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Committee hears range of local housing and infrastructure bills, from suburban infrastructure funds to institutional master plans
Summary
Lawmakers and municipal leaders presented several narrower bills: a proposed Suburban Infrastructure Fund for Chapter 90 augmentations, Somerville’s request for authority to require institutional master plans, and local measures addressing manufactured‑home parks and protections for naturally occurring affordable housing.
The committee also received testimony on a set of additional housing‑adjacent and municipal bills during the hearing.
Suburban Infrastructure Fund: Rep. Gallagher described H.3,997 (the Suburban Infrastructure Fund) to supplement Chapter 90 funds for roads, bridges and sidewalks; proponents said the fund would reduce repeated local overrides and provide predictable capital for municipalities. Rep. Gallagher and others proposed the fund be supported by bond resources and targeted to communities facing inflationary construction costs.
Institutional Master Plans (Somerville): The Mayor of Somerville testified in support of H.3,923, seeking authority to require institutional master plans for large nonprofit institutions that control significant tax‑exempt land, saying the goal is predictable coordination on housing, tax impacts and neighborhood effects. Advocates pointed to Boston’s and Cambridge’s existing institutional master plan authorities as precedent.
Manufactured Home Parks and MBTA compliance: Rep. Hawkins explained concerns about manufactured housing communities near transit (Attleboro example) and urged that zoning changes avoid displacing naturally occurring affordable communities. Several municipal officials asked for flexibility so that manufactured‑housing residents are not displaced by MBTA‑driven zoning changes.
Why it matters: These bills reflect a mix of discrete municipal needs — infrastructure funding, coordination with large nonprofits, preservation of existing affordable stock — that municipal leaders told the committee require state authorization or new tools.
Committee status: The hearing recorded testimony on these measures; committee members asked for written submissions and further technical details. No votes were recorded in the transcript.
