HERO Bill to Increase Investments in Affordable Housing and Climate Resiliency Gathers Momentum on Beacon Hill
The housing - environment coalition-backed bill would create $300 million from deeds excise fees to invest equally in climate and affordable housing trust funds
Boston, MA – Earlier this year, Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and Representative Nika Elugardo (D-Boston) filed S.1853/H.2890 An Act providing for climate change adaptation infrastructure and affordable housing investments in the Commonwealth, known as the Housing and Environment Revenue Opportunities (HERO) bill.
This legislation has gathered statewide momentum, garnering a total of fifty co-sponsors, as well as strong support from community leaders across the Commonwealth. In doubling the Deeds Excise Fee on commercial and residential real estate transactions, the legislation creates a new source of recurrent and dedicated revenue to address the climate and housing crises affecting the residents across the state. New revenue is anticipated to total $300 million a year, split evenly to further climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts as well as affordable housing initiatives across Massachusetts.
“Climate change presents new challenges, and it will exacerbate the long-standing housing crisis in Massachusetts as flooding worsens with intensified storms. These compounding issues merit new sources of funding,” said Senator Eldridge. “This bill allows us to tackle the housing and climate crises together by creating opportunities for all throughout the state. Building homes creates jobs and opportunities for workers and adds much-needed housing stock to a housing market with record low inventory. I am grateful to see so many of my colleagues join in support of its passage, and proud to partner with my friend and colleague Rep. Nika Elugardo in filing this innovative legislation.”
“This legislation will create the resources to address the housing crisis compounded by COVID, covering emergency rental assistance that both landlords and tenants desperately need to stay afloat,” said Representative Elugardo. “It positions us to more proactively address our two greatest statewide challenges going forward, making housing affordable again and building resiliency against the extreme impacts of climate change. The Deeds Excise Fee hasn’t been updated in decades and currently lags far behind other New England states. I'm honored to join the broad coalition of leaders who negotiated this creative and elegant solution in partnership with Senator Eldridge.”
Affordable Housing:
The Deeds Excise Fee has remained flat at $4.56 per $1000 since 1989, and is one of the lowest in the Northeast. Doubling the fee to $9.12 per $1000 would still keep it among the lowest in the New England region, but the new revenue would allow the legislature to take concrete housing and climate action. Half of the new deeds excise revenue (approximately, $150 million annually), would be used to create and preserve housing for working-class homeowners and renters, with the bulk of the funding going to assist extremely low-income earners across the Commonwealth. In deploying resources to support climate and housing programs, the bill strikes equity across the board by assisting renters find a home they can afford, opening pathways to homeownership for traditionally excluded communities, and creating healthier and more resilient homes.
Climate Resilience:
Stronger communities also mean healthier neighborhoods where green infrastructure doubles as flood control infrastructure and green community spaces, with affordable and climate-friendly housing that allows for economically resilient families to thrive in our community. Intensified storms brought on by climate change pose a threat to existing housing across the Commonwealth, threatening to exacerbate the housing crisis as more residents are displaced by floods. Therefore, the remaining fifty percent of the new deeds excise revenue would be used to strengthen communities to better withstand floods, intense heat waves, and other effects of climate change. It would also help with the electrification of existing housing stock and construction of net zero affordable housing, among other initiatives, to further Massachusetts’ efforts to decarbonize our economy and reach net zero emissions.
Affordable Housing Advocates Support HERO:
“We are proud and excited to be part of the coalition working to advance this vital legislation,” said Joseph Kriesberg, President of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations which represents non-profit community groups that have built more than 20,000 homes across the Commonwealth. “We need a long-term dedicated funding stream to implement a long-term action plan that can ensure we have housing and neighborhoods that are energy efficient, climate resilient and affordable to working families, seniors and everyone else that wants Massachusetts to be their home.”
“With this bill, we have the opportunity to raise desperately needed funds to aid in our state's efforts to address the housing instability so many families are experiencing as well as combat the potential devastation that we face due to the climate crisis,” said Caroline Bays, Board President of Progressive Massachusetts. “This would be a small price to pay to improve our state and our planet.”
“Massachusetts has been a place of opportunity for millions of households who have made this state vibrant. We stand to lose that if we do not prioritize investments in affordable housing and climate change mitigation,” said Rachel Heller, CEO of Citizens' Housing & Planning Association (CHAPA). “The HERO legislation would generate vital funding for affordable housing and sustainability, ensuring that Massachusetts households have access to safe, healthy, and affordable homes. Passing the HERO legislation is critical for improving the lives of current Massachusetts residents and for our future generations.”
"The HERO bill shows that Massachusetts cares deeply about the health and wellbeing of all our community members and shared places,” said Karen Kelleher, Executive Director of LISC Boston. “With this redoubled investment, we have the power to ensure everyone - and particularly Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color - truly has access to high-quality housing that is both climate-ready and climate-friendly. LISC is deeply supportive of this effort, which will transform our Commonwealth and provide good-paying green jobs in the process."
“For low income communities of color, like the one we serve in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, poor environmental conditions and lack of access to decent, safe affordable housing, have been proven to aggravate disparities in the social determinants of health,” said Leslie Reid, Chief Executive Officer for Madison Park Development Corporation. “The devastating impact of higher levels of housing instability and respiratory disease were revealed in stark and tragic contrast by the disproportionate impact of COVID 19 in our community. This legislation is timely and critical to increasing resources that support environmental resiliency and affordable housing, both of which are essential to our ability to advance truly equitable development and healthy and sustainable built environments.”
“Massachusetts cannot achieve a strong and equitable recovery after COVID unless we address our climate and housing challenges head on. Words are nice, but action requires money. HERO will provide a steady stream of resources to build homes, support low-income households, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and build a resilient future in the face of rising seas and warming temperatures. With the help of Senator Eldridge and Representative Elugardo, we at MAPC look forward to getting the bill passed,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the regional land use planning agency for Greater Boston.
Felicia Jacques, Vice President of Maloney Properties stated, “It is necessary to deploy every tool available to increase the supply of affordable housing in the state. As costs associated with residential development, market or affordable, continue to escalate in Massachusetts, public funding partnerships are critical in order to produce housing for our low and moderate income residents." For over 35 years, Maloney Properties has been providing high-quality mixed-use, market rate, and affordable housing across 80 communities in Greater Boston and New England.
The Real Estate Industry Supports HERO:
Anne Mahon of Belmont is one of the top realtors in New England. “The real estate industry needs to get behind the HERO bill because otherwise there will be nothing to sell. The houses will be burning or underwater. Climate change is real,” Mahon said. “This bill recognizes that there are people without housing and they need a hand up from the pandemic or from hitting a speed bump in their lives. This is a rescue plan for the people who really need to be rescued,” she concluded. Mahon self-identifies as a community activist realtor.
Amy Schectman, President & CEO of 2Life Communities stated, “As someone immersed in the challenges of building housing for older adults, I strongly support the HERO bill. The HERO Bill would provide a reliable funding source for addressing the dire need for affordable housing in the Commonwealth. Without additional housing, with 2Life’s current rate of turnover it would take 34 years to clear our waiting list--an unconscionable amount of time for people in their 70’s and 80’s. Pairing sustainability with affordability goals is wise--both speak at core to livability and equity in Massachusetts, AND these funds would be effective in promoting both. Bravo to Senator Eldridge, Representative Elugardo and all the bill's co-sponsors." Inspired by Jewish values, 2Life Communities welcomes seniors from all backgrounds and enables aging in communities of engagement, connection, and purpose.
“We as a Commonwealth need strong tools to respond to climate change risk and create economically accessible housing for our essential workers, seniors, and those with disabilities,” said Andrew DeFranza from Harborlight Community Partners. “The HERO bill gives us just such tools and we are eager to support it and ask others to do the same.” Harborlight Community Partners (HCP) is a non-profit, Massachusetts-certified Community Development Corporation. HCP develops, manages and advocates for quality, service-enriched housing that is affordable and inclusive, making homes available to all, because everyone deserves a home.
Climate Advocates Support HERO:
“The HERO bill represents the creative approach to addressing two urgent crises – unaffordable and inefficient housing and climate change," said Sarah Dooling, Executive Director at the Massachusetts Climate Action Network. “Housing justice is climate justice. This bill integrates an investment solution to both issues that gives us the opportunity to ensure a climate resilient future that makes energy efficient housing affordable for our most vulnerable residents.”
"Massachusetts residents deserve access to healthy, affordable housing; and our communities must increase the resilience of our built environment as the impacts of the climate crisis intensify," said Sierra Club Massachusetts State Director, Deb Pasternak. "This bill represents a joint vision of environmental and housing leaders to invest in building healthy, affordable, and safe communities, and also creates new jobs to get that work done."
"The Housing and Climate crisis has for too long been trivialized and ignored. As a result, we find ourselves at both scientific and political tipping points, said Cabell Eames, Legislative and Political Manager for Better Future Project. This legislation aims to address a viable funding mechanism that would further drive investments that are equitable and just. These types of long-term solutions are necessary for reaching our climate goals, and if we are being sincere in those efforts, then this legislation is a clear resolution to an overwhelming issue."
Bringing housing and climate together under one bill allows the legislature to respond to two urgent crises disproportionately affecting working families, people of color, and seniors. The bill has been referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue and is awaiting a hearing. The Housing and Environment Revenue Opportunities (HERO) Coalition supports this legislation.
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