It’s local budget season in Massachusetts: headlines are full of proposed teacher cuts, Prop 2½ overrides, and mounting pressure on municipal finances. That’s why it is so striking that some of the strongest support for statewide rent control is coming from a city already in fiscal trouble — and from teachers who are fighting to […]
Author: Amanda Munger
Rent Control is not the Answer
“Rent control doesn’t reduce housing supply. There is simply no data whatsoever to support this claim.” That’s what one proponent told Massachusetts legislators last week. But remember, Massachusetts has been here before. Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge had rent control from 1970 until it was banned by voters in 1994. And the numbers from Cambridge’s own […]
My Path to Financial Security in Jeopardy
“I grew up in public housing. I served 21 years in the military, including two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. I saved every penny I could. I put those savings into six rental units in Massachusetts. That’s my path to financial security. From public housing, to the uniform, to the skies. The American […]
Dueling housing ballot measures collide with frustrated lawmakers
Commonwealth Beacon | March 20, 2026 Proponents of two potential ballot measures aiming to tackle the state’s dire housing crunch – pulling from entirely different playbooks – had to contend with more than formal opposition to the campaigns this week. They also took fire from those advancing the other housing measure and from legislative leaders openly […]
Officials state the case against rent control
Item Live | March 19, 2026 LYNN — The 2026 ballot initiative to stabilize rent will not be the solution to the housing crisis as many people believe it will be. “The broad idea of rent control sounds good on its face, right? … The devil ultimately is in the details, and the wording of […]
Massachusetts Battle on Rent Control Ballot Question Heats Up
National Association of Realtors | March 19 A coalition that includes the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® says a proposal to cap rent increases statewide is overreaching and will do long-term harm to cities and towns across the state. Rent-control proposals continue to rear their heads in states and […]
Small Property Owners, Building Trade Official, and Council President Testify Against Rent Control
At legislative hearing for the initiative petition to mandate rent control across each of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns, panelists describe practical impacts of poorly written proposal
Rent Control Ballot Question will Hurt Small Property Owners
At 2pm today, Beacon Hill will hear from the people this rent control ballot question hits first and foremost: small property owners. Our campaign – Housing for Massachusetts – will join a panel of elected officials, labor leaders, chamber executives, and three “mom and pop” owners who each manage just a handful of units. These […]
New Rent Control Study Shows Wide-Ranging Impacts
Some of the many misconceptions about this proposed rent control question in Massachusetts are that it’s an opt-in measure, or that it only impacts cities like Boston, or that it only applies to large multi-family properties. The truth is that this question, with some minor exceptions, will apply to every single residential dwelling unit that […]
Fewer Homes, Fewer Jobs, Fewer Opportunities
For months, we’ve been hearing that investors are hesitant to back new residential development in Massachusetts because of the statewide rent control ballot question. In a Boston Globe column last week, one major institutional investor, who manages billions on behalf of union pension funds, put it bluntly: “If you want to kill housing production, put […]