More Letters to the Editor on the Affordable Homes Act

Nancy Phillips, “State delegation needs to support rent control along with governor’s Affordable Homes Act,” Cambridge Day, March 26, 2024.

Massachusetts is in the throes of a terrible housing crisis. A family trying to rent an available two-bedroom apartment in our expensive state (costing, as of February, $2,949 a month on average, according to Apartment Advisor) needs an annual income of at least $117,960. At $56.71 per hour, this is almost four times the state’s $15 minimum wage. (Here in Cambridge, which boasts some of the highest rents in Massachusetts, the average available two-bedroom unit rents for a staggering $3,592 a month, which requires an annual household income of $143,680.)

Meanwhile, waiting lists for rent-subsidized, affordable apartments are vastly oversubscribed, with applicants forced to wait at least three years – and in many towns as long as 10 years.

In response to this crisis, Gov. Maura Healey has introduced the Affordable Homes Act, which addresses the housing crisis in several useful ways, among them:

  • Making it easier to use public land for housing development;
  • Enabling cities and towns to establish real estate transfer fees as a means of raising funds for affordable housing development;
  • Enabling cities and towns to pass inclusionary zoning ordinances by simple majority rather than the currently mandated two-thirds vote. (Inclusionary zoning bylaws are those that require developers of new housing to include a certain percentage of affordable units.)

One critically important issue the bill doesn’t deal with, though, is repealing the 30-year-old statewide ban on rent control so those decisions can be made locally. Surely cities and towns can be trusted, and should be permitted, to make their own decisions on this as they do on other local matters.

I’m sure Cambridge’s state House members and senators will support the Affordable Homes Act. Equally if not more important, I hope they’ll make a strong effort to get the ban on rent control repealed. We in Massachusetts need to be able to do everything possible to provide affordable housing and keep people from being displaced.

Steven Leibowitz, “Healey’s Affordable Home Act gives local governments flexibility to increase housing,” Cape Cod Times, March 24, 2024.

We have talked about the issue of affordable housing on Cape Cod for decades. Our communities are working hard but struggling to find answers. We have the enormous challenge of second home ownership, environmental challenges and preserving open space, and the ever-present argument of the “character” of Cape Cod — something I’ve yet to see defined, especially in a way that overshadows the needs of residents. The people make the character.

Gov. Healey has filed the Affordable Homes Act, legislation that will create a new toolbox of opportunities for cities and towns to creatively address our housing crisis. This is an opportunity for the state to step up as a partner, unlocking options specific to one’s own community. It provides for a town such as Barnstable to have a local transfer fee on expensive real estate that could generate millions for affordable housing. This bill is the first serious effort in decades to provide money and strategies to create affordable, needed, workforce housing.

Please urge your state reps and senators to support this effort and amendments to strengthen the bill further, such as a flexible local transfer fee. The way to preserve Cape Cod is to keep people invested in and able to stay here.

A Budget is a Moral Document

Yesterday, the Ways & Means Committee, aka the budget writers, in the MA Legislature held a hearing about priorities for the next fiscal year.

A budget is more than just numbers: it’s a moral document. It shows what we, as a commonwealth, value and what society we wish to build together.

If you want a budget that reflects core progressive values, then write to your legislators in support of key investments in education and economic security.

Here’s what a budget that reflects our values would do:

  • Incorporate key provisions of the Cherish Act, such as increasing investment in public colleges and universities, ensuring that students are able to graduate without debt, strengthening student supports, and guaranteeing good pay and benefits for all faculty and staff
  • Fully fund the Student Opportunity Act to keep the promise made to our students in 2019 of a high-quality public education for all and increased funding to high-need school districts, and ensure that we are not underfunding needs due to an outdated calculation of inflation
  • Fully fund School Meals for All because universal school meals have proven a policy success and hungry children can’t learn
  • Continue the state’s operational grants to child care providers to offset their operating costs, including higher educator pay, and implement other recommendations from a recent early education & child care commission
  • Provide funding for an Access to Counsel program because no tenant facing eviction should go without legal representation
  • Increase cash assistance grant levels for low-income families because we must ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met

Email your legislators

Testimony: Investing in Our Commonwealth and Our Shared Prosperity

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Chair Michlewitz, Chair Rodrigues, and Members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director at Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic commonwealth. Thank you for your work on the FY 2025 budget.

In the following, we outline several key priority areas for the budget to ensure that it builds on recent progress in investing in our commonwealth.

Strengthening Our Commitment to Public Higher Education

Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility of our commonwealth’s residents and economic vitality of the commonwealth itself. Studies have shown that college graduates are more likely to be healthier, earn significantly more on average, and are less likely to face job loss during an economic recession, and graduates of our public colleges and universities are more likely to stay in Massachusetts to live and work, contributing to our commonwealth and common wealth.

However, our state has been disinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades, with funding for public higher education still below its (inflation-adjusted) value in 2001. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families.

The published in-state tuition and fees increase at public 4-year institutions in MA increased 135 percent from 2001 to 2021 after adjusting for inflation, and for two-year institutions, 81 percent, but real Median Household Income in Massachusetts only increased by 8 percent. Just between 2009 and 2021, the average student debt rose 52% for four-year graduates and 62% for community college graduates. When we close off opportunities like that for our students, we are all worse off. 

As you craft the FY 2025 budget, we urge you to incorporate key provisions of the Cherish Act and the Debt-Free Future Act, such as

  • Instituting fair and adequate minimum funding levels for public higher education
  • Ensuring that students are able to graduate from our public colleges and universities debt-free
  • Ensuring that adjunct faculty and part-time staff are eligible for state health care and retirement benefits
  • Reducing wage disparities on campuses
  • Increasing funding for student supports
  • Investing in green and healthy buildings on campus

Fully Funding Our Public Schools

The passage of the Student Opportunity Act in 2019 was a major win for education justice in the commonwealth. We are very appreciative of recent comments that the Legislature will fully fund the Student Opportunity Act’s fourth year of implementation, keeping the law on track to be fully funded by the 2026-2027 school year. Importantly, maintaining that commitment includes fixing the Chapter 70 inflation calculation glitch that, if left unsolved, could permanently reduce school aid and prevent the Commonwealth from meeting the real-dollar targets in the Student Opportunity Act.

Full Funding for School Meals for All

We also urge you to support full funding in support of School Meals for All (Line Items 1596-2422 and 7053-1925).

The research on universal school meals is clear: participation in school meals improves academic achievement, attendance, and student behavior at school; decreases childhood food insecurity; leads to children eating more fruits, vegetables, and milk; and reduces visits to the school nurse.

With the implementation of School Meals for All, more than an additional 100,000 students participated in school lunch in October 2023 compared to October 2019 in schools not previously serving universal free meals. This program has been a success all around, and we must ensure it continues to be so.

Advancing the Common Start Vision

As a member of the Common Start coalition, we would also like to amplify the common Start coalition’s asks:

  • $510 million to continue operational grants to child care providers (line item 3000-1045)
  • Increased funding that makes substantial progress towards the Economic Review Commission’s recommendation of raising early education and care financial assistance reimbursement rates (line items 3000-1041 & 3000-1042)
  • $75 million to increase access to child care financial assistance (line item 3000-4060)
  • $20 million for the Head Start Supplemental Grant (line item 3000-5000)

The Governor, Senate Leadership, and House Leadership have all expressed a commitment to strengthening our child care and early education system, and these investments would help to do that.

Access to Counsel

Without legal representation, many tenants risk becoming homeless. Indeed, most tenants are unrepresented and face eviction alone. It doesn’t have to be that way, and an Access to Counsel program is a proven solution.

We urge the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means to include in your respective FY25 budgets $3.5 Million (Line-item 0321-1800) to start a Access to Counsel program in tandem with the full Access to Council bill language in S.864/H.4360, which provides the framework for a statewide program.

Increasing Assistance to Families in Deep Poverty

We also urge you to include a 20% increase in cash assistance grant levels (line items 4403-2000 and 4408-1000.

The maximum grant for a family of 3 with no income is only $783 a month, far below even half the federal poverty level – known as Deep Poverty – which is currently $1,076 for a family of 3.  The maximum grant for an elder or person with a disability is only $401 a month.  In January, Governor Healey cut the 10% grant increase that the Legislature had scheduled to go into effect in April.

Deep poverty hurts kids.  It causes health and emotional damage, toxic stress, impaired school performance, and homeless and housing instability. We must do right by our neediest families.

A budget is a moral document, and we urge you to include such investments to advance a vision of a commonwealth that works for all residents.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Letter: Need to Push Legislation for Affordable Housing

Nina Lev, “Letter: Need to Push Legislation for Affordable Housing,” West Roxbury – Roslindale Bulletin, March 21, 2024.

I have recently had the opportunity to help a family of newcomers to Boston. This experience has given me a new appreciation of our City’s resources. The children were welcomed by the Boston Public Schools. The family has benefitted from excellent care at Boston Medical Center and enjoyed outings at the zoo and city parks. In so many ways we have created wonderful amenities, BUT our housing crisis makes it nearly impossible for our young people to build lives here, newcomers to settle here, and even for many of our residents to remain here.

The average two-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts requires an income of more than twice the minimum wage, with
the State’s median house price being $600,000. Fortunately, the Governor has introduced the Affordable Homes Act which would provide funding for various housing programs and new policy measures for affordable housing. These include enabling cities and towns, like Boston, to pass real estate transfer fees to raise money for affordable housing and creating a process to enable individuals to seal eviction records.

I know from talking with our elected representatives from both Roslindale and West Roxbury that housing is one of their major concerns. We need to encourage them to work within the legislature to support the strongest legislation possible to ensure that the residents of our communities can thrive here throughout their lives.


Nina Lev
Roslindale

Spring into Action with These Upcoming Events

Happy spring! Coming soon will be sunnier days, warmer weather, greenery, flowers, and more. It can’t come soon enough.

Also coming soon in the spring? Fun opportunities to take action in person. Read on for some great events coming up over the next few weeks. 

NEXT THURSDAY: Immigrants’ Day at the State House

Each year hundreds of immigrant and refugee constituents from across the Commonwealth come together in the State House to celebrate their contributions and advocate for their legislative and budget priorities.

This year, Immigrants’ Day at the State House will be next Thursday, March 28, from 9 am to 1 pm, with a focus on advocating for new arrivals, language access, the Safe Communities Act, and internationally trained physician licensure.

Despite legal barriers and an increase in hate towards immigrants and refugees, we continue to move forward together, fostering the courage it takes to fuel change.

At Immigrants’ Day, you will hear personal stories from political and community leaders, as well as have the opportunity to speak directly with legislators about policies that affect our communities.

RSVP HERE


Mark Your Calendars! Progressive Mass Annual Lobby Day

Join fellow activists from across the Commonwealth to build momentum for key progressive priorities on Beacon Hill!

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 16, at 10 am in Room 428 at the State House.

Stay tuned for more information.

Never lobbied at the State House before? Don’t worry — we’ll have a training session before sending you off to meetings.

RSVP HERE 

Coming Up Soon: Activist Afternoons

Want to help build momentum behind key progressive priorities around housing affordability, economic justice, climate action, and criminal legal reform? Then join us for Activist Afternoons as we make calls to voters about key legislation.

Mark your calendars for April 7 and April 21 and then May 5 and May 19.

RSVP HERE
 

Letter: The Affordable Homes Act and the price of living in Massachusetts

Hewon Hwang, “Letter: The Affordable Homes Act and the price of living in Massachusetts,” The Concord Bridge, March 16, 2024.

Our house was the single largest purchase in our lives, but we could afford it on our salaries in 1993. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible for many families today.   

Massachusetts has a housing crisis. Homeownership has become increasingly out of reach, as the state’s median home price is approximately $600,000. In more than 20 communities, including Concord ($1,594,000 in 2023), the median home price recently passed $1 million. The high cost of housing has led to displacement, and in a growing number of municipalities, the local workforce can no longer afford to live there.  

Governor Healey has responded to this crisis by introducing the Affordable Homes Act, which combines funding authorizations for various housing programs with important new policy measures for affordable housing. One of its key proposals is the local real estate transfer fee option. It enables cities and towns to levy a small fee on large real estate transactions to create a dedicated revenue stream for affordable housing production and preservation. Cities and towns across the state have already expressed a desire to do so — Concord’s home rule petition has been refiled for the third time and is pending at the State House. The Affordable Homes Act also includes capital authorizations to support the badly needed repair, rehabilitation, and modernization of over 43,000 crumbling public housing units across the Commonwealth, including $150M for public housing decarbonization and $115 million for sustainable and climate-resilient affordable housing. 

The Affordable Homes Act is a much-needed measure to address our housing crisis. I hope our legislators, Rep. Cataldo, Rep. Gentile, and Senator Barrett, will continue to advocate for the strongest legislation possible at the State House. Let’s make Massachusetts a place where people can afford to live at any stage of life. 

Hewon Hwang 

Letter: Grafton Needs the Affordable Homes Act

Dan Cusher, “Grafton Needs the Affordable Homes Act (Letter),” Grafton News, March 14, 2024.

Grafton, along with every community in the Commonwealth, has a housing crisis. Typical rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in Grafton is $1,500, requiring an income around $70,000, more than twice the minimum wage at 40 hours per week. Home ownership has become increasingly out of reach, with Grafton’s 2024 median single-family home value rising to $596,235, and new construction in town prioritizing luxury McMansions. Seniors who raised their families here can’t afford to stay. Young people who grew up here can’t afford to come back. The Legislature needs to take action before the crisis gets worse.

I’m glad that Governor Healey has responded to this crisis by introducing the Affordable Homes Act, which combines funding authorizations for various housing programs with important new policy measures for affordable housing. One of the most exciting proposals for Grafton is the real estate transfer fee local option.

This would enable cities and towns to levy a small fee on large real estate transactions in order to create a dedicated revenue stream for affordable housing production and preservation. Cities and towns across the state have already expressed a desire to do so, and the state should let them and ensure that the local option is flexible enough for cities and towns across the state to benefit.

I am grateful that the housing crisis will be at the center of the Legislature’s attention this year, and I hope that Senator Moore and Representative Muradian will advocate for the strongest legislation possible.

PM in the News: The Governor and Transparency

Matt Stout, “‘My personal life is my personal life.’ Healey defends decision not to disclose details of four-day trip.,” Boston Globe, March 18, 2024.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of the group Progressive Massachusetts, said while Healey shouldn’t be expected to disclose what hotel she’s staying in or other intimate details, “you should be at least willing to tell people where you went.”

“It’s a sense of accountability to the public,” Cohn said. The public “should be able to know when you’re gone for a period of time without it being somehow shrouded in mystery.”

Kelly Garrity and Lisa Kashinsky, “A Controversy of Healey’s Own Making,” Politico, March 19, 2024.

Progressive Massachusetts’ Jonathan Cohn said that while residents “don’t need to know the full itinerary of a private vacation,” it’s better to hear about it from the governor herself “than to only learn of her absence because another official is ‘acting’ governor for a few days.”