Governor Healey Proposes Housing Bond Legislation
This Committee on Housing recently heard testimony on the legislation filed by Governor Maura Healey that seeks to authorize $40 billion in bond authorizations to increase the availability of housing units in Massachusetts. The goal of her bill is to create 40,000 new housing units and fund the rehabilitation of 17,000 private low-income housing units. $1.6 billion of the new funds will be earmarked to repair 43,000 public housing units. The bill will also fund local infrastructure improvements to support housing developments.
Her bill also includes several proposed policy changes which she believes will help increase the amount of affordable housing. They include a local option transfer fee on the sale of housing units over $1 million to fund affordable housing developments. Currently, 14% of all sales in Massachusetts have a sale price of $1 million or more. Communities that wish to impose a transfer fee need approval from the Legislature. This bill would enable them to enact the fee without seeking legislative approval.
This bill would also enable communities to approve the construction of accessory dwelling units of less than 900 square feet without requiring a special permit. It is estimated this proposal could create more than 8,000 new dwelling units. Finally, the bill would also make it easier for communities to adopt inclusionary zoning laws by reducing the approval threshold from two-thirds to a simple majority. Inclusionary zoning by-laws require all housing projects to set aside a certain percentage of the units as affordable. Advocates believe this approach helps increase the availability of affordable housing. At the same time, opponents argue these rules make the construction of much-needed market rate units uneconomical, thereby defeating the goal of increasing both the number of new market rates and affordable housing homes.
This bill will be redrafted by the Committee on Housing and will likely go through many changes before a final version is sent to the Governor before the end of the formal legislative session on July 31st.
Governor Proposes Local Surcharge on Motor Vehicles
Governor Healey recently introduced the Municipal Empowerment Act which is designed to enable cities and towns to raise more tax and fee revenues to help them fund local services. Included in her legislation is a provision that would allow communities to impose a new five-percent annual surcharge on the value of all motor vehicles that are registered in their jurisdiction. This charge would be in addition to the current vehicle excise tax that is assessed each year. MRLDA members would face a significant tax bill under this plan in light of the high value of their trucking assets. The MRLDA plans to vigorously oppose this legislation when it comes before the Legislature for consideration. It is helpful that Speake Mariano and Senate President Spilka have refused to support the Governor’s proposal and have expressed their reservations about approving local option taxes.
Changes to Paid Family & Medical Leave Law Enacted
The Governor has signed into law changes to the compensation formula for employees who seek benefits from the state trust fund for the payment of paid time off for medical or family needs. The payments from the trust fund are capped at a maximum level which has resulted in many instances where the payments to the employee are less than their net weekly payroll. The new language will allow the employees to supplement their state payments with benefits available to them from unused sick or leave time. The decision to access the additional benefits shall be made by the employee and cannot be prohibited by the employer.
Committee Approves Paint Recycling Program
The Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources has reported favorably legislation that would require the manufacturers of paint products to establish a recycling system in Massachusetts. Each manufacturer would be required to develop a system or work with others to create one take-back system. Retailers would not be required to participate in the program but would be allowed to do so. The bill would not require retailers to collect a separate recycling fee from consumers. Instead, the manufacturers would include the cost of the program in the wholesale cost of their paint products. Similar legislation passed the Senate several years ago but to date, the House of Representatives has chosen not to advance this legislation in past sessions.