BOSTON – Today, the Responsible Development Coalition (RDC) released a survey of
over 850 voters across Massachusetts that tested a series of economic issues including
rent control, wage theft and housing affordability. The survey, conducted by MassINC
Polling Group was performed between August 5th and 9th shows that several proposals
are wildly popular with the public and should be acted upon by the legislature as soon
as possible.
Joe Byrne, the Chair of the Responsible Development Coalition, said, “It is clear that we
must be more aggressive in prosecuting wage theft. That starts with giving District
Attorney’s the appropriate tools and updated laws to prosecute offenders. The people
of Massachusetts also overwhelmingly agree that development and developers must be
done responsibly and with community feedback, living wages and environmental issues
accounted for.”
Byrne added, “People are tired of developers willing to cut corners to turn a higher
profit, while construction workers are taken advantage of, and community concerns are
ignored. The RDC will continue to highlight these issues and will be reaching out to the
legislature to urge them to take action.”
By the numbers:
The Cost of Living and Cost of Housing were listed as major concerns of all
respondents with 88% and 84% respectively.
With less than 3 weeks to go in the Democratic Primaries almost all statewide
candidates are largely unknown. This creates a significant opportunity for one or
more of them to make RDC issues a closing argument in their campaigns.
70% of respondents support making wage theft a felony that is easier to
prosecute.
63% of respondents support laws encouraging the use of union labor on publicly
funded building projects.
80% support responsible development practices.
78% support requiring responsible development practices on jobs that receive
public funding.
About the Responsible Development Coalition:
The Responsible Development Coalition recognizes that development, when done
properly, creates economic opportunity for ALL. We support equal pay, living wages,
apprenticeship programs, housing that people can afford, environmentally friendly
design, opportunity for underserved communities and robust community engagement.
The Responsible Development Coalition will advocate that candidates for Mayor of
Boston (and beyond) pledge their support for responsible real estate development and
recognize that it is crucial to our future, our economy and collective quality of life.