Acting Senate President Harriette Chandler laid out a series of priorities for herself and the Senate on Wednesday, warning that Massachusetts is at risk of losing its reputation as a national leader unless it addresses its longstanding housing affordability problem.
Speaking from prepared remarks after presiding over the first Senate session of 2018, Chandler urged senators to “maintain belief in the greatness of Massachusetts and each other” as they set out to give serious attention to a far-reaching paid family and medical leave proposal, plans to raise the minimum wage, and the effects of federal policies on Massachusetts in the seven months of formal sessions that remain before election season ramps up again.
“We live in a state that has led the way on issues of health and wealth for all – yet as long as one family remains unable to afford adequate housing, or one innovative business leaves our state, we all suffer, together,” Chandler said.
Chandler, who has advocated for affordable housing policies in her nearly 25 years on Beacon Hill, elevated that issue towards the top of the Senate’s priorities. She said Massachusetts must address the affordability of housing, for everyone from families to recent college graduates, in order to facilitate the future growth of the state and its economy.
“We are in danger of losing the next generation of business innovators and leaders – and our reputation as a nationwide leader in the innovation economy – if those innovators cannot afford to live in our state,” she said.
Gov. Charlie Baker recently put housing affordability legislation before the Legislature. With housing rules largely dictated by locally managed zoning bylaws in cities and towns, Beacon Hill over the years has struggled to pass affordable housing policies that also honor so-called home rule doctrines. A housing bond bill, authorizing borrowing to support housing efforts, is also expected to pass the Legislature this year.
Chandler also called upon the Senate to pay attention to how things that transpire in Washington, D.C., affect Massachusetts, making reference to “economic and social uncertainty that is as influenced by the chaos in Washington, D.C., as by any legislative or executive action in Massachusetts.”
“We will continue to stand as a bastion of protection for Massachusetts residents against those overreaches of the federal government that would negatively impact us, including to investigate and mitigate the consequences of the net neutrality overreach of the FCC, and of the federal tax bill,” she said.
Ending her roughly eight-minute address to the Senate on Wednesday, Chandler evoked the words of women’s rights activist Maria Stewart to remind the body of the importance of action following words.
“As we remember our legacy with an eye firmly on the future of the Senate and Massachusetts, I remind us all that our words mean little without the firmness of action to back them up,” she said. “So, let’s get to work.”
