Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss called for more housing development in the state at an event hosted by the Charles River Regional Chamber in Newton on Monday.
“The single biggest economic challenge facing the Commonwealth has been and is the high cost of housing,” Auchincloss said.
For Auchincloss, a former Newton city councilor, the solution to this big problem is simple.
“The answer is to build more housing,” Auchincloss said.
Healey echoed Auchincloss’ call for development, citing a state study that said Massachusetts needed to build 222,000 new homes by 2035 in order to meet demand.
“We’re short, in our estimate, a couple hundred thousand homes,” Healey said. “It should not take decades for us to get there. We need to move, and we need to move on this now.”
According to Auchincloss, the state should take “muscular” action to subsidize both the supply and the demand of housing, in some cases by bypassing local zoning laws. For example, Auchincloss recommended that vacant state properties, including decommissioned prisons and military bases, be transformed into housing, which can occur without the approval of local governments.
“That could be directly zoned by the state to build not hundreds, but thousands, or even tens of thousands of units of housing without going through direct local zoning,” Auchincloss said.
He also suggested that Healey enable development by raising the threshold for safe harbor status, a state rule that exempts municipalities from state requirements to build affordable housing, allowing them instead to default to local zoning. Newton was designated a safe harbor city last year.
Auchincloss said changing affordable housing rules in this way would be extreme, but worth it.
“That would be a nuclear option, to be clear, but it would be the kind of stick that could galvanize more local action,” Auchincloss said.
Healey also said more action would be needed to slow rising housing costs. On the state level, Healey said, this may include using state property for housing and offering tax credits for developers.
On the local level, Healey thanked cities for opening the door to more development by adopting the MBTA Communities Law, which required some municipalities, including Newton, to permit more housing near public transportation.
“Bit by bit, we’re going to get there, and I appreciate the continued support on that,” Healey said. “The goal is reachable, but it does require a different way of doing things, and it does require an adjustment of attitude in a certain respect.”
Healey also warned that President Donald Trump’s economic actions, specifically tariffs, would harm the state’s efforts to make housing more affordable by raising the cost of construction materials.
“Tariffs are not a good thing for us,” Healey said. “When I talk about housing, where do you think our lumber comes from? Canada. Our gypsum and other materials for housing? Mexico.”
Auchincloss said Congress needed to do more to oppose Trump, especially Republican congressional leaders like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who remain loyal to the president.
“Here’s the problem: The judiciary is doing its job right now, but it’s a one-on-one fight between the presidency and the judiciary because Congress will not get off the sidelines,” Auchincloss said.
Auchincloss said he’s focused on discerning how Democrats can win back power from Republicans in the coming years. For Auchincloss, integral to that fight is a clearer message about the Democratic policy agenda, which he described as more housing, more clean energy, and less corporate corruption.
“My job as a younger Democrat in Congress is to help our party come up with the big and bold ideas that can help us not just win the midterms in ’26 but take that power from MAGA in ’28 and beyond,” Auchincloss said.
Leave a Reply