HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4052        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1479

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Mike Connolly

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act facilitating a statewide housing policy simulator.

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PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

1/17/2025


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4052        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1479

By Representative Connolly of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1479) of Mike Connolly for legislation to establish a statewide housing policy simulator to model the impacts of existing and potential housing policies and conditions in the Commonwealth.  Housing.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act facilitating a statewide housing policy simulator.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 37. The executive office shall partner with relevant academic institutions, development agencies, community members, advocacy groups and other stakeholders and experts to create a simulator to model the impacts of existing and potential housing policies and conditions in the commonwealth. The simulator shall incorporate in its model factors including all municipal zoning ordinances and bylaws, state-level and federal-level housing policies, census data, digitized land use data, real-time datasets, land costs, construction costs, rent rates, vacancy rates, housing prices, pro formas for modeling development feasibility, costs of financing, capitalization rates, information on climate change impacts and other factors that the executive office and its partners deem relevant. To the extent possible, the model may include a public-facing, online portal that will allow users to make adjustments to any assumptions built into its algorithm, while also allowing users to adjust policy inputs and model future outcomes, both locally and across the commonwealth. In developing the housing policy simulator, the executive office may incorporate elements of functionality found in the En-ROADS climate simulator or the Terner Housing Policy Dashboard and draw upon recommendations from the Federation of American Scientists and others.