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“A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon it’s real money, right?” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, a former Salem mayor who called herself someone “who’s got the scars on their back from trying to build housing in my community.”
This law, she said, is a “historic milestone” in changing that fight.
“I hope, through this bill, we’ve made those battles a little bit easier,” she said at the bill signing ceremony in Newton.
Healey and other officials hailed the new law during the ceremony, which had the air of a winning campaign’s election night party. Dozens of supporters packed into a low-slung room in a senior living complex, many donning buttons touting the bill — dubbed the Affordable Homes Act — or waving signs celebrating “Homes for Teachers” or “Homes for Veterans.” The crowd included legislators, affordable housing advocates, developers, labor leaders, and local officials.
Healey called the law “the largest investment in housing in our state’s history.” Lizbeth Heyer, president of 2Life Communities, which manages the Newton complex, thanked the elected officials for their work to push the bill into law and “end our state’s affordable housing crisis.”
“Look,” Healey said, “this legislation is going to help everyone.”
The law, however, is no panacea amid a decades-in-the-making housing crisis. State officials have said Massachusetts needs at least 200,000 new housing units by 2030 to accommodate new growth and maintain a healthy vacancy rate.
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The $4 billion proposal Healey first offered last fall — much of which was included in the version she signed Tuesday — was expected to generate up to 45,000 new housing units and preserve another 27,000, said Ed Augustus, Healey’s housing secretary.
Given the bill includes other measures, including new or extended tax credits, it will spur “probably more” units than that, he said, but he said state officials are still evaluating how many.
Other daunting problems remain. Officials have said the cost of running the state’s emergency shelter system through this fiscal year will top more than $1 billion despite steps to tighten the program. That includes instituting a policy that many migrant and homeless families living in overflow shelter sites would be kicked out after five business days.
“We don’t forget about the people who are at the airport,” said state Senator Lydia Edwards, an East Boston Democrat and co-chair of the Legislature’s housing committee, of migrant families who have slept at Logan Airport. “We don’t forget about people working two and three jobs and watching their rent go up. We have not forgotten you, and I don’t want anyone to see this crowd of people celebrating and thinking, ‘Mission is accomplished.’ Absolutely not.”
The money outlined in the bill comes in the form of bond authorizations, which allow the state to spend money on certain items. The law does not guarantee, however, that the money will get spent. Only about two-thirds of the funding authorized in previous bond bills was actually spent.
Healey’s recently released capital plan calls for far less in spending than what is outlined in the new law.
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Lawmakers are likely to come back in several years to try to pump more money into the pipeline. Bond bills for housing typically come up every five years on Beacon Hill, allowing the Legislature to reauthorize some spending for programs and development.
In the meantime, the state will have to put this newest round of money to work.
“We’re not done yet,” Healey said during the ceremony. “Because now we’ve got to build it.”
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.