Affordability: Massachusetts Is Pricing Out Its Own People
Massachusetts families are struggling to survive in one of the most expensive states in the nation.The cost of living is nearly 50 percent higher than the national average, with a single person spending about $3,789 a month and a family of four averaging $8,343 a month just to cover basics. Housing alone is crushing: median home prices in Greater Boston hit $950,000, while 36 percent of households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Energy costs pile on with residents paying roughly $172 to $180 per month for electricity, among the highest rates in the nation, and heating bills pushing total utility costs over $4,000 per year.
As Your Congressman, I will fight for affordable energy and housing:
Control Housing Demand by Regulating Immigration
Massachusetts ranks 3rd nationally in H-1B visa approvals per capita and 4th in international student enrollment. An estimated 388,000 illegal immigrants are employed here. Every legal visa holder, every international student, every undocumented worker needs housing. The housing crisis is not just a supply problem, it is a demand problem. While we have 82,000 international students bidding up rents, 16,000 plus new H-1B workers competing for apartments each year, and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants entering the rental market, Massachusetts workers cannot compete. Landlords raise rents because demand is infinite and legal. I will end visa programs that replace American workers and reduce illegal immigration, which directly reduces housing demand and allows Massachusetts families to compete for affordable housing. You cannot solve the housing crisis without controlling who is competing for housing.
Stop Federal Mandates That Increase Housing Costs
I will introduce legislation to block any Department of Energy or HUD requirement that forces builders to incorporate expensive electrification, costly building codes, or regulatory compliance that raises the price of new homes and retrofits. Consumer choice, not federal mandates, should determine what goes in American homes.
Strengthen Federal Authority Over Interstate Energy Commerce
Governor Healey blocked two natural gas pipelines that could have brought cheaper energy to Massachusetts. That decision left our region dependent on expensive imported LNG and created pipeline constraints that drive up costs. Federal law should not allow one state's environmental policy to block interstate energy commerce. I will introduce legislation to ensure federal authority over pipelines supersedes state-level blocking tactics. If Pennsylvania wants to send natural gas to Massachusetts, and Massachusetts consumers want cheaper energy, federal law should protect that interstate trade. States should not have veto power over regional energy security and affordability.
Create Good-Paying Jobs Through Energy Infrastructure
I will work with the Departments of Energy and Interior to accelerate pipeline and energy infrastructure projects. These create thousands of high-paying construction and skilled labor jobs, union jobs that pay benefits and put money in working families' pockets, not consultant fees and corporate contracts.
Ensure Federal Lending Advantages Owner-Occupants Over Investors
I will work to reform SBA and federal mortgage lending programs so that working families buying their first home get better terms than institutional investors buying multiple properties. Federal programs should help Americans build wealth through homeownership, not help corporations build portfolios.
End Institutional Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes
I will introduce legislation to ban corporate real estate firms and investment funds from purchasing single-family residential properties. Working Americans deserve the chance to build wealth through homeownership, not watch Wall Street turn neighborhoods into rental portfolios. Homes should be for families, not investment vehicles.