Leading employer groups join growing organization of small property owners, elected officials, and community leaders opposed to ballot question that mandates rent control in every city and town in Massachusetts
BOSTON, MA – April 6, 2026 – Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable (MBR) today announced that they have joined Housing for Massachusetts, the coalition formed in opposition to the proposed rent control ballot question. The three organizations, which together represent thousands of employers across industries in Massachusetts that employ hundreds of thousands of people, are concerned about the question’s impact on talent retention, housing creation, and investment in the state.
“Employers across the state share the same challenge – their employees are having difficulty finding reasonably priced housing,” said Brooke Thomson, President & CEO of AIM. “The history of rent control in Massachusetts and elsewhere is clear: it leads to fewer available rental units, a steep drop in new construction, and lower quality homes. As the Commonwealth fights to grow jobs, improve competitiveness, and retain talent, this policy would be disastrous for Massachusetts.”
The ballot question would limit annual rent increases to the annual change in consumer price index (CPI) – which has averaged just 2.58% over the past 20 years – up to a maximum 5%. It mandates a one-size-fits-all policy in all 351 communities across Massachusetts, with no opt-out. The limited exemptions in the measure mean that virtually every privately owned rental property in the state would eventually be controlled, including single family homes, condos, and two and three families that are not owner occupied.
“Massachusetts didn’t become the world leader in biotech and life sciences by accident. It happened because we built an ecosystem where talent wants to live and companies want to invest. Rent control threatens that,” said Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, CEO & President of MassBio. “San Francisco has had rent control for nearly 50 years and is still one of the most unaffordable cities in the country. We don’t need a policy that’s already failed the innovation economy — we need more housing, built faster.”
Massachusetts voters already banned rent control for a simple reason: it doesn’t work. After more than two decades of rent control, Massachusetts voters recognized the damage this policy did to our communities. Study after study, including research from MIT about the impacts in Cambridge, has found that rent control discourages investment in housing, leading to fewer homes, less home and building maintenance, and lower property values.
“Massachusetts is at a critical inflection point in the state’s economic competitiveness and success, centered around three key challenges – cost of living, outmigration of talent, and the high cost of doing business here,” said JD Chesloff, CEO of Massachusetts Business Roundtable. “We’re all in agreement that something needs to be done about housing prices. But the proposed rent control ballot question would discourage investment in new and existing housing stock and decimate property values – all creating disastrous consequences for the state’s ability to provide the quality of life that attracts employers here in the first place.”
The ballot question’s impact will not be limited to renters and property owners: it will impact everyone in Massachusetts. A new study from the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts found rent control would eliminate $300 billion of Massachusetts property values over the next decade, crushing municipal budgets and forcing local leaders to cut back on key services or drastically shift the tax burden to homeowners and condo owners to maintain investments in education, infrastructure, and public safety. This new proposal is a step back in time and will only worsen the current housing shortage.
In opposing the rent control ballot question, AIM, MassBio, and MBR join a growing list of local business groups across the state, including the:
- Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce
- Charles River Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Cranberry County Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Boston Real Estate Board
- Institute of Real Estate Management – Boston Chapter
- Massachusetts Association of Realtors
- Mass Landlords
- MetroSouth Chamber of Commerce
- NAIOP Massachusetts, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association
- Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce
- Quincy Chamber of Commerce
- Revere Chamber of Commerce
- Shrewsbury Street Merchants Association
- Small Property Owners Association (SPOA)
- Tri-County Regional Chamber of Commerce
- United Regional Chambers of Commerce
- Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
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Housing for Massachusetts is a coalition of Massachusetts citizens, small property owners, family-owned real estate companies, affordable housing developers, and housing advocates. We aim to educate and advocate for policies that support housing creation in Massachusetts, improving availability and affordability for all. Learn more at HousingforMass.com
Media Contact:
Julianne Hester
press@housingformass.com