The national discourse around inflation tends to leave out major sources of rising costs facing individuals and families across the Commonwealth and the whole country: the spiraling costs of child care and housing.
Fortunately, the MA Senate is planning to vote on a bill this Thursday that represents a substantial step toward implementing a vision of a high-quality early education and child care system that is affordable and accessible for all families. You can read the Common Start Coalition’s statement on the bill here.
Let’s talk about housing for a moment too. There are less than four weeks left in the Legislative Session, and we need action–fast.
The Housing Crisis Requires Every Tool in the Toolbox
QUICK VERSION: Urge your state legislators to advocate for the inclusion of legislation to increase affordable housing production, preserve affordable housing stock, and protect tenants in the upcoming economic development bill.
CONTEXT: At the end of the last legislative session, the MA Legislature passed an economic development bill that included several key provisions to address the housing crisis in Massachusetts:
- Reducing the voting threshold to a simple majority for smart growth zoning and affordable housing
- Requiring cities and towns served by the MBTA to create at least 1 district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right because transit-oriented development is good for equity and for the environment (“MBTA communities”)
- Allowing municipalities the option of providing tenants in multi-family buildings the right to match a third-party offer when their homes are being sold, a key tool for preserving affordable housing stock (“tenant opportunity to purchase”)
- Creating a process to seal eviction records for no-fault evictions, as eviction records can stay with tenants for life and make it prohibitive to find stable housing
But, on all four fronts, the work is unfinished.
- A 2/3 majority approval threshold is still required for municipalities to adopt inclusionary zoning ordinances that would require a certain percentage of new construction be affordable.
- The MBTA communities requirement lacks an enforcement mechanism, and it is too limited in application.
- Charlie Baker VETOED the two pro-tenant proposals, and because the legislative session had already ended, the Legislature could not override him.
OPPORTUNITY: The Legislature is going to be passing another economic development bill in the final weeks of the session, and it’s essential that that bill finish the work of last year’s bill. And it’s essential that the Legislature doesn’t wait until the last minute to pass it.
- H.1448: An Act Relative to Housing Production, which would lower the threshold for municipalities to approve inclusionary zoning ordinances, require multi-family zoning around public transportation and other suitable locations, and facilitate the conversion of underutilized public land and vacant commercial properties for housing
- H.1426: An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal, which would let cities and towns adopt “tenant opportunity to purchase” ordinances that can preserve affordable rental housing stock, provide a mechanism for tenant associations to collectively purchase their buildings, and stabilize low-income households.
- H. 4505: An Act promoting housing opportunity and mobility through eviction sealing (HOMES), which would create a process for the sealing of no-fault eviction records
