ground, we all benefit.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

environment

The Solution to Homelessness Is Homes, Not Criminalization.

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Chair Kennedy, Chair Livingstone, and Members of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities:

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.211/S.1112: An Act establishing a bill of rights for individuals experiencing homelessness, filed by Representatives Smitty Pignatelli and Frank Moran and Sen. Becca Rausch.

The solution to homelessness is clear: giving people homes. But too often, municipalities see the solution as criminalization and punishment instead, worsening the underlying problems and forcing individuals into vicious cycles of incarceration and housing instability.

As rents and housing prices skyrocket in Massachusetts, an increasing number of families face housing instability, experiencing short-term or long-term homelessness. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 18,471 people in Massachusetts were counted as homeless in January 2019, more than two-thirds of that population consisting of families with children.

We desperately need comprehensive action to address our housing crisis and to secure housing for those currently without it. However, we also need to ensure that misguided and archaic laws do not make it more difficult for individuals to obtain housing.

These bills would rectify this status quo by extending anti-discrimination protections to persons experiencing homelessness, including protections when seeking employment, housing, voter registration, and access to public spaces and places of public accommodation. They would also ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness are not being criminalized for existing in public space, protecting their right to rest, seek shelter from the elements, occupy a legally parked car, pray, eat, and avoid needless harassment in public spaces.

H.211 and S.1112 are essential to ensuring Massachusetts is a state that treats all residents with dignity and respect, and we urge you to give it your support.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

housing

Everyone Needs ID. Here’s Why, and Here’s What the Legislature Can Do.

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Chair Crighton, Chair Straus, and Members of the Joint Committee on Transportation:

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.3388, H.3360, and S.2251: An Act to provide identification to youth and adults experiencing homelessness (the Everyone Needs ID bill), filed respectively by Rep. Jim O’Day, Rep. Kay Khan, and Sen. Robyn Kennedy.

Individuals experiencing homelessness face significant obstacles to obtaining an ID, but IDs can often be essential to securing employment and even accomplishing everyday life tasks. Without an ID, it can be difficult, if not outright impossible, to apply for jobs, enroll in education programs, get a library card, pick up a package from the post office, receive a prescription from a pharmacy, and more. So many of us take such tasks for granted, but for individuals experiencing homelessness, they become complicated endeavors and roadblocks on the path toward stability.

The aforementioned bills offer a solution by requiring the Registry of Motor Vehicles to waive the $25 fee for an ID for people experiencing homelessness and by allowing applicants to support alternative documentation to prove Massachusetts residency, such as allowing individuals to provide evidence of receiving services from a state agency under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Massachusetts must take comprehensive addition to ensure housing for all; however, in the interim, we must ensure that our policies are not exacerbating the obstacles faced by individuals experiencing homelessness. We urge you to make a difference this session by advancing these bills.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

housing

MA Doesn’t Need New Tax Giveaways for the Rich

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Chair Moran, Chair Cusack, and Members of the Joint Committee on Revenue:

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.2964/S.1801: An Act to reform the charitable deduction, filed by Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven and Sen. Jamie Eldridge.

Legislative leaders have been talking about the importance of “progressive” tax reform. If we want to build on steps toward a more progressive tax code, such as last year’s passage of the Fair Share Amendment, one place worth attention is the charitable deduction, which recently took effect.

The charitable deduction will reduce state revenue by approximately $300 million annually, with disproportionate benefits to the richest residents of the Commonwealth. According to a 2020 analysis from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, tax filers with more than $1 million in income would receive a benefit of almost $10,000 on average (amounting to more than half of the total benefits from the deduction). Those with income under $50,000 would receive just $7 on average (amounting to just 4% of the total benefits from the deduction).

This bill would address such disparities by limiting the charitable deduction to individuals who don’t also get such a deduction on their federal taxes: in other words, it would limit the deduction to low- and middle-income residents.

Voters were clear last year that they want to see a more progressive tax code and greater investments in our Commonwealth. Especially with the possibility of a recession in the near term, as well as a federal retrenchment from key social programs, now is not the time to be protecting tax cuts to the richest residents of the Commonwealth and eliminate a new “double dip” deduction.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

tax fairness

Ensuring Birthing Justice in the Commonwealth

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Chair Cyr, Chair Decker, and members of the Joint Committee on Public Health:

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1415, An Act relative to birthing justice in the Commonwealth, and H.2209/S.1457, An Act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options.

Since the Dobbs decision last year, nearly 20 states have moved to ban or severely restrict access to abortion, with wide-reaching negative impacts on access to reproductive health care, especially for marginalized communities. Although Massachusetts has taken important strides in recent years to strengthen access to reproductive health care, which we greatly appreciate, our Commonwealth still sees severe inequalities in access to care. Indeed, Black women are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. We have more work to do to break down barriers to the full spectrum of reproductive health care that still exist for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

An Act relative to birthing justice in the Commonwealth introduces a critical framework to improve maternal health outcomes and ensure people have the support, education, and access to resources to be empowered throughout their pregnancies. An Act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options, standalone legislation which is also a core provision of the birthing justice bill, creates a pathway to licensure for Certified Professional Midwives, the key midwifery workforce trained in out-of-hospital births.

These bills advance key recommendations from the Special Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health. When the Legislature creates commissions to investigate policy areas, it is incumbent upon the Legislature to listen to the recommendations. Commissions take time and work from countless legislators, administrators, staff, and outside experts, and the recommendations are the result of such underappreciated work.

By embracing those recommendations, Massachusetts can ensure all pregnant people—regardless of race—have the autonomy, support, and adequate birth options to feel empowered throughout their pregnancies.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

health care reproductive rights