Connolly sets the record straight

For the past five months, candidate Neil Miller has made false and distorted claims about my work in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and in our Cambridge and Somerville community. On the eve of the Democratic primary, I want to correct the record.

Mr. Miller and I agree that the rent is too high and that the legislature needs to do more in response to the housing crisis.

The difference is that I’ve sponsored and co-sponsored groundbreaking legislation to boost housing production, protect tenants, support homeowners, and expand affordable housing. I’ve taken on the most powerful interests on Beacon Hill and worked to pass many of these ideas into law. That’s why every major housing organization and progressive group that has endorsed in this race is supporting my campaign, from Abundant Housing Massachusetts and Somerville YIMBY to Our Revolution Cambridge, Progressive Massachusetts, the SEIU State Council, and many others.

My housing policy vision is clear: guaranteed Housing For All.

My commitment to this vision comes from my background. I was raised in public housing in Norwood, Mass. My dad lived to age 87 but was never able to afford a home. My mother currently resides in a Section 8 unit and worries about her housing future. I’ve rented in old apartments throughout my adult life; I hope someday to buy a place of my own.

I understand firsthand the impact of the ongoing housing emergency — and I see the impacts on my Cambridge and Somerville constituents every day — from friends who have been displaced from our community, to young families who can’t afford the space they need, to my unhoused constituents sleeping under bridges and on sidewalks, to older homeowners who would like to downsize but can’t find viable alternatives.

This is why there is a fire within me — not just to “address” the housing crisis, as some politicians might say, but to actually resolve it, once and for all, with the necessary set of federal, state, and local policies. I’ve dedicated my career to fighting to make those words — “Housing Is a Human Right” — a reality for all people, and I am determined to keep working toward the day when everyone has a nice home they can afford.

To accomplish this goal, I have always supported a comprehensive approach that includes more housing production, strong tenant protections, reasonable rent controls, support for homeowners and those looking to buy, Housing First programs and wraparound services to end homelessness, and big public investments in housing affordability, transit and infrastructure.

To pay for all this, I also support increased taxes on the very wealthy and on large corporations. I’ve stood up in the House of Representatives to fight for tax fairness so we can make the investments we need in affordability and universal housing programs.

My housing work began locally, advocating with MIT graduate students and pushing Cambridge and Somerville to build more affordable housing. In the Legislature, I helped advance the MBTA Communities Act, passed the nation’s strongest eviction and foreclosure moratorium, and made key tenant protections permanent. I co-founded the Housing For All Caucus, worked to pass the $5.2 billion Affordable Homes Act, and ended forced broker fees. For a much more detailed account of my housing work, please see my campaign website.

Mr. Miller’s attacks fall into two main categories — dishonest distortions of my record on Beacon Hill, and half-truths relating to city council debates from the previous decade.

He uses a headline from this 2020 WGBH article to say I “criticized a 2020 law that enabled exclusionary suburbs to zone for more multifamily housing.” The truth is I sponsored and co-sponsored original versions of the MBTA Communities Act and voted to pass the final version into law. As the article makes clear, my criticism was that I thought the legislature should pass other key housing policies along with it, such as a local option for rent stabilization and more options for affordable housing. I believe that is the kind of comprehensive approach that Cambridge and Somerville residents want.

Mr. Miller says I “opposed” the redevelopment of Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge that delivered 48 new affordable units. But the record shows it was my original idea to use a parking disposition to fight for affordable housing, and it was the grassroots efforts I led that gave the city council the leverage to secure those affordable units. That’s why Cambridge Day said I “led the housing fight” that resulted in those affordable homes.

Mr. Miller says I “spent a decade in office advocating for social housing with no progress to show for it.” This is clearly false. I introduced the first-ever social housing bill on Beacon Hill in 2023, and the next year, the concept was passed into law as part of the Affordable Homes Act. Last year, the Healey-Driscoll Administration made social housing part of our state policy, and this year, both Cambridge and Somerville have initiated efforts to make good on this opportunity.

As A Better Cambridge founder Jesse Kanson-Benanav said in this recent letter, “Going from a new policy concept to an official part of the commonwealth’s housing strategy in a single legislative term is almost unheard of.” That’s part of the reason why he called me a “housing champion” for Cambridge and Somerville.

Mr. Miller’s dishonest claims throughout this campaign cannot detract from my record on housing — but they do a disservice to the voters of our community. I have posted more detailed responses to these and other claims here and here.

To my constituents in the 26th Middlesex: I respectfully ask for your vote in the Democratic primary tomorrow, September 1, so I can continue doing this work.

A stronger

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