July 21, 2026

Greetings!

Thank you for joining us in asking your State Representative to cosponsor and actively support key homelessness prevention and housing amendments to the House Ways and Means version of the economic development bill, House Bill 5562, An Act relative to economic development in the commonwealth. Please click through the House amendment links below or in the third tab of our chart (shareable link: https://tinyurl.com/ecodev26) to see whether your State Representative sponsored or cosponsored any of these key amendments. If so, please email or call to thank them!

Now we hope you will join us in advocating on the Senate side. The Senate Committee on Ways and Means (SWM) released its version of the economic development bill, Amendment S.3178, last Thursday, July 16th. Senators had until yesterday at 2:30 p.m. to file amendments to strengthen the bill. Tomorrow, Senators will gather in a formal legislative session for opening remarks on the bill, with most of the debate on the amendments expected on Thursday.

** Please join us in asking your State Senator to cosponsor and/or actively support our top priority amendments, as listed below and on the second tab of our chart. **

Thank you for your advocacy. We appreciate your work and collaboration to address and end homelessness!

With hope,

Kelly and Julia

Kelly Turley

She/her/hers

Associate Director

kelly@mahomeless.org

Julia Garvey

She/her/hers

Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate

julia.garvey@mahomeless.org

P.S. Stay up to date with the Coalition’s advocacy initiatives by following us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. (Links are also included at the top of this message.)

Key Amendments to the Senate's Version of the

Economic Development Bill

Please join us in asking your State Senator to cosponsor and/or actively support our top priority amendments:

• Amendment #224, Identification for Youth and Adults Experiencing Homelessness, filed by Senator Kennedy: This amendment would expand access to standard Mass IDs for youth and adults experiencing homelessness by waiving the $25 fee for IDs and easing the verification requirements for youth and adults who are experiencing homelessness and seeking IDs.

• Amendment #302, Expanding and Improving RAFT, filed by Senator Crighton: This amendment would put the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) homelessness prevention program into state statute and ensure that benefits are available to families and individuals earlier in a housing or utility crisis ("upstream", before a household has received a notice to quit or utility shut-off notice). The amendment also seeks to streamline access, improve cross-agency collaboration, and allow households to receive up to twelve months of assistance, without arbitrary dollar caps. (The current cap is $7,000/family/year, regardless of household size or rent burden). In addition, the amendment would require the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) to publicly post reports on RAFT to increase transparency on how the program is operating and provide greater understanding of the families and individuals seeking RAFT assistance: how they are being referred, how many apply, how many are approved, how many are denied, what are their demographics, what are their rent and mortgage levels, what RAFT benefits they receive, and what is the housing status of participant households 6, 12, and 24 months after receiving financial assistance or services from RAFT.

• Amendment #433, Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children, filed by Senator Pat Jehlen: This amendment would add an outside section to the bill to change state statute on the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program (EAEDC, Chapter 117A of the Massachusetts General Laws and line item 4408-1000). It would require the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to provide annual cost of living adjustments to EAEDC participants. It also would increase grant levels to match the benefits provided under DTA’s Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. 

• Amendment #257, Ensuring Timely Access to RAFT, filed by Senator Bruce Tarr: This amendment would ensure that Residential Assistance for Families in Transition homelessness prevention program benefits are available to families and individuals earlier in a housing or utility crisis ("upstream", before a household has received a notice to quit or utility shut-off notice).

Please also ask for their support on additional key amendments, including:

• Amendment #434, Somerville Older Adult Rental Bridge Subsidy, filed by Senator Pat Jehlen to expand access to bridge subsidies to adults ages 55–59 in Somerville

• Amendment #12, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), filed by Senator Pat Jehlen to create a local option to guarantee tenants in multifamily buildings the right of first refusal when their home is being sold

• Amendment #265, Fair Housing Practices, filed by Senator Adam Gómez to address housing discrimination

• Amendment #278, Foreclosure Mediation, filed by Senator Adam Gómez to prevent foreclosures

• Amendment #351, Preventing algorithmic rent fixing in the rental housing market, filed by Senator Michael Moore to protect renters from rent setting by algorithms

• Amendment #262, Modernizing Student Transportation, filed by Senator Brendan Crighton to update school transportation laws to expand options for students experiencing homelessness, students in foster care, and students with disabilities

How to Take Action

Please email and/or call your State Senator as soon as possible to ask them to cosponsor and/or actively support the key amendments to the economic development bill listed above.

The full contact information for each Senator is included on the Legislature’s website.

Unsure who your Senator is? Find them by entering your address or the address where you are staying here: www.wheredoivotema.com or by calling the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000. After reaching out, let us know you took action and share any feedback by emailing Kelly.

Thank you again for your collaboration!