Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Chair Eldridge, Chair Madaro, and Members of the Joint Committee on Revenue:
I am writing on behalf 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.1937/H.3056: An Act granting a local option for a real estate transfer fee to fund affordable housing, filed by Sen. Jo Comerford and Reps. Mike Connolly and Carmine Gentile.
Massachusetts has a housing crisis. We see it in every survey of top issues among residents. We see it in the rising home prices and the number of communities where the median home sale has passed $1 million. We see it in the way that growth in rents has outpaced growth in wages. And we see it in the number of young families or long-term residents who decide to move out of state because they simply can’t afford the high cost of housing in Massachusetts.
Our cities and towns need every tool in the toolbox to address our state’s housing crisis, and a real estate transfer fee would provide a crucial one. By imposing a small fee on high-end real estate transactions, communities will be able to provide much-needed funding to affordable housing trusts so that we can preserve and expand affordable housing stock. These bills recognize that each community’s housing situation is different and thus enable cities and towns to craft the proposal that best fits their community’s needs.
Cities and towns from across the Commonwealth have already filed home rule petitions to do this. When our cities and towns want to become places where people can afford to live at every stage of life, the State Legislature should support them, not get in the way.
Thank you for your work on the hearing, and again we urge a favorable report on S.1937 and H.3056.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
