Don’t you love a good jump scare, friend?
That part in a scary movie where, after things are eerily quiet and still, something suddenly happens, shocking the audience into spilling their popcorn?
That’s how it feels whenever our Legislature actually passes a bill.
BOO!
And it’s especially shocking when it’s a good bill; the Senate unanimously passed two bills on Thursday that would improve reproductive and sexual healthcare for Bay Staters.
S.2481 would require public schools, shelters, and correctional facilities to supply menstrual products at no cost (a bill the chamber unanimously passed in March of last year, only for it to die in — you guessed it! — House Ways & Means).
The other bill would allow pharmacists to prescribe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a drug that can prevent HIV transmission from sex. This bill also passed last year, and I hate to beat a dead horse, but you know how this ends: death by House Ways & Means.
I guess that’s another thing the Legislature and horror movies have in common: predictable endings.
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State House Scoop
With emergency shelters on the brink of capacity, leaders default on right-to-shelter law
Last week, Governor Healey announced that the state lacks the providers and funding to safely expand the emergency shelter system beyond 7,500 families, a number we expect to hit any day now. The state has been housing folks under right to shelter — the law which mandates that the state provide shelter to any family or pregnant person in Massachusetts who does not have access to housing.
“We are not ending the right to shelter law,” Healey said to reporters last week. “We are being very clear, though, that we are not going to be able to guarantee placement to those who are sent here after the end of this month.”
Translation: I’m not getting rid of the law, I’m just going to have to ignore it. That means anyone who arrives after existing shelters are filled will not be granted their right to shelter.
But even those who are sheltered face myriad safety concerns. Reports from inside the shelters reveal hundreds of health code violations, including nearly 350 at just one Days Inn facility. And steps outside several shelters across the state, white supremacist neo-Nazi groups are harassing families and have been recruiting new members to join.
The crisis is only expected to grow. This week, Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer published a report stating that the region is “projected to receive significant migration [...] as people flee areas suffering from severe heat waves, drought, storms, crop loss, water scarcity and other impacts of climate change.”
Legislative leaders have been making their press rounds, insisting that the state does not have the means to continue to shelter new migrants. But these leaders seem unable to answer the most basic question: what precedent does it set that our government is willing to flagrantly disregard their own law? Or worse, that they’re willing to cut over a billion dollars in taxes which disproportionately benefit the rich, only to turn around and say there’s no money to shelter those in need?
Housing crisis latest: Healey’s housing bond bill
Making good on a major campaign promise 10 months into her term, Governor Healey released a housing bond bill last week which the administration has given a fancy name: The Affordable Homes Act. But before we dive into the details, a bit of context: a bond bill is not a spending bill. Bond bills merely authorize the governor to go into a little bit of debt to make certain infrastructure-adjacent investments within five years. The process goes a little something like this:
- Governor proposes the bond bill, which includes a big wish list of possible areas of investment for the next five years. (Gov: can I borrow money to spend it on x, y, and z?)
- Legislature passes their (likely stripped down) version of the bill. (Legislature: hmm, we don’t agree with z, but yes you can borrow money to spend it on x and y.)
- Now, the Governor knows what investments for the next five years she’s authorized to borrow for. (Gov: ok great, I have 5 years to make x and y happen, if I choose to.)
There tends to be a housing-related bond bill every five years which authorizes investments for the next five. The most recent one, proposed by Governor Baker in 2018, totaled $1.8 billion. Healey’s bill requests a whopping $4.1 billion. It also includes a number of progressive policies that would take effect immediately if passed.
Now, that’s what I like to hear.
Here are some of the bill’s highlights:
🏚️ $1.6 billion for improvements to public housing. We at Act on Mass have been a bit of a broken record on this; according to a recent report, our dilapidated public housing stock is in need of $9 billion in repairs. Many units are unlivable, and residents are made to live in unsafe conditions. A $1.6 billion investment is a good start, but it’s just that: a start.
🏚️ Allows accessory dwelling units (in-law apartments) to be built in single-family homes, regardless of local zoning laws. ADUs are known as the “low-hanging fruit” of housing production—this is a no-brainer.
🏚️ Allows tenants to petition to seal their eviction records. Housing advocates have been fighting for this equity-focused policy for years as eviction records unjustly burden folks seeking housing. Allowing landlords to discriminate based on prior evictions merely serves to perpetuate homelessness and housing instability.
🏚️ Last but certainly not least, the bond bill would enable municipalities to impose a real estate transfer fee. This fee (or “tax”) would apply to real estate sales over $1 million (or the county’s median home sales price). The revenue from this fee would go towards investments in affordable housing.
Pretty good, right? But remember: this is far from a done deal. First, it has to go through the Legislature, which has historically been hostile to a number of these policies, including the real estate transfer fee and eviction sealing. Then, Governor Healey has five years (or the end of her term) to spend the funding the Legislature allows, and she may delay investments, or pick and choose. Miles to go before we sleep.
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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.
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Take Action
LAST PUSH: Matching Fall Fundraiser
We’ve come such a long way since October 1st! Thank you to everyone who has donated to this fundraiser. Together, we’ve raised about $4,800 to sustain our work of holding the State House accountable. With our matching fund, that means Act on Mass is poised to receive $9,600. If we raise the remaining $2,200? Act on Mass receives $14,000.
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That's all for now! I've gotta get back to crafting my costume for tomorrow. I'll let you do the same.
Yours, spookily,
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass