Category: The Worcester Guardian

  • Haitian TPS uncertainty puts pressure on Mass health care sector

    Dr. Hans Patrick Domercant has been getting more phone calls than usual.

    As president of the U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce, he works to assist and advise local business owners and workers of Haitian background. 

    In early February, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protective Status for Haitian immigrants, which had been set to take effect Feb. 3. The ruling allowed Haitian TPS holders to keep their legal work authorization and protection from deportation while the case moves forward. 

    For now, the status remains in legal limbo as the administration pursues an appeal to the Supreme Court.

    “People are thankful that the recent court decision provided a pause,” Domercant said, “But no one feels fully secure. The conversations I’m having are very real and very personal — people asking, ‘Am I going to be able to keep working?’ ‘Is my family going to be OK?’”

    The Trump administration has pursued an aggressive effort to scale back TPS protections for several countries as part of a broader push to narrow humanitarian immigration programs. Since taking office, the administration has moved to terminate TPS designations for countries including Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Cameroon and Nepal, arguing that conditions in those nations have improved enough to no longer justify the protections. 

    TPS, allows migrants from countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States. Haiti was designated for TPS after the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced millions more.

    Massachusetts is among the states with the largest Haitian immigrant populations, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The community makes up a significant share of the workforce in Greater Boston and across the commonwealth, particularly in the health care sector, where many work in nursing homes, home health care agencies and long-term care facilities.

    “They are essential,” Domercant said. “These are people who have been here for years. They’ve built lives. They’ve built careers. They’re not temporary in the way the word sounds.”

    Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said the potential loss of TPS workers would add pressure to a state economy already struggling with labor shortages. Massachusetts has faced slow workforce growth and domestic outmigration for years, he said, making international immigration an increasingly important source of labor and economic stability.

    “Our labor force has grown since the pandemic, and some of the biggest increases in our labor force in two decades are entirely driven by international immigration,” Howgate said. “International immigration has been what has enabled Massachusetts to have a growing population and to have a growing economy.”

    Howgate said the dynamic is especially important in health care. Any change that reduces the number of available workers could worsen staffing shortages in hospitals, long-term care facilities and home health settings.

    If employers are competing for fewer workers, Howgate said, labor costs could rise, adding strain to providers already operating under pressure while trying to maintain patient care.

    “There’s going to be dollars chasing fewer people, which means it could potentially drive up some personnel costs as well.”

    More broadly, Howgate said uncertainty around immigration status can slow economic growth by making it harder for businesses to plan and expand.

    For many Haitian immigrants in Massachusetts, TPS has functioned as more than a temporary administrative status. It has been the legal framework that has allowed them to buy homes and start businesses. The possibility of losing that framework — even if not immediate — creates what Domercant describes as “emotional and economic whiplash.”

    He worries that prolonged uncertainty could stall economic mobility and community investment.

    While the federal court decision has temporarily preserved protections, immigration advocates say the uncertainty itself is already having consequences.

    Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said Haitian TPS holders remain legally authorized to live and work in the United States while the case proceeds. But she said confusion, and in some cases misinformation, have already created instability in workplaces across the state.

    “At the moment, individuals with Haitian TPS have a continuing legal status and a continuing work authorization,” Sweet said. 

    Sweet said her organization has received reports of workers being let go prematurely because employers believed TPS protections were ending immediately.

    “That’s not a valid reason to lay someone off,” she said. 

    Three Haitian TPS holders were laid off by Tribute Home Care, based on their status expiring later that week. Even through the federal ruling extended work authorization, GBH reported. 

    Several Haitian-born residents contacted for this story declined interview requests, saying they feared being identified while their status remains uncertain. 

    Their reluctance to speak publicly reflects the anxiety and instability that advocates and community leaders say have intensified in recent weeks. Even with the court’s temporary block in place, some workers remain wary that public exposure could carry professional or personal consequences.

    For health care providers already navigating chronic staffing shortages, even small disruptions can ripple quickly through patient care systems.

    Since the COVID-19 pandemic, recruitment pipelines have thinned while burnout has increased. Losing experienced staff would likely compound those pressures.

    Sweet argued that the underlying conditions that justified the status remain.

    “The conditions in Haiti are truly the type of conditions that temporary protected status was meant to address,” she said. 

    While state officials in Massachusetts have issued guidance to employers about navigating immigration-related uncertainty, immigration status itself is determined at the federal level.

    In the meantime, prolonged instability carries broader economic implications. Small business lending decisions, expansion plans and hiring strategies often depend on predictability. If thousands of workers face potential loss of work authorization, employers may hesitate to invest.

    Domercant said that hesitancy is already creeping into conversations.

    “When people feel secure, they build,” Domercant said. “They buy homes. They start businesses. They pursue education. That benefits everyone — not just the Haitian community, but the entire state.”

    This uncertainty places workers in a difficult position even before any formal change takes effect. Some may hesitate to pursue jobs, apply for promotions or make major financial commitments while their status remains under review. 

    Others may find themselves having to repeatedly explain their legal status to employers unfamiliar with TPS protections and court rulings. That confusion can deepen anxiety for workers who are still legally authorized to remain employed.

    “It’s not just about jobs,” Domercant said. “It’s about the ability to plan a life.”

    If TPS were ultimately terminated and work authorization revoked, the impact would be felt beyond the Haitian community.

    Health care facilities would scramble to fill gaps, small businesses owned by TPS holders might close or scale back operations, affecting landlords, suppliers and local tax bases.

    The potential effects on the health care sector also reflect broader risks for other industries in Massachusetts that rely on TPS workers. While the consequences may be especially visible in health care, the disruption would not stop there. 

    Employers across multiple sectors depend on TPS holders to fill essential roles, and any loss of work authorization could shrink the labor pool at a time when many businesses are already facing hiring challenges, according to Bloomberg Law.

    For now, the court’s temporary block has bought time. 

  • Can Massachusetts implement universal health care?

    An economic analysis released in February by the Massachusetts Campaign for single payer healthcare, or Mass-Care, offers some details.

    Rising health care costs and the federal government’s failure to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies has reinvigorated efforts to implement universal health care in Massachusetts.

    “The changes to the ACA on the federal level, and the increase in premiums and the end of subsidies is also creating more panic on the state level,” Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, said in an interview. She is a co-sponsor of a measure sitting in the Legislature’s Committee on Health Care Financing to establish a Medicare for All system in Massachusetts.

    “Health care costs and the provision of health care services are really at a breaking point,” Sabadosa said. “We’re hearing from doctors who can no longer afford to stay in business. We’re seeing hospitals across the state closing. We’re seeing patients waiting longer and longer and longer to see a doctor or a nurse or get treatment, and then simultaneously we’re seeing health care costs continue to go up.” 

    An economic analysis released in February by the Massachusetts Campaign for single payer healthcare, or Mass-Care, offers some details.

    “The United States as a country consistently underperforms comparable countries in both health outcomes and the cost of care,” said Auden Cote-L’Heureux, a UMass Amherst graduate now a masters student in economics at the University of Bonn in Germany. “If you look at comparable countries, we pay way more per capita for health care, and we have worse health outcomes, including lower life expectancy.” 

    At the same time, health care costs are a major concern for employers, especially small business owners.

    “We’ve consistently heard from our members, particularly our small-employer members, that health care and health insurance costs are always near the top of the list in terms of cost concerns,” said Bill Rennie, senior vice president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.

    Rennie said that members of the association, which represents the interests of small businesses in Massachusetts, have experienced a years-long struggle “where they face a double-digit increase in their health insurance premiums. So we’re constantly searching for solutions and looking at ways to lower their costs.”

    A single-payer system is one way to do that, said Cote-L’Heureux.

    “In 2026 the state is likely to spend about $126 billion on health care. If single-payer were implemented in 2026, we could eliminate $55 billion of unnecessary spending.” 

    According to Mass-Care’s analysis, implementing statewide Medicare for All would eliminate $54.5 billion in state spending on administrative costs and physician, hospital, and drug prices. A total of $24.7 billion of that savings would go to “expanding coverage and correcting underpayment of Medicaid services,” while the rest would be filtered back into the economy.

    Most Bay Staters would financially benefit too; under the measure, every Massachusetts resident earning under $500,000 per year would save money. According to Mass-Care, over 98% of Massachusetts households would spend less on health care than they do now.

    “As a proportion of their income, low-income people pay much more in premiums, deductibles and co-pays than high-income people, and the impact of this is identical to the impact of a regressive tax,” said Cote-L’Heureux. “And by switching to single-payer, we would effectively adjust that regressive tax, which currently goes by the name of premiums, deductibles and co-pays, to become a fair tax.”  

    “Single-payer would, by default, increase equality of access to health care in Massachusetts,” he said. 

    This is not the first time that a state has attempted to implement a universal health care plan. In 2011, the Vermont Legislature implemented Green Mountain Care, the first state-level single-payer health care system in the United States. Despite initial optimism, the plan was abandoned in 2014 due to the state’s inability to find funding for it.

    “Vermont got the closest look at it, but never did implement it,” said Rennie. “It’s not an idea that’s going away, but I just don’t think any state could do it on their own.”

    Proponents of the Massachusetts bill say that the state won’t run into the same problems that Vermont did. According to Cote-L’Heureux, “one of the big strengths of the current bill in Massachusetts is that there’s a clear revenue plan.”

    The bill would create the Massachusetts Health Care Trust to administer single-payer health insurance, and collect and manage the system’s finances. Universal health care in Massachusetts would require $46 billion in funding; to attain it, the bill would implement five payroll taxes, each with a $20,000 exemption.

    The bill would establish a 7.5% tax on small employers, an 8% tax on large employers (businesses with more than 100 employees), a 2.5% income tax on employees, a 10% income tax on self-employed people, and a 10% tax on non-payroll income. 

    Rennie suggested a tax increase portends doom for the state economy.

    “The system in the bill would be funded by a system of new payroll taxes on employees and the self-employed. So kind of dedicated payroll taxes to replace what we’re spending on insurance premiums and out-of-pocket spending,” said Rennie. 

    “We think that would have a very devastating, kind of killing, effect on the economy, and it would be something that would incentivize businesses and employees to bleed the state.”

    He also cited the role of health care providers in the cost equation.

    “Cost is still the primary concern that we really need to try and get a hold of,” said Rennie. “And from our point of view, a lot of it’s on market control of certain providers.” 

    It was a sentiment shared by Lora Pellegrini, CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which represents insurers, in a statement to the State House News Service following a public hearing on the bill last year.

    “Mandating a one-size-fits-all, government-run health care system would eliminate meaningful health care choices for patients and require dramatic tax increases on residents and employers across the Commonwealth,” Pellegrini said. 

    “It would also jeopardize the significant progress Massachusetts has made in achieving near-universal coverage and divert attention from the urgent work needed to control the actual drivers of rising health care costs, namely, unchecked provider prices and the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.”

    To others, a tax increase would simply save people money.

    “For a lot of people that’s a scary idea, that they’re going to see their taxes go up in order to pay for health care for everybody,” said Cote-L’Heureux. “If we compare the taxes that individuals will pay under single-payer to the amount that individuals are paying right now for health care through premiums, deductibles and co-pays, there is no comparison. Individuals will be paying much less through taxation than they currently do.”

    Sabadosa pointed out efforts by Group Insurance Commission, which manages health care coverage for state employees to rein in costs.

    “We’re seeing members of the GIC working really hard to try to keep the cost-sharing down for those plans, to keep full coverage that they’ve had, as plans are trying to shed different treatments in order to save money.”

    Cote-L’Heureux was blunter.

    “We’ve seen health care prices increase much faster than the rate of inflation over the last 20, 25 years. If health care costs were only increasing because it costs more for hospitals and physicians to treat patients, the increase in health care costs should be much closer to the level of inflation,” he said. “We’ve seen huge increases in profits by insurance companies and, especially in Massachusetts, monopoly profits among insurance companies and hospitals.”

    Sabadosa said that ultimately, “Change scares people, but at the same time, change is very necessary.”

  • Dispute over kennel space complicates rollout of Ollie’s Law

    The question of how much space a dog needs in a commercial kennel or dog day care center is proving not to be a walk in the park. A facility owner who has closely followed a committee drafting regulations for a new state law aimed at improving pet safety said members “stepped on a land mine.”

    “You stepped on a land mine with this,” said Arianna Sutzco, general manager of Dogtopia in Worcester, referring to debate over space requirements. She said the regulations have been a work in progress for three or four years, with strong feelings on both sides.

    At issue is Ollie’s Law, signed by Gov. Maura Healey in September 2024 and named for Ollie, a 7-month-old Labradoodle injured in a fight while staying at a dog day care center in 2020. The law clarified existing kennel license requirements and created a committee to decide standards for dog day care facilities and training kennels.

    “This is a great thing,” committee member Jeni Mather said. “Massachusetts is one of the only states to have a group of stakeholders in the industry working together.”

    But that may have been the only point of consensus, as the meeting became contentious, with members spending much of their time debating how much space a dog needs in each kennel. 

    Kevin Sullivan, an animal control officer on the committee, said he operates under what he considers a gold standard of 100 square feet for larger dogs.

    Committee member Francine Coughlin disagreed.

    “It’s hard to let the town choose the sizes as a business owner,” she said. “It’s different for every dog.”

    The disagreement reflects a broader debate over how much authority the state should exercise.

    “There are some who feel like it’s overreach and regulating things that don’t need to be regulated,” Sutzco added. She said she is concerned smaller establishments may be unable to keep up with the regulations imposed by Ollie’s Law, making it difficult to stay in business.

    Nevertheless, Sutzco said she believes the regulations will be beneficial in the long run. Having sat in on previous meetings, she said “everyone on the committee seems to understand that the point and the goal is to set the minimum standard for safety, not the gold standard.”

    She said her greatest worry involves training requirements. Currently, there are no strict standards for training kennel employees. She said there should be “some bare minimums on what kind of knowledge a human should have in order to be left alone with dogs.”

    That issue has so far been left untouched.

    “They’re avoiding it like the plague,” she said. While some members have raised it, she said the reluctance stems from a desire to allow each kennel and day care center to operate independently.

    “All of that said, I 100% support it,” Sutzco said. “It’s going to help keep our dogs safe and our staff safe.”

    The committee is working against a June deadline to complete its work.

  • Bill aims to secure community health workers amid job insecurity

    In Worcester, community health workers provide critical care and trust — while facing an uncertain future.

    A woman who regularly visits the Family Health Center of Worcester continues to suffer from hypertension. Her blood pressure fluctuates dangerously, and she struggles to take medicine as prescribed.

    In a conversation over the phone, her community health worker determined that her depression and anxiety have made it hard to manage her medications on her own. She lives alone. Only her son and a friend occasionally check in on her. Sometimes she doubts whether she takes too much medicine to feel better. The patient receives one-on-one assessments so that she will feel more secure about taking medication properly.

    Community health workers help address a variety of health issues, from connecting expectant mothers to providers to finding therapists or group counseling for patients with substance use disorders. They also help address social conditions that have an impact on health, such as housing and food access.

    Currently, CHW services are not reimbursed by MassHealth or commercial health insurance. Hospitals, community health centers and community-based organizations rely on unstable grant funding to hire CHWs.

    By the end of a grant cycle, “they are terrified that they will be unemployed in a month,” said Lissette Blondet, the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers. Massachusetts has approximately 3,000 CHWs, according to the association.

    Legislation aims to stabilize the workforce

    A bill proposed by Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge, and Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester, would require public and private health insurers to cover the costs of services provided by CHWs. Supporters believe the proposal would strengthen the workforce that serves the most vulnerable patients and reduce health care costs by preventing avoidable hospital visits.

    The bill remains under consideration after a hearing in September.

    Massachusetts formally launched a CHW certification process in 2018. Currently, CHWs may apply for certification by either completing the required 4,000 hours of work experience or completing 2,000 hours plus a training program in core competencies and specialty health topics.

    Trust built through community connections

    CHWs’ understanding of the disparities and insecurities in their communities — from language barriers to prejudice against immigrants in the health care system — has prepared them to build connections with underserved patients. Due to recent immigration raids, patients sometimes feel afraid to answer phone calls from health centers but will respond to a CHW they know and trust, Blondet said.

    This trust, however, has to be built on consistent, long-term service.

    “It is so absurd to lose a workforce that has prepared for a long time, who has the skills, education, the trust, the presence in the community,” she added.

    Lessons from the pandemic and looming coverage losses

    Kennedy, who sponsored the bill, said the issue came to her attention during the pandemic, when CHWs shared accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines and made sure people got vaccinated.

    Securing funding for CHWs, Kennedy said, is an investment in the health care system that will result in better outcomes for residents. In light of federal cuts to Medicaid, it is also a strategic move to save the state money in the long term.

    “Instead of getting access to primary care to treat a cold, they were then waiting till that cold turned into pneumonia and going to the emergency room,” she said. “That was not just again devastating for their health care, but it was also incredibly costly to the overall system.”

    Up to 300,000 Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts could lose coverage over time due to federal policy changes, the state estimates. They might struggle to seek affordable primary care. This will place a greater burden on CHWs at community-based organizations to provide basic services, such as vaccinations and health screenings, said Taylor Rich, a project manager at Partners In Health overseeing CHW workforce development programs.

    “There are a lot of times that we focus on crisis intervention,” Rich said, “and CHWs address those upstream health effects. So sometimes their work goes unacknowledged because people can’t see the longevity of it over time.”

    Language and culture as essential tools

    CHWs’ cultural and linguistic expertise is an important asset as they serve patients using a community-based approach, said Olga Valdman, the executive director and a physician at Worcester RISE for Health, a nonprofit that provides health care services to refugees and immigrants.

    RISE currently has seven CHWs providing services such as behavioral health care, prenatal care and education about the U.S. health care system. The organization tries to match each patient it serves with a CHW who speaks their language if they have limited English proficiency, Valdman said.

    Valdman has seen how language, knowledge and transportation barriers affect patients’ health outcomes. Even taking time off work can be a challenge, especially for those who work multiple jobs.

    “People cannot risk jeopardizing their jobs,” she said. “So they always prioritize that over their health.”

    Meeting patients where they are

    “We have to first acknowledge that, and understand, and be empathetic,” Valdman said. CHWs play an important role in identifying why a patient is unable to keep appointments, looking for flexible solutions such as making appointments after hours and making follow-up phone calls to check in.

    A CHW who speaks the same language or comes from the same culture as their patients can build a trusting relationship in a way that health care providers are unable to.

    “That trust is critical in health care,” Valdman said. “As a physician, I see all the time that the mistrust, the not knowing what to say, what not to say, not being sure, being shy, being worried about being judged. All of these things hold our patients back and prevent them from being able to share critical information that will influence our ability to care for them.”

    An uncertain future for a vital role

    While CHWs face different responsibilities and situations, one goal is consistent: meeting people where they are. CHWs try to recognize the unexpressed needs of patients by reading their body language or tone of voice, making sure these needs are seen, said Harvard Thompson, senior director of CHW training at the Center for Health Impact.

    Thompson highlighted how CHWs work with patients who have behavioral health issues. Because of the stigma around therapy, some patients are hesitant to meet with a therapist. Speaking with a CHW first avoids the label associated with therapy and makes patients more comfortable about being referred to a therapist.

    When funding runs out, CHWs are often the first people to be laid off, Thompson said. Reimbursing CHWs would allow employers to incorporate their work into internal budgets instead of hiring them only when grants are available, he said.

    “It just takes redesigning the system,” he said. “And it can ultimately be effective.”

  • State bill seeks earlier detection of kids’ vision problems

    The bill, proposed by Sen. Michael Moore of Millbury would expand the current requirement for a recent eye exam for children entering kindergarten to those entering preschool.

    When a child is unable to follow the teacher’s instructions or actively participate in class, it may be a behavioral health problem or simply because the child can’t see the chalkboard. They struggle in the classroom unless teachers and parents are aware of their vision issues.

    A legislative proposal aims to ensure no child falls behind due to lack of access to basic vision care by expanding children’s vision screenings as well as follow-up care.

    The bill, proposed by Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, and Rep. Christine Barber, D-Somerville, expands the current requirement for a recent eye exam for children entering kindergarten to those entering preschool. It also establishes a vision and eye health advisory council and a computerized registry to record screening results.

    Certain vision disorders have a significant effect upon children’s ability to read, like hyperopia, also known as farsightedness, that makes it difficult to see up close. Another disorder, astigmatism, causes distorted vision and affects reading clarity, said Bruce Moore, a leader of Children’s Vision Massachusetts and professor emeritus at New England College of Optometry. Lack of reading skills will cause significant deficits in education.

    “Therefore, a child is more likely to end up in special education that costs cities and towns two to three times as much money as typical education,” Moore said.

    Early screenings can help detect vision problems before they worsen. Eye diseases like amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” are far easier to treat at age three than upon entering school, Moore said. Amblyopia affects approximately 2–4% of children in North America, which means it is common to find one kid with the condition in each classroom.

    Only 60% of children on public insurance in Massachusetts had their vision screened and 70% of children on private insurance, according to the 2021 Report of the Childhood Vision and Eye Health Commission by Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

    Finding a ​​pediatric optometrist for follow-up care could be difficult in communities facing a lack of access to vision care. Around a decade ago, Dr. Moore had his students call eye doctor offices in Springfield to ask if they could make an appointment for a child on Medicaid.

    “We found only a handful of eye doctors that would even think about seeing that child,” he said. Medicaid’s low reimbursement rates contribute to longer waiting lists.

    Parents in eye care deserts have to take time off to get their children to eye care providers, which places a heavy burden on families that do not have a car or cannot afford unpaid leaves, said Amie Shei, president of the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. She has heard stories of parents waiting for months, even a year. Students continued experiencing challenges seeing in the classroom while waiting.

    Southbridge is one of Central Massachusetts cities experiencing a lack of access to vision care. In 2024, the Vision for Southbridge program provided free eye exams and glasses at no costs to students in need by a mobile vision clinic at Southbridge public schools. But it was a one-time program, Shei said, which highlighted the need for more sustained resources for children who fail vision screenings.

    Not every child has access to follow-up care, even when it is as basic as wearing proper glasses. MassHealth provides one pair of glasses each year for children. If they lose or break their glasses, low-income families cannot always afford a new pair for them, Shei said.

    “This is an area where the sooner you know about a potential issue, the more that can be done early on, that can prevent worse outcomes in the future.”

  • Owners push back against proposed rent control ballot question

    Advocates for small property owners describe the rent control proposal likely headed for next fall’s ballot as the most “restrictive and aggressive” the state has seen to date and say it would be detrimental to small landlords in the industry.

    Small property owners — who provide over 65% of rental housing in Massachusetts, according to the Small Property Owners Association — operate on tight margins, so they are typically only a few missed bank checks away from bankruptcy or losing their business, said Amir Shahsavari, vice president of SPOA. 

    He said if these “mom and pop” businesses no longer exist, tenants will be in a “tough predicament” if properties are taken over by larger corporations because they will no longer have a person to connect with immediately if there are issues in their building, a benefit usually provided by smaller landlords.

    In addition, operating costs, like utilities, insurance and particularly property taxes — which Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recently said are expected to increase by 13% in January— have risen in recent years, which factors into rent pricing. However, if caps are put in place, advocates are concerned property owners will not be able to adapt to these rising costs accordingly. 

    “On one hand, we appreciate the pressures that renters have when they say that rent is increasing,” Shahsavari said. “But what people miss in this story is that operating costs are also going up exorbitantly for the property owner too.” 

    “If [small property owners] can’t increase rent rates, what’s going to happen is they have to exit the market,” said Tony Lopes, a SPOA board member. “We can’t afford to supply this housing at a loss every month.” 

    The initiative seeks to limit annual rent increases for most residential units by either the Consumer Price Index increase or 5% — whichever value is lower — during a 12-month period. It would set base rents as of Jan. 31, 2026, but state residents would not vote on the measure, which would apply to every municipality, until next November. 

    To reach the ballot, it must still go through a process that includes certification of more than 124,000 signatures, legislative review and likely another round of signature gathering if lawmakers do not approve the proposal.

    To account for small property owners, the measure includes a provision to exempt owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units from the measure. Noemi Ramos, executive director of the New England Community Project, said because of this, the notion that the measure will impact small landlords is “out the window.” 

    But Shahsavari said this provision is “misleading” because property owners with four units or less are a minority among the small property owner community. Because of the tight limit, those who exceed this amount — which he said is the “vast majority” of small property owners — would be categorized with companies that operate on a much larger and commercialized scale. 

    Instead, he said the definition of a small property owner depends on a business structure’s size, scope and reach rather than the amount of units an owner manages. 

    “What one small owner can handle might be different from the capacity that another owner would have,” he said. “But it does ultimately come down to the degree to which the owner can manage his or her business in a hands-on way without expanding too far out to the point where they really become a conglomerate.” 

    Ramos said Homes For All Massachusetts, the statewide coalition behind the ballot initiative, decided to use four units as the cut off in the provision after speaking with small property owners and deciding “what are our values when we think about how we define small landlords.” 

    “I remember asking one of the developers in the [city of Boston’s Rent Stabilization Advisory Committee], ‘how do you define a small landlord,’ and they said ‘50 units or less,’” Ramos said. “When you think about 50 units, that’s a business. That’s no longer a small landlord.” 

    Another provision in the initiative addresses development — another industry opposed to the bill — by exempting units where the “first residential certificate of occupancy” is under 10 years old or 10 years from when the certificate of occupancy is validated 

    Tamara Small, CEO of the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association of Massachusetts, said the “threat of the [rent control] question” is already having a chilling effect on investment and development. If put in place, she said the measure would also lead to decreased quality of housing and repairs, which would result in either sub-par conditions or units being taken off the market.

    Antonio Ennis, a community organizer for the Dorchester neighborhood at City Life / Vida Urbana, disagreed with quality concerns and said landlords should always factor in money for property repairs and keeping buildings up to code. Ennis, a small property owner who occupies one unit and rents out two other units in a triple decker in Dorchester, would not be affected by the ballot measure. 

    Developers and property owner advocates said the primary solution to solving the state’s housing crisis is increased development, which they said a rent control measure would hinder.

    “If rent control is in place in the market, investors do not go to that market. They go elsewhere,” Small said. “Without those investment dollars, projects are not built.”

    “No financial decisions and investments are made on a 10-year time horizon,” said Conor Yunits, committee chair for an opposition group for the measure called Housing for Massachusetts. 

    Mark Martinez, staff housing attorney for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, pointed out that despite not having rent control for over 30 years, Massachusetts is still behind in terms of housing production. 

    “This isn’t a development policy. This is a stabilization policy,” he said. “Judging a stabilization policy based off of whether or not it’s going to spur development doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” 

    He said the measure is a “common sense” policy but not the only measure that needs to be taken to solve the housing crisis. 

    “It’s going to take a decade, if not longer, to build all the housing that we need,” Martinez said. “But in the meantime, families need to be able to stay around.” 

    Small pointed towards cities such as Austin and Phoenix as models for Boston to solve its housing crisis. In both cities, an increased housing supply resulted in lower rent growth and prices. 

    Rents in Massachusetts

    Massachusetts historically has had some of the nation’s highest rent prices and recent reports have ranked it as the state with the second highest cost of living. In May, the Consumer Affairs Journal of Consumer Research ranked Massachusetts as the fifth worst state for renters due to a lack of affordability and availability. 

    “This is a statewide issue, and we’re continuing to see the crisis intensify across the state,” said Carolyn Chou, executive director of Homes For All Massachusetts. “We can’t wait while corporate landlords come into our cities and towns and hike up the rent and displace our communities.”

    Over 40% of state residents who rent are “cost-burdened” as of 2022, meaning they pay above 30% of their income on housing, according to data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. In some areas, such as Springfield, Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Barnstable, this number reaches over 50% of renters.

    Residents paying over 50% of their income on housing are classified as “severely cost burdened,” according to the Healey administration’s A Home for Everyone initiative. The percentage of renters in Massachusetts who fall into this category ranges from about 20-30%, depending on the area. 

    When families have to spend an excess amount of their income on housing, they have less money for needs such as food, transportation and childcare. They are also unable to “save money for opportunities that could provide a pathway to higher income as well as wealth-building,” which includes education, job training or homeownership, according to the initiative. 

    “Rent often is the first place people put their money towards,” said Chelsea Sedani, director of advocacy at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. “If you don’t have that, it makes a lot of other things very challenging.”

    Decreased rents could have an effect on the larger economy as well because they could potentially increase purchasing power. 

    “If we alleviate the pressure that people are feeling around housing costs, we’re going to make it easier for them to spend in other areas of their lives,” Sedani said.

    The last time Massachusetts had a rent control measure in place was in 1994 — a measure that voters themselves overturned. Many opponents cite this as another reason the measure should not be implemented. 

    However, Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, pointed out that Boston, Brookline and Cambridge voted in favor of keeping rent control before it was outlawed statewide in 1994. She said Massachusetts needs to not just create more housing but to preserve “naturally occurring affordable housing.” 

    “People are not going to stay in Massachusetts if we just count on building new housing,” she said. “It’s not fast enough and not cheap enough.”

    High rent prices make it difficult for residents to plan and save money long term, so rent increase caps would provide predictability that would keep people in their homes for longer, Martinez said. 

    Martinez grew up in rural western Massachusetts, which he said used to be the “affordable part of the state. Now, “there’s not an affordable part of Massachusetts anymore,” he said.

    Although both supporters and opponents presented different ways on how to approach the housing affordability crisis, they agreed on one solution: increasing the supply of housing. 

    “Supply, supply, supply,” Yunits said. “That’s really all there is. We’ve got to build.” 

  • Proposed law could require minimum gratuity during busy seasons

    Jared Forman, owner of Deadhorse Hill Restaurant in Worcester, said the bill is adding more complications by only allowing restaurants to charge a service fee during peak seasons

    As the holiday season approaches, restaurants expect to see large crowds celebrating with friends and family. But servers facing heavier workloads during the busiest days of a year may actually get fewer tips, according to a Massachusetts lawmaker proposing legislation to address the issue.

    A bill offered by Rep. Manny Cruz, D-Salem would allow restaurants to charge parties with more than four a minimum service charge of no less than 19% during peak restaurant seasons that a municipality would define.

    Servers often worry if diners will leave tips during October, the peak season in Salem where about 1.5 million tourists visit the town for Halloween activities, packing restaurants, according to Cruz.

    “[The servers] are working incredibly hard, and the folks wouldn’t leave tips. And I’ve heard these stories countless times,” he said.

    The bill makes the minimum gratuity optional for restaurants, Cruz emphasized. Municipalities determine their peak seasons, and restaurants decide whether it is the right fit for them.

    But having different rules in each municipality causes confusion, said Jen Ziskin, director of Mass Restaurants United.

    “We are in the business of creating great experiences for our guests and for our communities,” she said, worrying that the proposed gratuity will affect diners’ experience as peak seasons start and end at different times in each town.

    Ziskin, who owns two restaurants in Brookline, thinks diners become skeptical of the services they receive if a mandatory gratuity replaces tipping.

    “It’ll create this kind of assumption from the guests that if anything goes wrong,” said Ziskin, “it’s because the gratuity was included, and it might have nothing to do with that. It might be a kitchen issue, it might be a staffing issue.”

    Ziskin also believes that diners tend to tip less when a mandatory gratuity appears on their bill. Last year, Ballot Question 5, which called for an increase in the minimum wage for tipped workers, was voted down. Many tipped workers thought it would result in customers tipping less. Their opposition indicates that dining and hospitality should continue to be a tipped industry, she said.

    Lawmakers need to clarify if this bill will conflict with the “junk fees” guidelines from the Attorney General’s Office that took effect in September, which require restaurants to disclose additional gratuities for large parties on the menu, Ziskin said.

    Some restaurants have adopted an automatic service charge model.

    Jared Forman, owner of Deadhorse Hill Restaurant in Worcester, started charging a service charge of 20% on every bill when the restaurant reopened after the pandemic.

    Forman said the bill is adding more complications by only allowing restaurants to charge a service fee during peak seasons, hoping the rules are consistent and simple.

    “It’s very difficult to deal with your guests when these things are constantly changing,” he said.

    At his restaurant, instead of a tip pool shared by servers, kitchen employees such as line cooks and dishwashers also share the 20% surcharge. Forman thinks it levels the playing field between the front of house and back of house workers, as the latter are often people who are immigrants, who can’t speak perfect English and have fewer advantages.

    “I like the idea that everybody in the restaurant is of equal value and you can pay them according to that value, ” he added.

    December is typically the busiest time at his restaurant and most restaurants in Worcester, Forman said. Charging customers higher prices during the peak season will discount their experience and diminish the enjoyment of a holiday dinner.

    “I want the restaurant to be about hospitality, not about finding a good deal.”