Housing
193rd General Court (2023-2024)
S. 868
An Act to eliminate asset limits for homeless shelters
This simple bill eliminates asset limits for the Emergency Assistance housing program (a.k.a. homeless shelters).
S. 869
An Act to reduce financial barriers to renting homes
If this bill is enacted, landlords will only be permitted to charge last month's rent OR the security deposit. Under current law, landlords can charge last month’s rent AND a security deposit. In short, this bill significantly lowers the upfront cost of renting.
S. 368
An Act relative to emergency lighting in senior housing
This bill would mandate that all senior housing facilities financed or subsidized by the state or federal housing programs install emergency lighting systems inside residents’ rooms and that these systems be maintained and inspected annually.
S. 1362
An Act relative to the Massachusetts lead law and promoting equal access to lead-free housing
This bill protects our children from lead poisoning and related housing discrimination by taking preventive steps to remove lead from homes. Current law usually only requires landlords to delead a property if a child under the age of 6 resides there. This bill updates the lead law to require landlords to delead properties, regardless of whether children under the age of six will reside in the property. Lead poisoning remains a widespread issue in Massachusetts. Across the state, only 10% of housing built before 1970 has undergone a lead inspection - meaning children are at risk in 1.8 million homes in the Commonwealth. This issue disproportionately impacts minority communities, with black and brown children 2.5 times more likely to have lead poisoning than white children.
S. 870
An Act to improve the housing development incentive program
This bill reforms the Housing Development Incentive Program (“HDIP”), a tax credit subsidy program to increase housing. A December 2022 Massachusetts Law Reform Institute report highlighted myriad design and implementation flaws in HDIP.
S. 872
An Act enabling local options for tenant protections
The Tenant Protection Act offers one piece of a comprehensive approach to the affordable housing emergency by enabling local rent stabilization, just cause eviction protections, and other tenant protections.