Press Release: 6/24/2026
Rent Control Is OFF the Ballot
We have great news to share: the proposed statewide rent control question has been removed from the November ballot.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the question could not legally proceed because it impermissibly related to religion and religious institutions, which are excluded from the state’s initiative petition process.
The proposal included an exemption for units operated for educational, religious, or nonprofit purposes, and the Court found that the religious exemption made religion a factor in the proposed law.
While the legal issue decided the case, the practical result is clear: Massachusetts has been spared from one of the most damaging housing policies in the country.
Full Statement Here.
Rent control has failed wherever it has been tried. It discourages new construction, reduces investment in rental housing, makes it harder to maintain existing housing, and worsens the very shortage it claims to solve.
Earlier this month, the Fiscal Alliance Foundation released a study by Jared Walczak titled Rent Control Raises Taxes on Homeowners. The study showed that rent control would not only damage the rental housing market, but would also shift higher property tax burdens onto owner-occupied homes.
Under statewide averages, the study found rent control could increase the property tax burden on the median single-family homeowner by $312 per year. In Boston, the estimated increase was $1,117.
Why This Matters:
Rent control does not eliminate costs. It shifts them.
When rent control reduces the value of rental properties, those properties carry a smaller share of the local property tax levy. Since Massachusetts property taxes are budget-driven, the tax burden does not disappear. It shifts onto other taxpayers, including single-family homeowners and condominium owners.
That means homeowners could end up paying more in property taxes because of a policy that also makes the housing shortage worse.
Real-world examples:
In Portland, Maine, rent control reduced total property valuation by 3.2 to 5.4 percent, creating an estimated tax shift costing the median homeowner $224 to $379 per year.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, rental properties lost roughly 12 percent of their value shortly after rent control was adopted, while multifamily housing permits dropped sharply after the law took effect.
Massachusetts has already tried rent control. Voters were right to repeal it in 1994, and the evidence since then has only confirmed what they understood decades ago: rent control reduces the quantity and quality of rental housing, drives investment away, shifts costs onto homeowners, and fails to solve affordability.
Full Statement Here.
Today’s ruling gives lawmakers a chance to focus on real housing solutions: building more homes, reducing barriers to construction, and making Massachusetts a place where families can afford to live.
Read the full Fiscal Alliance Foundation study:
Rent Control Raises Taxes on Homeowners
View our Interactive Multimedia Report here.
Thank you for standing with us as we continue to educate on common-sense policy in Massachusetts.