Nick Matthew

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

This is huge.

The most disenfranchised deserve to have a vote.

The most traumatized deserve to have a vote.

Prisoners deserve to have a vote.

#mapoli

[DemocracyBehindBarsMA @dbbc_ma]

S.8 and H. 26 would restore voting rights to incarcerated parents, students, advocates -- all those incarcerated in prison.

Yesterday's committee yes-vote was earned by impacted organizers, whose voices have been heard loud and clear. Check out Al-Ameen's testimony -- #mapoli

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

#NewProfilePic

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

@RockvilleFest When are the tickets/wristbands shipping? It's been four days.

[Mike Connolly @MikeConnollyMA]

House Leadership is suggesting there's no point in considering rent stabilization this session. They say this is because the House voted to reject a much broader rent control amendment three years ago. But this line of thinking ignores all of the things that have happened over the past three years. To wit:

1) Michelle Wu ran on a platform that prominently included rent control, and she won a historic mayorial election in the City of Boston in a landslide in November 2021;

2) The Wu Administration followed through by forming an advisory committee and spending the better part of 2022 engaging with stakeholders to draft a rent stabilization proposal. The Boston proposal would significantly improve housing stability for renters, and at the same time, the real estate industry privately admits they think the Boston proposal is reasonable (but they say they will fight it anyways);

3) Maura Healey ran for Governor on an agenda that featured Housing as a focus and explicitly included support for local rent control; this stands in contrast to Gov. Baker who was firmly opposed to any form of rent control back in 2020. Gov. Healey proceeded to win a historic statewide election in a landslide last November.

4) There's been considerable turnover in the House since 2020; roughly one-quarter of the members who are here now weren't around a few years ago when we voted on that broader rent control amendment;

5) The affordable housing and homelessness emergency has been raging unabated for decades and is now worse than ever in Massachusetts, and the eviction moratorium and pandemic relief that was in place back in July of 2020 (when we voted on that broader rent control amendment) is no longer in place;

6) Polling consistently shows that voters want rent regulation and eviction protections, especially regulations that reasonably balance the concerns of renters, owners, and developers of housing (just like the Boston home rule does, and like our local option bills would allow).

7) Over the past three years, City Councilors and Mayors in the cities of Cambridge and Somerville have repeatedly demonstrated an overwhelming desire to have an option for rent stabilization, and the number of municipal officials from around the Commonwealth who are interested in some form of rent control continues to rise as well.

8) There is a grand total of six rent control bills before the legislature right now, each of them different in important ways than the rent control amendment that was voted on in 2020. Three local option bills are before the house, two local option bills are before the Senate, plus the Boston home rule. Somerville and Cambridge have also indicated more home rules are on the way.

So, despite the negative headlines, it's clear that rent control *should* be more viable than ever on Beacon Hill right now, if we as legislators are listening to our constituents and responding to the will of the voters.

https://t.co/eBjjtSO3VA

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

Love what they’re doing up north of Boston. #mapoli #liftthebanma

[City Life / Vida Urbana (citylifevidaurbana.bsky) @CityLife_Clvu]

Remember to save the dates for this lineup of awesome ANTI-IMPERIALIST, BORDERLESS, RENT CONTROL conversations, rallies, & parades❤️‍🔥.
1.Anti-Imperialist Community Conversation
2.March + Rally w/Bradlee Road: Fair Control Negotiations
3.Wake Up The Earth Festival
#RentControlMA

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

Waiting for it to increase next year isn’t going to help families who need reasonable rents today.

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

In 2000, an average of 138 housing units were built per year in #FallRiver, #Attleboro, #NewBedford, and #Taunton. That number is now 66/year.

Development has decreased across the South Coast - with or without rent stabilization.

#mapoli #bospoli #liftthebanma @shaneburgo

[New Bedford Light @NewBedfordLight]

Researchers warn that rent control could have unintended consequences in New Bedford. https://t.co/WGQBRu8nFs

[Colin Hogan @by_ColinHogan]

Proud and excited for my colleagues!

For the second @NewBedfordLight x @propublica colab: Fast-tracking Offshore wind has downplayed effects on the environment and other maritime industries… in a way that looks like the oil biz

https://t.co/Q7tTeCB2OH

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

State legislators created a minority-majority House district in New Bedford for first time. But their highest goal in just-completed redistricting was once again to protect incumbents. Check out my New Bedford Light column.

https://t.co/uvOG0OscSR

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

I guess that leaves just one person to vote for: @shaneburgo. #newbedford #mapoli

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

Where are the progressive candidates in New Bedford City Council race? Conservative voices dominate at council debate. Here's my New Bedford Light column.

https://t.co/uJ2s2FkX9V

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

The city of New Bedford has reconstructed the granite blocks on the Octopus traffic island off of Route 18. Here's my New Bedford Light column on the subject.

https://t.co/yiZGBBiC1q

[New Bedford Public Schools @NBPublicSchools]

Is your student entering Kindergarten at NBPS this fall? If so, join us at the Buttonwood Zoo on 8/4 for a Day of Celebration from 10AM-12PM! Admission is FREE for registered Kindergarteners & their families! (An admittance postcard will be mailed - please bring it with you.)

[Joseph P. Lopes @joelopes_nb]

New Bedford offshore wind industry deepwater, turbine training planned great news for New Bedford as we continue to be a leader in the future of wind energy. https://t.co/RnCSEZ2ZXr

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

@JackSpillaneNB Great to see this spot open up! Any word about when the beer taps will start flowing?

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

In the wake of gentrification concerns in New Bedford, Tufts University lecturers with expertise in the area spoke to me this week about ways to address displacement of low-income communities.

https://t.co/luj7tXfIQg

[First Five Years Fund @firstfiveyears]

.@FLOTUS & the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton: “The two of us believe that early childhood care and education should be seen as among the defining, strategic issues of our time.” https://t.co/454cWg381W

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

Jack Spillane: COVID-19 has left New Bedford deeply traumatized - The New Bedford Light —- my first column for The New Bedford Light is out. https://t.co/TACfl427x9

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

@joelopes_nb Can we cast our votes for option 1 or 2 on Twitter?

[Nick Matthew @NickJMatthew]

@JackSpillaneNB Hi Jack, any chance there will be a follow up about what the city and community are doing to prepare for the anticipated gentrification tsunami in the next few years? (Viz, helping underserved families become home owners?)

[Jack Spillane @JackSpillaneNB]

Here is my column on the Citizens for Juvenile Justice report that concluded that New Bedford police are profiling Black and Latino youth.

https://t.co/3k8jucJPQH