Governor Maura Healey signs $5.2 billion Affordable Homes Act at Golda Meir House

Governor Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act into law at Golda Meir House in Newton, enacting roughly $5.2 billion in new housing investments and a package of policy changes meant to accelerate production and expand protections for renters and vulnerable households.

"Today, we are signing the largest investment in housing in our state's history, $5,200,000,000," Healey said, thanking municipal leaders, labor unions, advocates and legislative chairs who helped produce the bill.

The law bundles about 49 policy initiatives, officials said at the ceremony. It expands incentives for converting commercial space to housing, increases funding for public housing, allows accessory dwelling units under 900 square feet to be built by right in many places, and sets up new bodies — including an Office of Fair Housing and commissions focused on accessibility, extremely low-income households and senior housing — to guide implementation.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said the administration has already taken steps to implement the law, including three executive orders and the creation of advisory groups to develop statewide plans and recommendations for streamlining production. "This is the first step," Driscoll said, adding that the state will use existing land more effectively and push a range of tools to unlock housing supply.

Ed Augustus, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, described the coalition of nearly 50 organizations that supported the bill and highlighted elements intended to protect tenants and spur production, including eviction-record reforms, expanded low-income housing tax credits and guidance to ensure developments funded by the bill use responsible contractors.

Legislative leaders framed the law as both an investment in housing stock and a corrective to longstanding zoning and production barriers. Senator Lydia Edwards characterized the act as a "course correction" that seeks to address segregation and to expand housing opportunities for seniors, veterans and households at very low incomes. A House co-chair cited a $2.0 billion investment for public housing within the package and a new commercial conversion tax credit to encourage reuse of large buildings.

Residents and frontline workers at the ceremony told personal stories about the law's potential impacts. Mercedes, a Golda Meir House resident who moved into the building after experiencing homelessness, said, "From being homeless to home is wonderful." Shaquita Barty, a Boston public school teacher, described how housing instability affected her students and said affordable housing would have helped her raise her son in the same community.

Officials said the signing begins an implementation phase: guidance from the secretariat, appointments to newly created commissions and local partnerships to translate funding and policy changes into projects. At the event, Healey and Driscoll moved forward to sign the measure, and the administration said staff would follow up with technical guidance and working groups to carry out the law.

No votes or amendments were recorded during the ceremony itself; the event served to publicly enact the law and lay out next steps for implementation.