by Jenna Connolly | Feb 7, 2025 | Featured News, Housing News
A result of more than a year of engagement with stakeholders and the work of the Housing Advisory Committee, Governor Healey released A Home for Everyone: Massachusetts’ Statewide Housing Plan on February 6. A priority for CHAPA, the Affordable Homes Act included a requirement that the Commonwealth develop a statewide housing plan every five years. The Healey-Driscoll Administration launched this process in October 2023 following the filing of the Housing Bond Bill.
The new plan outlines the housing challenges facing Massachusetts, identifies current unmet housing needs, sets goals for production and preservation, and proposes strategies to address the situation. This publication will be followed by others, including expanded needs assessments and strategies.
CHAPA joined the other leaders of the Supportive Housing Pipeline Coalition, a coalition of more than 80 member organizations dedicated to creating the supportive housing needed to address chronic and high-need homelessness, in issuing a statement in support of A Home for Everyone.
Here is the quote from CHAPA CEO Rachel Heller included in the statement:
“The solution to homelessness is housing that is affordable and housing that provides supportive services. We applaud the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Housing Plan, which sets the Commonwealth on a path to create and preserve the homes needed to reduce and prevent homelessness, expand housing that is accessible for people with disabilities, and provide opportunities for everyone to have safe and healthy homes they can afford in the communities they choose. This plan identifies strategies for creating the diversity of housing needed to meet our wide ranging needs, including supportive housing, public housing, and deeply affordable housing.”
by Jenna Connolly | Jan 22, 2025 | Featured News, Housing News
Today, Governor Healey unveiled her budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026. CHAPA is pleased that during what is shaping up to be a challenging fiscal year, this legislation largely maintains the Commonwealth’s commitment to investing in housing, with increases put forward for several important programs.
An overview of the Governor’s H1 budget proposal compared to the final FY26 budget is available here.
Still, more must be done. While the FY26 proposal includes a higher funding level than FY25, costs continue to rise. Far too many Massachusetts residents are struggling to find a home they can afford. Failure to provide adequate resources to address actual housing needs will only result in hardship for impacted households and increased costs in other areas for the Commonwealth.
Over the next six months, CHAPA will be joining with our members and partners to advocate for the funding we need to help address our housing challenges. The Governor’s proposal is the first step in a long budget process that now moves to the Legislature.
For a more detailed discussion of the Governor’s budget proposal as well as an opportunity to provide input into advocacy strategy, please join us on Thursday, January 25 at 10:30am on Zoom for the Building Blocks Coalition meeting. Registration is required and is available on the CHAPA website.
by Jenna Connolly | Jan 17, 2025 | Featured News, Housing News
Friday marked an important date in the new legislative session as it is the deadline for on-time filing of bills. Over the past several months, CHAPA has been working with stakeholders, policy makers, and legislators to develop a slate of priority legislation that we will be advocating for over the next two years. Our sincere thanks go out to everyone who participated in this process, but especially the legion of State House staffers who do remarkable work in helping to shape policy ideas into actual bills.
Below is CHAPA’s slate of priority bills, which have been assigned temporary docket numbers until they are sent to committees of jurisdiction, where they will receive bill numbers.
Please contact your state representative and senator to urge them to add their name as a cosponsor of these bills:
People
- Codification of the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) – HD 2020 & SD 1573.
- Updating the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) Statute – HD 1953 & SD 1708.
- Access to Counsel in Evictions – HD 3912 & SD 1771.
- Eliminating Mandatory Broker Fees for Tenants – SD 35.
- Establishing a Matched Savings Program – HD 3851 & SD 2106.
Production
- Yes In God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) to Allow Multi Family By-Right on Religiously-Owned Property – HD 3756 & SD 1663.
- Creating a Local Option Real Estate Transfer Fee – HD 1112 & SD 1216.
- Increasing the Deeds Excise Tax to Support Affordable Housing and Environmental Adaptation – HD 2997 & SD 846.
- Creating an Interagency Supportive Housing Finance and Strategy Board – HD 3758 & SD 2594.
- Establishing a Housing Production Goal for Massachusetts – HD 3920.
Preservation
- Creating a Commission to Examine Increasing Property Insurance Rates on Affordable Housing – HD 3370 & SD 876.
- Establishing a Zero Carbon Renovation Fund – HD 3171 & SD 1325.
Planning
- Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) to Eliminate Barriers to Housing Production – HD 3248 & SD 1913.
- Promoting Affordable and Fair Housing Through Inclusive Zoning – HD 2978 & SD 811.
- Establishing a Definition for Municipal Site Plan Review – HD 2362.
- Mandating Training for Local Land Boards – HD 2395 & SD 114.
by Jenna Connolly | Jan 8, 2025 | Featured News, Housing News
Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court released a landmark decision in Attorney General vs. Town of Milton that affirms the responsibility of every MBTA Community under the MBTA Communities Act to zone for multifamily housing. The decision also confirms that the Attorney General has legal standing to enforce the MBTA Communities Act.
Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) celebrates this decision as a major victory for housing and a critical step in ensuring that all cities and towns contribute to solving Massachusetts’ decades-long housing shortage by providing more of the types of homes people need for everyone to thrive.
“The decision today is a big win, putting us on the path towards a future where everyone in Massachusetts can find a safe, affordable home in the community they choose,” said Rachel Heller, Chief Executive Officer of Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). “Every city and town has a role to play in addressing the housing shortage, and we’re happy that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has reaffirmed Milton’s and other non-compliant municipalities’ responsibility to be part of the solution. When we say yes to more housing in our communities, like the 116 communities already in compliance have, we are closer to creating the 200,000 homes we need by 2030 and the Massachusetts we all want and deserve.”
Although the MBTA Communities Act directs the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) to issue guidelines, the court argues that EOHLC should have promulgated regulations for compliance. CHAPA encourages EOHLC to reissue the current guidelines as emergency regulations that would take immediate effect to avoid confusion for already-compliant communities and prevent delays in creating the housing that Massachusetts desperately needs. These guidelines were developed through a thoughtful process that considered and incorporated over 200 comments from municipalities, advocates, planners, residents, business leaders, and more.
“The Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling that Milton must comply with the MBTA Communities Act is an important step in the fight for fair housing,” said Whitney Demetrius, CHAPA’s Director of Fair Housing and Municipal Engagement. “For too long, communities have used restrictive zoning to prevent the creation of homes affordable to people with low and middle incomes. CHAPA is optimistic that this ruling will allow people of all income levels to find homes in the communities that they choose.”
As of today, 116 municipalities have adopted zoning ordinances that comply with the MBTA Communities Act, a significant majority of all MBTA Communities. CHAPA expects this ruling will motivate communities currently out of compliance to act quickly to abide by the law. If they do not, this ruling suggests that future court decisions will order noncompliant communities to comply with the law and allow multifamily housing development.
The Commonwealth must create at least 200,000 new homes by 2030 to alleviate the shortage and keep pace with demand. Meanwhile, residents in all corners of Massachusetts, at every income level, are struggling with high rents and home prices. The MBTA Communities Act enables multi-family housing creation to help Massachusetts reach this goal and provide more choices to those facing escalating and, too often, unattainable housing costs.
CHAPA congratulates the Attorney General for taking on and winning this essential case and thanks the Healey-Driscoll Administration for supporting communities in the implementation of this law to expand housing opportunities for the people of Massachusetts. CHAPA also thanks Nixon Peabody—Karla Chaffee, in particular—for their work drafting and filing the amicus brief on our behalf along with more than 30 organizations.
