Governor Calls for Additional Emergency Shelter Assistance Reforms in Supplemental Budget

On June 6, Governor Maura Healey filed a supplemental spending plan which includes a modest proposal to reduce emergency shelter stays from nine months to six months, but also seeks an additional $425 million in funding for the EA system, which is costing Massachusetts taxpayers over $1 billion a year.

Yesterday, barely 24 hours after House and Senate Republicans unveiled a comprehensive reform package to address the state’s ongoing migrant and shelter crisis, Governor Healey submitted a letter to Democratic leadership urging them to add a series of reforms to her supplemental budget proposal, in what House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. described as a case of “damage control” by the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Some of these changes align with reforms that House and Senate Republicans have been consistently advocating for over the last two years, including the establishment of a minimum residency requirement to access these services and the expansion of criminal background checks.

To read more about the Governor’s new request, along with Republicans’ reactions, be sure to check out the latest coverage by Chris Van Buskirk of the Boston Herald, Sam Doran of the State House News Service, John Micek of MassLive, Matt Stout and Emma Platoff of the Boston Globe, and the Associated Press.