Massachusetts passes historic $5.2B housing bill

BOSTON (WWLP) – Massachusetts passed landmark affordable housing legislation this session, and Governor Healey held a ceremonial signing ceremony on Tuesday in Newton.

This bill looks to address the nearly 200,000 housing unit shortage in Massachusetts, which the governor calls “the number one issue facing the state.”

“Yes to housing. Yes to figuring out how to get it done. Yes to the hard work of taking on the battles that it can be,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll at the event. “And I hope through this bill, we can make the battles a little bit easier.”

The bill uses bond authorizations to make improvements to existing housing units or to create new ones.

Governor Healey said at the ceremony that her team worked over the weekend to make another promise to Massachusetts residents,” that will ensure that affordable housing developments funded by many of the capital authorizations in this bill will be built by responsible contractors who treat their workers right.”

Local leaders from across the state attended to signing ceremony, including Mayor LaChapelle from Easthampton, to express commitment to making their communities more affordable.

This legislation, clocking in at nearly 5.2 billion dollars, is the largest investment in affordable housing in Massachusetts history.

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