BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey has approved a plan to pump hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding into the state’s beleaguered emergency shelter system, which has been overwhelmed by a historic surge of asylum seekers.
Healey signed a supplemental budget late Tuesday that will divert $251 million into the shelter system and to cover housing, food and other migrant costs. The plan would also authorize a transfer another $175 million from an escrow account set up to cover emergency housing costs, if needed.
The spending bill also reforms the state’s emergency shelter system, limiting migrants to nine months beginning on June 1, with up to two, 90-day extensions for those who are employed or participating in a work-training program or are a veteran or pregnant woman, among other situations.
Healey said the spending plan “dedicates resources to balance the budget and maintain critical services and programs” and sets limits on stays in shelters, “which is a responsible step to address our capacity and fiscal constraints as Congress has continued to fail to act on immigration reform.”
“We will be finalizing details of this policy in the coming weeks and ensuring that families and providers are informed of the requirements and the services that we have available to help them secure work and stable housing,” the Democrat said in a statement.
The spending bill was approved by the House and Senate in a largely party line vote, with Republicans opposed to the changes. It comes only months after Healey signed another bill that included $250 million for migrant costs. To date, the state has spent an estimated $700 million on migrant costs.
Democrats who pushed the spending bills through both chambers on largely partisan votes argue that the additional funding and reforms are aimed at preventing a collapse of the state’s beleaguered shelter system.
Republicans have argued that record spending on emergency shelter will crowd out education spending and other priorities in the upcoming budget, with the state’s revenue benchmarks coming in below projections for several months.
Massachusetts is wrestling with a record influx of thousands of migrants over the past year amid a historic surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Healey declared a state of emergency in August and deployed the National Guard to help deal with the influx. Her administration also set a 7,500-family cap on the number of people eligible for emergency housing last October. Hundreds of families are currently on a waiting list for housing.
The governor has set new restrictions on migrants and other homeless families who are being housed at large-scale “overflow” sites that were set up in response to the shortage of beds in state-run shelters.
Under the new rules, which went into effect on Wednesday, migrant families staying in those sites will be required to document every month that they are searching for work and permanent housing or risk being denied shelter.
Healey has estimated the state will spend nearly $1 billion to support emergency shelter for homeless families and migrants over the next year.
Despite requests from Healey and members of the state’s congressional delegation for federal funding, the Biden administration has only provided about $2 million to the state for emergency shelter and other migrant needs.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asked the federal agency to grant a waiver to the state for expedited work authorization for migrants “in the absence of significant financial or structural assistance” from Congress or the White House.
Healey said the state has been able to secure work authorization for nearly 3,600 migrants to date but continues to see an “unabating influx” of new arrivals.
“We need more federal assistance to support these families and connect them with job opportunities,” she wrote. “These immigrants are ready to joint the workforce and we need to support them in the process.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at [email protected].
By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter
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