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With the Boston City Council expected to vote on Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control proposal at its meeting today, a leading progressive city councilor in Somerville announced he’s introduced his own rent control proposal.
Ben Ewen-Campen made the announcement on his Twitter account Tuesday.
First reported by WBUR, Ewen-Campen’s proposal is actually a resolution that would commit the Somerville City Council to drafting its own home rule petition to get the state legislature’s permission “to regulate against rent gouging,” not fully-formed legislation
But the resolution’s language mirrors Wu’s description of her own plan, which would cap rent increases at 6 percent per year plus inflation, with a maximum annual increase of 10 percent.
“Over the coming months, I’ll be working with colleagues, community members, advocates, and staff to draft language that works for Somerville, and we will aim to take action in the Fall,” Ewen-Campen tweeted, who described the current rental market as full of “mind-boggling injustices.”
Ewen-Campen also cited the results of a poll, commissioned by Northwind Strategies and released Tuesday, that showed a majority of likely Massachusetts voters support both the concept of local-option rent control and Wu’s specific proposal.
Change Research’s online poll found 65 percent would definitely or probably vote “yes” and 25 percent saying they would definitely or probably vote “no” on a hypothetical 2024 ballot question “that would give cities and towns the ability to institute rent control.”
No initiative petition has been filed to date dealing with the rent control ban, but petitioners have until early August to submit a proposal if they plan to bring the issue back to voters again in 2024. Rent control was first banned statewide by a landlord-led ballot campaign in 1994.
Sixty-eight percent also said they approve the measure Wu filed with the City Council, compared to 22 percent who oppose it.
The poll echoes findings of a MassINC Polling Group survey from August 2022 that reported 25 percent somewhat supported and 37 percent strongly supported the idea of bringing back local-option rent control, and represent a significant increase in support from a MassINC poll conducted in January 2022.
The idea of bringing back some form of rent control has ignited a charged debate on Beacon Hill and in City Hall. The Greater Boston Real Estate Board has launched a $400,000 campaign against the measure, arguing it would slow needed housing development by frightening away investors. The group has also suggested suburbs could pass highly restrictive rent control measures designed to keep out the same multifamily development they are required to authorize under the MBTA Communities zoning reform.
To take effect, Wu’s plan would need to win approval from the Boston City Council, state legislature and Gov. Maura Healey. Top House and Senate Democrats and Healey have shown little interest in reauthorizing rent control, which was banned by a 1994 ballot question.
Change Research conducted the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent, on behalf of political consultancy Northwind Strategies. Pollsters surveyed 711 likely voters between Feb. 20 and Feb. 23.
State House News Service staff writer Chris Lisinski contributed to this report.
