Eric Shupin

Since Massachusetts’ passage of the MBTA Communities Act – a landmark law requiring 177 cities and towns to zone for their fair share of multifamily housing – a vocal minority of municipalities have resisted compliance. Those communities have argued that the law is not mandatory, that it violates local “home rule” powers and that it is an illegal “unfunded mandate.” But, in a series of lawsuits, state courts have turned away those claims with remarkable consistency.

The Supreme Judicial Court continued that trend this month when it dismissed the town of Marshfield’s challenge and upheld the law for a second time. Building on its decision in the Milton case last year, the SJC decisively ruled once again that the MBTA Communities Act is a valid exercise of state power since it is designed to address a problem of statewide concern: the affordable housing crisis.

The court’s reasoning can be used to justify additional statewide zoning reform efforts. And the message it sends to MBTA Communities is clear: It’s past time to accept that the law is valid and mandatory and to zone for more of the homes Massachusetts desperately needs. Restrictive zoning continues to hold our state back. Working with the MBTA Communities Act instead of against it, we can begin to address our state’s housing shortage and affordability challenges and create more homes people need.

Jake Love

It Doesn’t Break the Law

The recent SJC decision definitively establishes that the MBTA Communities Act does not violate the Home Rule Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution, dispelling a principal argument that cities and towns opposed to the law have been making since the state began its regulatory and compliance processes.

The Home Rule Amendment gives municipalities governing authority over purely local matters, but the Legislature retains power to address matters of “statewide concern.” And the court explained that the housing crisis is a quintessential statewide issue that falls “squarely within” the state legislature’s power to address under the Home Rule Amendment.

Furthermore, the SJC found that Marshfield failed to provide even basic support for its claim that the MBTA Communities Act is an unfunded mandate. To establish that a law is an unfunded mandate, a municipality must show that the law imposes a “direct” cost obligation on it that is involuntary and more than an incidental administration expense.

However, even though the court had to accept Marshfield’s allegations as true at this stage of the case, it held that Marshfield did not outline any costs that “plausibly” meet that definition.

Marshfield is far from alone in this failure. While the town’s attorneys cited a 2025 state auditor opinion finding that the MBTA Communities Act is an unfunded mandate, the SJC said the opinion was unhelpful to Marshfield because it also “did not identify any municipality-specific mandatory costs.” A lower court dismissed unfunded mandate claims from eight other municipalities for the same reason.

The Future of Zoning Reform

This decision is a major victory for pro-housing policy reform both now and going forward. It upholds the MBTA Communities Act, which is one of the most important housing policies Massachusetts has passed in decades. Ten thousand new homes are already in the pipeline, and it will only continue to produce more.

The decision also gives the Legislature the green light to pursue additional commonsense land use reforms that will help create more homes. Because addressing our housing shortage falls “squarely within” the legislature’s authority, it can pass further reforms – like duplexes by-right, currently in conference committee as part of an economic development bill – without reservation. Though no one tool will fix our housing challenges, these reforms will open up substantial opportunities across income levels.

The state’s highest court has now held not once but twice that the law is a legal exercise of state power. In early 2025, the SJC affirmed every MBTA community’s responsibility to zone for multifamily housing. On top of that, the state auditor’s office and at least nine municipalities have now failed to identify any costs that could support an unfunded mandate claim.

All of this sends a clear message that further legal challenges to the law will be fruitless, uphill battles during a time when our housing shortage stands over 180,000 homes strong.

Instead of pursuing more costly litigation, cities and towns should focus on embracing multifamily zoning and creating the homes that Massachusetts residents and communities need to thrive. CHAPA is ready, willing and able to partner with them in that goal.

Eric Shupin is CEO and Jake Love is general counsel for policy at the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA).