BOSTON — The Democratic-controlled Senate has approved a plan to spend $800 million over the next two years to support the state’s emergency shelter system, which is buckling under the weight of a historic surge of asylum seekers. The supplemental spending bill, which passed 32 to 8 on a largely party line vote last Thursday, sets the maximum length of stay in shelters at nine consecutive months, with the possibility of another three months for migrants who are pregnant, disabled, or enrolled in work programs.
Democrats who pushed the bill through the chamber argue that the additional funding and reforms are aimed at preventing a collapse of the state’s beleaguered shelter system.
“With the failure of our federal government to act in aide in this crisis, the responsibility unfortunately falls upon our shoulders,” Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said in remarks ahead of the bill’s passage. “Knowing that, this crisis requires multifaceted approach to stabilize families and address barriers to shelter.”
To pay for the additional spending, the plan calls for depleting a $1 billion escrow account set up by the Legislature to cover costs for the emergency shelter system.
Republicans sought to amend the measure during Thursday’s debate to include more transparency in the spending, and set tighter limits on the length of stays and funding for the shelters. All of those proposals were rejected.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr raised concerns that record spending on emergency shelter will impact education spending and other priorities, with the state’s revenue benchmarks coming in below projections for several months.
“We face declining revenue projections, an uncertain future for the economy, a situation with inflation that the Federal Reserve is struggling with,” Tarr said in remarks. “Against that backdrop, we would argue there’s a different course and a different path.”
Democrats did, however, agree to an amendment requiring safety checks at state-run homeless shelters, which lawmakers said is in response to an alleged sexual assault on a migrant teenager by a Haitian migrant last week.
The spending bill is similar to a proposal approved by the House of Representatives earlier this month, which called for pumping $245 million into the emergency shelter system.
Differences between the bills will need to be worked out by a yet to be appointed six member legislative committee before the bill heads to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for consideration.
Healey, a Democrat, signed a supplemental budget in December that included $250 million for migrant costs, but her administration called on lawmakers to provide more funding.
Currently, the state is spending about $75 million monthly — or roughly $10,000 per family — to provide housing and other needs for 7,500 migrant and other homeless families living in emergency shelters.
Massachusetts is dealing with a historic 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.
About 800 families were on a wait list for emergency housing as of Thursday, according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Healey has estimated the state will spend nearly $1 billion to support emergency shelter for homeless families and migrants through the end of the fiscal 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.
Meanwhile, only about 3,000 migrants who’ve arrived in the state have been given federal authorization to work, despite Healey’s efforts to fast track the approvals to ease the burden on the state’s emergency shelter system.
Sen. John Velis, one of four Democrats who voted against the spending plan, blasted the federal government’s handling of the crisis and the failure of Congress to approve funding to states to help cover the costs as an “absolute disgrace.”
“To no one’s surprise, they didn’t do it, and left us with the bill. Left us to fend for ourselves,” Velis said in remarks late Thursday. “And they don’t allow us to take the necessary steps at the state level, like state work permits, to provide our state with a fighting chance to tackle this unprecedented crisis.”
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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