Sonia Chang-Díaz is a former public school teacher and the first Latina and Asian-American to serve in the Massachusetts State Senate — and she’s spent her career fighting for and winning the bold change that working families need. Sonia’s mom was a social worker. Her dad came to America with $50 in his pocket and became NASA’s first Latino astronaut. Now she’s building a movement to tackle our state’s biggest challenges and restore Massachusetts’ promise to all families.
We are facing a housing crisis all across Massachusetts. From our biggest cities to rural towns, retirees are being forced out of the communities they’ve lived in for decades, young people and immigrants can’t find apartments they can afford to rent, municipal workers can’t afford to live in the communities they serve, and too many families are now facing eviction and foreclosure. We must solve this crisis to ensure all Bay Staters can afford to live here and raise their families here.
Sonia will tackle our state’s housing crisis head-on by stabilizing the housing market, expanding tools to limit runaway rent increases, and putting the dream of home ownership within reach for working families. As Governor, Sonia will fight for policies to:
Increase housing production, particularly higher-density, multifamily developments near public transit options across the state.
Significantly increase funding to support the expansion of affordable housing by passing the HERO Act.
Stabilize neighborhoods and prevent displacement by increasing rental and legal assistance programs; encouraging the creation of land trusts; and giving local cities and towns the option of establishing reasonable caps on annual rent increases if it makes sense for their communities, such as tying annual increases to the Cost of Living index.
Make investments aimed at ending homelessness, including in more transitional housing support and longer-term housing paired with supportive services for individuals struggling with substance use disorder and/or mental illness.
Help close the racial wealth gap and create more opportunities for lower- and middle-income families to build generational wealth through homeownership.
Over her time in the Legislature, Sonia has consistently advocated for measures to combat the housing crisis, including:
Partnering with affordable housing advocates to target immediate funding resources into programs that have shown the most success at keeping people in stable homes, such as the RAFT program.
Supporting policies and funding to expand the amount of affordable housing in Massachusetts.
Promoting fair housing practices by pushing for legislation that prohibits cities and towns from making discriminatory land-use decisions, often used to block construction of affordable housing, and legislation to require court approval of foreclosures.