{"id":3506,"date":"2026-06-24T21:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T21:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3506"},"modified":"2026-06-24T21:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T21:33:54","slug":"rent-controls-survival-on-beacon-hill-diminished-after-high-court-tosses-ballot-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3506","title":{"rendered":"Rent control\u2019s survival on Beacon Hill \u2018diminished\u2019 after high court tosses ballot question"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A court ruling this week striking down a ballot question to establish rent control in Massachusetts has \u201cdiminished\u201d the possibility of a deal emerging this year on Beacon Hill, lawmakers said Wednesday, and prompted real estate industry officials to declare any further talks unnecessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The decision from the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday to block the ballot question scrambled advocates who had hoped to strike an agreement with major real estate groups \u2014 and avoid a costly campaign \u2014 to realize some form of rent control in the Legislature, where Democratic leaders have long been wary of its impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the wake of the ruling, many of those involved or close to the discussions acknowledged a deal is unlikely to advance without the pressure of a ballot question hanging over Beacon Hill.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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State Senator Julian Cyr, the Senate chair of the Legislature\u2019s Housing Committee, said the members of the real estate industry who were haggling with the authors of the ballot initiative \u201care no longer going to negotiate now that it\u2019s tossed off the ballot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith rent control no longer on the ballot, the pressure for proponents and opponents to strike a deal is diminished,\u201d said Cyr, a Provincetown Democrat. That said, \u201cif the proponents and the opponents keep negotiating or come to us with a good idea, we\u2019re all ears.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The rent control ballot question would have barred most landlords from raising rents by more than the rate of inflation, or 5 percent per year, whichever was lower. And the measure would have applied statewide. It would have been the strictest statewide rent control program in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opponents of the measure argued it would slow the construction of new housing, and some local mayors feared it would further stress already tight municipal budgets. But supporters argued the initiative would have given residents needed relief from the state\u2019s suffocating housing costs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The two sides appeared on track for a bruising campaign battle this summer. Instead, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled the proposal violated the state Constitution because it would have exempted units in religious facilities. Under the state Constitution, certain matters, including religion, cannot be subject to an initiative petition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Frank Gaziano\u2019s 27-page decision squashed the momentum of a compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince the ballot question has been tossed by the SJC, there is nothing on which we would be compromising,\u201d said Tamara Small, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a powerful real estate lobby in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

The prospect of a deal alone was a major development in advocates\u2019 years-long quest for rent control. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The policy had faced repeated setbacks in the state Legislature, including staunch opposition from House Speaker Ron Mariano and other leaders in the Legislature. A rent control proposal two years ago fell apart after disagreements between advocates over the best strategy to move forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

But organizers\u2019 success in advancing a question this election cycle forced real estate groups to the table, including NAIOP, which signaled last week a willingness to negotiate \u201cin good faith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And with public polling suggesting strong support, some lawmakers took the matter seriously. Still, others on Beacon Hill cast doubt Wednesday on whether the talks would ever have produced acceptable language.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[The discussions] did not include all of those who opposed the question, and I think any sort of compromise that the Legislature would consider would have to be something that all of the parties participated in,\u201d said state Representative Alice Peisch, a Wellesley Democrat who helped lead a legislative committee that reviewed ballot questions this election cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Senator Cindy Friedman, an Arlington Democrat and Peisch\u2019s counterpart on the committee, said finding a solution to the state\u2019s housing crunch \u2014 rent control or otherwise \u2014 is a difficult task.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a real issue. It\u2019s very complicated,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting to the right answer that would fix it, one size fits all, is really hard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Organizers behind the ballot question, however, held out hope Wednesday that negotiations will continue and are pledging to bring the measure back before voters in the next statewide election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolyn Chou, the executive director of Homes for All Massachusetts, the group behind the proposal, said advocates have been working on rent control for years, and argued that the ballot question \u201cshowed the energy, the need, the popularity\u201d around the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Andrew Brinker of the Globe staff contributed to this report.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A court ruling this week striking down a ballot question to establish rent control has \u201cdiminished\u201d the possibility of a deal emerging this year on Beacon Hill, lawmakers said Wednesday, and prompted real estate industry officials to declare any further talks unnecessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nRent control\u2019s survival on Beacon Hill \u2018diminished\u2019 after high court tosses ballot question - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3506\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rent control\u2019s survival on Beacon Hill \u2018diminished\u2019 after high court tosses ballot question - 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