Healey presses need for housing, files $4 billion bond bill to boost production

Governor Maura Healey used the New Bedford visit to reiterate housing as her administration's top priority and to announce that the administration filed a $4 billion bond bill aimed at expanding housing supply.

Healey said the proposed $4,000,000,000 bond would fund new construction, preservation and rehabilitation of existing properties (including old commercial buildings and mills), and converting underused state land into housing. She said the measure also supports policy steps such as allowing accessory dwelling units to add units quickly.

"This is the number one priority for our state," Healey said, arguing the state is "behind a couple 100,000 units statewide" and that failing to increase production would drive people out of Massachusetts. She said the administration is committed to working with cities and towns and to addressing exclusionary zoning practices.

Healey framed the bond filing as an early step that requires legislative action and local partnerships; she did not provide a bill number or a legislative timeline at the event. The announcement followed remarks about mental-health services and the CBHC network and closed with an exchange inviting questions from attendees.