BOSTON — House Democrats filed a proposal to pump another $245 million into the state’s emergency shelter system amid an ongoing surge of migrants.
The supplemental budget, which is to be taken up on Wednesday, would provide more funding to workforce training programs, migrant “welcome” centers, and additional funds for resettlement agencies to connect families with housing and other services.
The spending plan also calls for reforms to the shelter system, such as limiting the maximum length of stay in shelter to nine consecutive months, with another three months for migrants who are employed or enrolled in a job training program.
This comes just three months after Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed a supplemental spending bill that included $250 million for migrant costs.
“Given the challenging revenue conditions facing Massachusetts, the lack of federal support, and the severity and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the migrant crisis, the temporary reforms that we are proposing are essential for the shelter program’s long-term survival,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a prepared statement.
Under the proposed reforms, pregnant women and people with a disability, among others, would also be eligible for 12 consecutive months in the program, regardless of employment status or participation in a job training program.
The plan would also require Healey to seek federal approvals for a waiver from the Department of Homeland Security to allow expedited work authorizations, temporary work authorizations, and provisional work authorizations for newly arrived migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, said the measure would require migrants to exit the shelter system in a “timely manner,” which he said would “help to ease the strain being placed on our shelter system over time, and on the communities that are on the frontline of this crisis.
But critics say the proposed reforms won’t go far enough to stem the tide of silent seekers who have pushed the state’s emergency shelter system to the brink of collapse.
Paul Craney, spokesman for the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said Mariano’s proposal just throws more money at the problem without dealing with the root cause of increased migration to the state: the “right to shelter” law.
“It’s not going to deter people from coming here,” he said. “Right now, Massachusetts is one of the top destinations for migrants because they know in addition to all the other taxpayer benefits they get, there is a right to shelter.”
He added, “So if the objective of this is to stop the flow of migrants, this won’t do it.”
Massachusetts has seen an unprecedented influx of thousands of asylum seekers 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.
Under the “right-to-shelter” law, Massachusetts is required to provide emergency housing to homeless families, but critics say the law was never designed to provide for a large migrant population.
Nearly 780 families were on a wait list for emergency housing as of Tuesday, according to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Healey administration officials said the state has spent $360 million as of Feb. 8 from a special escrow fund set up by the state Legislature to cover migrant costs, but warned in a recent report that money would dry up soon.
Healey has estimated the state will spend up to $2 billion to support emergency shelter for homeless families and migrants through the end of the next fiscal year. The report estimated costs through the end of the 2025 fiscal year at $915 million.
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.
School districts have spent more than $11.4 million over the past year from a state fund to help them cover additional costs from educating newly arrived migrant children, according to a recent report.
Rep. Alice Peisch, the House’s assistant majority leader, said proposed reforms “strike the right balance between providing emergency assistance to families who find themselves in desperate need of shelter, while ensuring that we do not significantly jeopardize the funding of other long-standing programs that serve vulnerable residents.”
“It is unfortunate that the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to provide sufficient resources to assist states in addressing this unprecedented influx of migrants,” the Wellesley Democrat said.
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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