Researchers urge down‑payment assistance, baby‑bonds and better data to measure progress

Researchers at the Federal Reserve‑linked projects and Boston Indicators told the joint committee that closing the racial wealth gap will require both immediate and long‑term tools.

A Fed‑affiliated researcher summarized the arithmetic: equalizing earnings and education can take decades to close wealth ratios, so policies that transfer assets directly — for example, down‑payment assistance on the order of $25,000 to $50,000 or well‑designed baby‑bonds — can accelerate change. "Down payment assistance is a form of wealth transfer," the researcher said, and large, targeted transfers to low‑wealth households can unlock homeownership pathways that build intergenerational equity.

Boston Indicators' Kim Goulart and others evaluated OB3 and warned that its tax extensions primarily benefit higher‑wealth households while new eligibility or verification rules threaten Medicaid and SNAP enrollment for vulnerable families. Goulart highlighted design flaws in the Trump accounts pilot (lack of automatic enrollment, exclusions for children without Social Security numbers and uncertain treatment of account balances for means‑tested benefits) that could reduce impact for low‑wealth families.

Both researchers underscored the need for better state data. The Federal Reserve‑Boston survey now collected will expand sample size substantially beyond 2015, allowing a more precise assessment of wealth distribution across the Commonwealth; a first summary report was expected toward the end of the year, testimony said.

Witnesses cautioned that proposals differ in political feasibility and cost; their testimony provided concrete design tradeoffs for the committee to consider.