Advocates say compromise housing bill brings some victories, fails to address immediate need
A multi-billion-dollar bond bill aiming to tackle the state’s housing crisis was passed by the state legislature last week. Barely.
The bill passed under the wire in the early hours of Aug. 1, as the House and Senate pushed the limits of the July 31 endpoint of the state’s formal legislative session.
The bill scraped through even as other prominent legislative proposals — including legislation that would create new liquor licenses for communities of color in Boston, a climate omnibus bill and a separate bond bill that would have made billions of dollars available for economic development in the state — failed to cross the finish line.
In the lead-up to its passage, some housing advocates pointed to the bill as a potential source of relief in a state grappling with high housing costs and limited availability, but others said the final version of the bill provides little immediate relief to low- and moderate-income residents in the state.
“There’s some important investments in public housing, in affordable housing, but we ultimately don’t think that this file addressed the immediate needs of tenants facing eviction,” said Carolyn Chou, executive director of Homes for All Massachusetts. “We certainly hope that the Massachusetts leaders do not declare ‘mission accomplished’ on the housing crisis.”
What’s included
The final version includes authorization for $5.16 in bonds, up from Gov. Maura Healey’s $4.1 billion initial proposal, but lower than both the House’s $6.5 billion version and the Senate’s $5.4 billion draft.
Included in the bill is $2 billion in approved bonds toward construction and renovation of public housing in the state, something Chou pointed to as a win.
Of that funding, $150 million is directed toward sustainability efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state’s public housing supply. Decarbonizing affordable and public housing in Massachusetts is an ongoing priority for state and local leaders.
The bill also creates a system for tenants to seal their eviction records in instances of no-fault evictions, dismissed cases or those that a tenant won. Currently there is no system to seal eviction records, which can limit access to housing if landlords consult the public records.
In a July interview prior to the bill’s passage, Kathy Brown, executive director of the Boston Tenant Coalition, called the language “a really important piece” of the bond bill, as it can help tenants who might have their housing options limited by the records if a previous landlord sought an eviction, even if the eviction didn’t go through.
For homeowners, the bond bill will implement measures that could help keep those at risk of foreclosure in their homes. A foreclosure mediation pilot program would require mortgage servicers to explore alternatives before pursuing foreclosure.
Advocates said they hope the provision could be a step toward developing a broader statewide program following the pilot, which will run in five yet-to-be-determined Massachusetts communities with high levels of foreclosures.
“As the state works to close the racial wealth gap by encouraging homeownership, it’s essential that we support homeowners so they can stay in their home after a medical emergency, job loss or other life-altering event,” said Rose Webster-Smith, executive director of Springfield No One Leaves and co-anchor of Homes for All Massachusetts, in a statement.
Funding for community land trusts also made it into the final version of the legislation, something Chou called one of the “critical investments” that made it through the legislative process.
What didn’t make the cut
Provisions in the House’s draft that would allow municipalities to adopt tenant right-to-purchase policies — where tenants have the first opportunity to purchase a property if the landlord looks to sell — failed to make it into the final version. This had been a priority for Chou and Homes for All.
Similarly, language from the Senate’s version of the bill shifting who pays a broker’s fee was not included in the final draft of the bill that made it to Healey’s desk. That portion, which would have required whichever party hired the broker — often the landlord — to pay the broker fee, was not included in the House’s version of the legislation and did not make it out of the six-member conference committee tasked with reconciling the two drafts.
“We know the bond bill is focused on long-term solutions,” Chou said. “For us, we are really seeing an immediate crisis for tenants, for unhoused folks. We are responding by organizing and by pushing for policies that meet the needs of our communities and make sure that new housing that is built is affordable for low-income and working folks.”
