Stand with our ballot question campaign to lift the ban on rent control in Massachusetts.
Last month, a group of community leaders in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston came together to file an initiative petition with the Attorney General's Office to lift the statewide ban on rent control. If approved by Massachusetts voters in the November 2024 election, the initiative would repeal the current prohibition on rent control (M.G.L. Ch. 40P) and replace it with the Tenant Protection Act, granting power to municipal officials to implement local tenant protections, including rent control or rent stabilization, just cause eviction protections, condominium conversion protections, and/or regulations on associated fees, including brokers' fees.
The Tenant Protection Act does not attempt to force rent control on any community that doesn't want it, and it doesn't try to set the parameters of any particular ordinance. Rather, it is an enabling act, empowering municipal officials to bring everyone to the table to pass tenant protections that make sense on the local level. Small, owner-occupant landlords (3 units or less) would be exempt from any regulation under the Act, as would new housing construction for a period of 15 years (on a rolling basis). Municipalities would also be empowered to craft further exemptions as they deem fit. In short, the Tenant Protection Act will let municipalities decide for themselves if they want rent control, without having to obtain further approval from Beacon Hill.
The Committee to Explore Tenant Protection Ballot Question is reaching out to community leaders, activists, and elected officials to join in our effort as we prepare for some big news in the coming weeks. By signing up here, you will be joining the public list of individuals supporting this effort, and you will be invited to participate in future campaign events and discussions. Current supporters include:
Mike Connolly, State Representative, Cambridge
Jamie Eldridge, State Senator, Marlborough
Dannilo A. Sena, State Representative, Acton
Ben Ewen-Campen, City Council President, Somerville
Quinton Zondervan, City Councilor, Cambridge
Kit Collins, City Councilor At-Large, Medford
Caroline Bays, City Councilor, Watertown
Willie Burnley, Jr., City Councilor At-Large, Somerville
Jake Wilson, City Councilor At-Large, Somerville
Kristen Strezo, City Councilor At-Large, Somerville
Beatriz Gomez Mouakad, City Councilor, Somerville
Matt McLaughlin, City Councilor, Somerville
Jesse Clingan, City Councilor, Somerville
Judy Pineda Neufeld, City Councilor, Somerville
Lance Davis, City Councilor, Somerville
Dennis Carlone, City Councilor, Cambridge
Emily Ackman, Somerville School Committee
Sara Dion, Somerville School Committee
David Martin, Select Board, Acton
Alec Lebovitz, Town Meeting Member, Brookline
Mimi Turchinetz, Hyde Park Neighborhood Association
Duane Callender, Alliance of Cambridge Tenants
Michael Kane, Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants
Bill Cavellini, Union Square Neighborhood Council, Somerville
James Cordero, Co-Chair, Boston Teachers Union Housing Justice Committee
Ellen Valade, Democratic Town Committee Chair, Acton
Kimberley Connors, Democratic Town Committee Chair, Maynard
Evan MacKay, President; Harvard Graduate Students Union HGSU-UAW Local 5118
David Nollman, Forbes Building Tenant Association Steering Committee
Joe Curtatone, former Mayor of Somerville
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, former Cambridge City Councilor
Nadeem Mazen, former Cambridge City Councilor
Will Mbah, former Somerville City Councilor
Greg Jarboe, former Chair of Acton Select Board
Jeff Byrnes, Somerville YIMBY co-founder
Jeanine M Wood, Democratic Town Committee Chair, Littleton
Stella Ko, Indivisible Acton Area Steering Committee Member
Edward P. Witham, Jr., Arlington Democratic Town Committee
Mat Thall, Mass. Association of Housing Cooperatives
Siobhán O'Connor, Fenway Community Development Corporation
Dorothy Manevich, Harvard Graduate Student Union, UAW Mass CAP Council
Christopher Lorant, Framingham
Vernon Walker, Cambridge
Jarred Johnson, Somerville
Jarred Hicks, Boston
Monica Wang, Somerville
Carl Offner, Sudbury
Sukia Akiba, Cambridge
Devon Moos, Somerville
Dan Goguen, Arlington
Cabell Eames, Belmont
David Sloane, Medford
Marie Gonsalo, Melrose
Lekzi NesSmith, Northampton
Margaret Spade-Aguilar, Brewster
Reagan Condry, Hudson
Jacob Greer, Methuen
Yenni Desroches, Worcester
and many others!
*Organizations, titles, and affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not indicate any organizational endorsement.
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