Jonathan Cohn, “Letter: Mayor renews push to ease homeowners’ burden. Will Senate budge?,” Boston Globe, December 10, 2025.
“At the start of the new legislative session, the state Senate promised a new day for legislative transparency, and senators have stressed that affordability is a top issue for their agenda. But to this point the Senate’s approach to Mayor Michelle Wu’s home rule petition to temporarily shift the tax burden from homeowners to commercial properties has belied both promises (“Property taxes set to jump again: Wu sees another double-digit rise for homeowners,” Page A1, Dec. 4).
The Legislature approved a new, earlier deadline to report bills out of committee, and as a result of new rules, we get to see how legislators voted. But not in the case of Wu’s proposal. The Senate has not allowed the bill to even have a hearing, despite the requirement that committees hold hearings on every bill assigned to them.
Moreover, as Democrats across the country, including here, talk about affordability as a key goal, Wu’s proposal addresses exactly that. It asks the commercial sector to shoulder more of the tax burden than the city’s residents, who are facing high costs and are suffering from the disastrous economic policies of President Trump.
Boston residents are looking at the state Senate, especially vocal opponents of the proposal such as Senator Nick Collins, and asking: Whose side are you on?”
