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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rent control is a ‘terrible idea,' Greater Boston Chamber boss says of latest Beacon Hill push
A new push for rent control on Beacon Hill won't solve the state's housing woes, and it won't keep young people from fleeing the Bay State for less expensive climes. That was the message Sunday from Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce CEO James B. Rooney, who called the resurgence of rent control on Beacon Hill this summer a 'terrible idea.' 'I mean, owners don't invest in the properties. The non-rent control prices go up. People stay in those units − they don't turn over. They just get occupied, and people stay," Rooney said during a Sunday sitdown on WCVB-TV's 'On the Record' program. 'If you read the data, the history of ... rent control is just so bad,' he said. Rooney's televised comments came days after housing advocates rolled out a plan to get a rent stabilization ballot question onto the November 2026 ballot. Language they planned to file with state Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell's Office would cap annual rent hikes statewide to the cost-of-living increase measured by the Consumer Price Index, with a maximum cap of 5%. 'Right now, there's no limit to how much rent can increase every year, so corporate real estate investors are increasingly buying up homes in our communities, hiking rents astronomically, and evicting anyone who can't afford to pay,' Denise Matthews-Turner, the executive director of City Life/Vida Urbana, one of the groups organizing the effort, said last week. 'Rent stabilization is the missing solution to our state's housing crisis.' According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median gross rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts was $1,882 in 2023, up from $1,727 the year before and $1,381 in 2018. Speaking to WCVB-TV on Sunday, Rooney acknowledged the depth and breadth of the state's housing crisis, pointing to his own group's polling data showing that around a quarter of the state's young professionals planned to leave within five years because of housing costs. But, he added, rent stabilization isn't the answer. 'You know, when I think of housing and housing policy, I'm reminded of that [Winston] Churchill quote, and I'll paraphrase it, that 'Americans always get it right after they've tried everything else,'' he said. 'You know, we're doing a lot of things that have a history of failing. We're doing things like rent control, which started in the '40s, and bad things happen,' he continued. Echoing the complaints of developers and landlords who have railed against a recently imposed ban on so-called 'broker fees,' which drive up the cost of renting an apartment, Rooney said the best way to tackle the housing crisis is to make it easier to build more housing. 'We're trying everything when we should just try to incentivize the free market to build more housing,' he said. Rent control was banned in Massachusetts in 1994 by a ballot question. Renters, advocates and legislators have repeatedly tried to reinstate it without success. A previous effort to get rent stabilization on the 2024 ballot was abandoned after its proponents failed to get enough signatures to qualify. State Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-2nd Middlesex, Rep. Sam Montaño, D-15th Suffolk, and Rep. David Rogers, D-24th Middlesex, filed bills this session that would give cities and towns the option to implement rent stabilization locally, capping annual increases. Unlike the proposed ballot question, the bills would not institute rent control statewide. More on Politics Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu have shouting match over photos of starvation in Gaza 'Full speed ahead' on Cape bridges after Trump claws back Pike cash, Mass. Sen. Warren says Don't let the sun go down on Mass.: Markey slams Trump over solar program | Bay State Briefing IRS, White House clashed over immigrants' data before tax chief was ousted Harvard patents at risk as Trump administration launches review Read the original article on MassLive. Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
24-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Boston needs to talk about housing for the middle class
Advertisement 'The number of middle-income households living in the city of Boston Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up How to change that trajectory needs to be front and center in the mayor's race. Housing, after all, is arguably the weakest point in Mayor Michelle Wu's record as mayor. Production of new housing in 2023 and 2024 was the weakest since 2011. Some of that slowdown may indeed be due to economic forces outside Wu's control, but on her watch the city has also set requirements that some developers say are so unrealistic they've stalled construction. Challenger Josh Kraft, eager to capitalize on frustration over housing, has offered a different vision, borrowing from the 'abundance agenda' that's popular with Democratic policy wonks these days. He's calling to relax requirements on developers to spur construction. Advertisement Which is to say that when it comes to housing, there are clear differences between the candidates, and voters deserve a thoughtful airing of the trade-offs that both candidate's visions would involve. What kind of a city we will have hangs in the balance. As home prices have escalated — the average home value in Boston has risen to The mayor has said all the right things. 'To be a home for everyone, we must be the best city for families, and there's more work to do,' Wu said in her But it's unclear whether the signature housing policy of her first term has helped or hurt. The Wu administration has required developers to include more housing reserved for people with low incomes, with rents or sale prices set at below-market levels. That seems like a worthy goal. The problem, though, is that it can easily backfire. Projects that may have been economically viable under the old requirements, which called for 13 percent of housing to be income-restricted, might no longer make financial sense at 20 percent. Twenty percent of nothing, as developers are fond of pointing out, is nothing. Advertisement And as Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Jim Rooney That is a mantra now picked up by Kraft, who told the editorial board that the 26,000 housing units currently permitted by the city's planning agency, but not yet under construction, were rendered not financially viable by that shift, proposing to return the requirement to 13 percent, the level it had been under former mayor Marty Walsh. Wu called the accusation 'factually incorrect' and told the editorial board that many of those stuck-in-the-pipeline projects weren't even subject to the new inclusionary zoning requirements. Some, such as the development of ten thousand units planned for the old simply hit a wall caused by high interest rates and rising construction costs. Yet two things can be true at the same time: Wu's affordability requirements could be deterring new housing, while economic conditions could be hindering projects that were already in the pipeline. How to set requirements — and when to change them as economic conditions change — are an important debate for the city and its mayoral candidates to have. At any percentage, though, there's a danger in over-relying on inclusionary development as the linchpin of the city's housing policy, because by their nature mandates can aggravate the city's missing-middle problem. That's because new market-rate housing has to be even more expensive to cover the cost of the income-restricted units (often euphemistically referred to as 'affordable housing'). Advertisement There's an economic argument that even creation of high-end housing helps the middle class, because those pricey new condos sop up demand from high-earners who would otherwise be bidding up the prices of existing family housing. And that's true to an extent. But the city also needs policies aimed squarely at new housing for the middle tier, too. Wu can rightly boast some other measures that take steps in that direction. One answer with the potential to create 200 to 300 new housing opportunities a year, for instance, is Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or so-called granny flats — small buildings adjacent or adjoining existing housing structures. They can be an alternative for housing relatives or renters. A new state law and new encouragement at the city level, including expansion of the In 2023, former planning chief Wu also got a $110 million Advertisement Separately, a small ($600,000 budgeted to start) Wu's administration has also But on the other side of the ledger, there have been numerous instances when private, market-rate housing is on the line and the city, with its lengthy community review process, just can't get out of its own way. Witness what was once the 270-unit Then there's the long-running saga of the incredible shrinking 766 Summer Street project on the old Boston Edison Power Plant site that began life in Advertisement It's a familiar story of obstruction and delay, but that doesn't make it acceptable. One of the silver linings of Democrats' national losses in 2024 is that it has led to welcome introspection and debate about how blue states and cities govern themselves. It seems to have occurred to Democrats that when voters look at solidly Democratic places like Boston and see such high prices, it doesn't exactly help the brand. The mayor's race should be an opportunity for Boston to participate in that introspection. It's not only a matter of improving the Democratic Party's image: The plain truth is that over the decades, Boston (and the rest of the metro region) has failed to allow enough housing, and now residents — and would-be residents — are suffering the consequences. There are worse problems to have than being a city people would love to live and work in. But making room for all kinds of people — rich and poor and those in the vast middle — is key to keeping it the vibrant place that it is. It's a given that candidates will talk about housing, because rising prices have made the issue impossible to ignore. What the city has done to date hasn't worked. Voters are looking to the candidates for ideas that will. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's attacks on Mass. hit economy in ‘the gut,' Greater Boston Chamber boss says
President Donald Trump's trade war, his immigration policies, and his attacks on higher education hit the Bay State's economy right 'in the gut,' further darkening an already complicated business picture. That's the analysis that Jim Rooney, the president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, offered Sunday during an appearance on WBZ-TV's 'Keller @Large' program. Massachusetts already was struggling with economic competitiveness and job creation issues before Trump returned to office in January, Rooney told host Jon Keller. 'Now you layer on job-impacting types of federal policies like tariffs, like research funding, like immigration, and that was going to be tough anyway,' Rooney said. 'And ... if you look at where our jobs are, [with] high concentrations in life sciences and medicine ... this is right in the gut of the Massachusetts economy,' he continued. Trump's ongoing war with Harvard University, some of which is now in the hands of a federal judge, has provided a vivid illustration of that impact. The Cambridge-based university now faces nearly $3 billion in federal funding cuts. Those concerns are further underlined by new research by Mark Williams, a master lecturer in finance at Boston University, concluding that the Republican White House's policies could result in billions of dollars in lost revenue and tens of thousands of job losses as early as next year. That's because, compared to other states, the Bay State's economy 'disproportionately' depends on such sectors as life sciences, higher education, trade and tourism, Williams said. All of those already have been — or will be hit — by Trump's economic policies. 'Here in Massachusetts, we really have a knowledge-based economy,' Williams said in a statement. 'We're a top-20 economy by size of GDP, but yet we're the third-largest recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. We have the fifth-largest percentage of immigrants in the country, larger than Texas as a percentage of our immigrant population to the overall population," he continued. 'And because of our maritime past, 9% of our GDP is tied up with trade.' Speaking to Rooney on Sunday, Keller alluded to Williams' findings. The regional business leader said he wasn't shocked by them. Rooney said he's been trying to contain any potential damage by reaching out to leaders in other states to promote the scientific and economic importance of research funding. 'As you think about federal issues, we're the bluest and blue states, and right now, [there's a] Republican-controlled White House [and] House and Senate,' he said. 'So our approach has been coalition-building.' That effort now includes 60 chambers of commerce in more than 30 states, he said. 'We're going to lobby. We're going to go to Washington, and we're going to sign onto joint letters,' he said, 'We're going to try to make that case that what is happening at home.' Williams' warnings, meanwhile, reflect those of Massachusetts' elected officials, including Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, and others. Last week, responding to what her office described as the uncertainty brought on by Trump's attacks on federal funding, Healey's office announced she was imposing a hiring freeze across the executive branch. Read More: These key public services won't be hit by the state's hiring freeze, Mass. Gov. Healey says Speaking to reporters after she attended the grand opening of the Lego Group's new headquarters in Boston's Back Bay, the Democratic governor kept up her criticism of the actions of Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill as they slash social safety net programs to underwrite tax cuts. Read More: Gov. Healey: SNAP cuts will 'force Mass. families to go hungry' 'These cuts by the Trump administration, unfortunately, have real consequences. I look at the [proposed Republican] cuts to the [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. We've got 7 million people in the state, and a million rely on SNAP benefits,' Healey said. 'We're talking seniors, we're talking single moms, we're talking children, and he's cutting that.' Old Trump foe says he must be stopped before 'tanks are rolling down the streets' US stuck with 'madman' Trump. And it's Dems' fault, Conn. senator says From Baker to Ballot: Republican Mike Kennealy makes his pitch for governor | Bay State Briefing Former President Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer Phone workers worried about lead on old lines wonder: Who will answer their call? Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top Mass. Senate Dem Spilka to Boston biz leaders: ‘You must speak up'
The top Democrat in the Massachusetts state Senate made a direct appeal to the upper crust of Boston leaders on Wednesday, urging them to 'speak up' as the Republican Trump administration does battle with the Bay State over trade, federal funding and other key issues. Speaking to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in Boston's Seaport neighborhood, Senate President Karen E. Spilka called on those business leaders to use their combined clout and their voices to 'speak up.' " I hope you will all use your collective voices to let the Trump Administration, Congress, and the federal government know when their policies are harming your businesses, your employees, your families and your bottom lines—as well as the state we are lucky enough to call home," Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, said in remarks that stretched to 33 minutes. The business group, she noted, represents 1,200 organizations that include large and small corporations, nonprofit groups, and law firms, adding that she could "only imagine the billions of dollars in economic activity you represent when taken all together." So, while the Senate will do "all we can to uphold the rule of law, separation of powers and due process, but we are limited in what we can do and we can't do it alone,' she continued, casting that effort against the recent celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington. 'That's why we need your partnership more than ever to call out, when appropriate, a president who wants to be king and a Congress that is handing over its power to that president,' she said. The Ashland Democrat has emerged as one of the most forceful legislative critics of the Republican White House, repeatedly denouncing what she has described as the destructive impact of its policies on Massachusetts. Spilka beat that same drum during her speech to business leaders, saying she fears that "the massive changes being made by this administration at the federal level are not just reshaping our government, they are also threatening our way of life and our basic democratic principles." That's easy to see, she continued, 'when you think of our most vulnerable residents, families with children with complex medical needs, and our veterans—among others—who rely on government programs like Medicaid, Head Start or the VA. Or when you think of the people—surely some of you in this room—who have had to fight to be afforded the same rights and privileges as other Americans." But because she was in a room full of numbers people, Spilka also made a starkly economic argument, noting that 'chaos' brought on by the White House's trade war is " also a threat to our economy — and not just because economies crave stability.' 'Just this past fall—practically a lifetime ago at this point— two MIT economists, together with their colleague from the University of Chicago —won the Nobel prize in economics for their work to show that over time, open, inclusive and democratic countries have stronger economies," she said. The argument echoed those made by other Bay State pols, including Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that Trump's attacks on Harvard University would punch a hole in the state's economy, prompting researchers and innovators to flee to other countries. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats rolled out a $61.3 billion, no-tax-hike budget plan for the new fiscal year that starts July 1, which is premised heavily on federal funding. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Senate's top budget-writer warned of potentially catastrophic consequences if Washington carries through on a threat to turn off the spigot. That's particularly true of MassHealth, a budget beast that serves millions of state residents, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Michael Rodriques, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, said. If the feds hit Medicaid, 'all bets are off‚' Rodriques said. On Tuesday night, states appeared to get a reprieve, as congressional Republicans ruled out some Medicaid reductions, putting the burden on Trump's loyalists to look elsewhere to pay for the White House's tax cuts, according to Roll Call. Spilka hit the high points of the majority-Democrat chamber's fiscal blueprint: More money for public education, an effort to tame the state's housing crisis, and public transportation. But, she warned, 'no state, not even one as strong and resilient as Massachusetts, can fill the massive budget gaps that could arise if federal dollars are stripped away.' If that happens, she continued, 'it will put serious pressure on our budget, our families, our communities, and our businesses.' The Senate is scheduled to start debate on its budget proposal on May 20. The majority Democrat House passed its $61.4 billion version of the budget last week. Both proposals are below the $62 billion that Healey proposed earlier this year. 'As we navigate the coming months and years, we truly will need to continue to work closely together to solve the most pressing problems before us and stand up for the state that we love,' Spilka told the crowd. More political news Read the original article on MassLive.
Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Massachusetts Senate will ‘explore' ban on cellphones in public schools, top Democrat says
Advertisement 'Making schools cell phone free should be as fundamental to our understanding of what helps a child learn as providing school meals and access to social and emotional learning resources,' Spilka planned to tell members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, according to a copy of her prepared remarks. The Senate would 'explore ways to keep our schools distraction-free— and, more precisely, cellphone free," according to Spilka, though she didn't endorse a specific piece of legislation. State lawmakers this session have Advertisement Spilka pointed to what she called 'mounting evidence' that cell phone usage during the school day is detrimental to students, from providing a simple distraction to what she called 'more worrying issues,' such as cheating and cyber bullying. Patrick Tutwiler, the state's education secretary, has voiced support for the Campbell-backed bill dubbed the 'STUDY Act,' which also would require social media companies to implement additional health and safety policies. Leadership at the Massachusetts Teachers Association has also backed some type of a ban, saying phone use can facilitate bullying, and take time away from 'play and sleep and real-world human connection.' Many school districts have already taken steps to curb students' phone use. For example, Boston last year awarded a three-year, $843,000 contract earlier to Yondr, a company that makes individual magnetic locked pouches that students can put their phones in. In many cases, the state is already helping the effort, awarding nearly $1.3 million in grants to 77 districts to reduce cellphone usage among students, the Globe reported last year. About three-quarters of districts used funding to purchase pouches, lockers, charging stations, and the like. But district-level efforts have also generated controversy. At Ipswich High School, a student launched a petition on in an emergency. Opposition to bans has emerged at other schools, such as This is a developing story and will be updated. Advertisement Matt Stout can be reached at
