Press Room

The Massachusetts House of Representatives today passed a supplemental budget that includes $245 million to fund the Emergency Assistance program through the end of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) and includes a set of temporary reforms to ensure that the program is able to endure the challenging revenue conditions that Massachusetts is currently experiencing. The supplemental budget also extends or makes permanent pandemic-era reforms such as outdoor dining and cocktails to go.

“Ensuring that people exit the shelter system in a timely manner is crucial to the emergency assistance program’s long-term viability. This is the current reality due to the status of the migrant crisis, the lack of federal support, the number of people on the waitlist, and the revenue challenges facing Massachusetts,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “It’s also critical that we ensure that folks in the shelter system receive ample support aimed at helping them to successfully enter the workforce, which is exactly what this legislation does. I want to thank Chairman Michlewitz and Leader Peisch for working diligently to ensure that we take action to ease the strain being placed on the Commonwealth’s shelter system and on our communities, and I am grateful to all my colleagues in the House for providing their input on how to tackle this urgent issue.”

“Since the beginning of the migrant crisis, we have attempted to uphold the Commonwealth’s right to shelter law while also being mindful of the long-term fiscal sustainability of the program. The reforms contained in this proposal will ensure that right to shelter is maintained by capping the length of stay while also refocusing the emphasis on workforce development. By concentrating on job training, we can focus on getting migrants the job skills they need while also enhancing the Commonwealth’s economic output,” said Representative Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston), Chair of the House Committee on Ways & Means. “I want to thank the Speaker, Leader Peisch, and all my colleagues in the House for their support on this issue.”

“Today the House took action to ensure that the emergency shelter program remains viable. Given the increasing demands on the system and absent any assistance from the federal government, without such action, the program is unstainable,” said Representative Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley), Assistant Majority Leader. “With these temporary limits, the program can continue to serve the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable families and provide them with transitional serves and supports, including job training, to help them secure stable housing.”

While maintaining the right-to-shelter law, which has long served Massachusetts families, the bill passed today limits the maximum length of stay to nine consecutive months with an additional three months for those currently employed or enrolled in a job training program. The bill allows certain families or individuals, including veterans, pregnant women, victims of domestic violence and people with a disability to be eligible for 12 consecutive months in the program, regardless of employment status or participation in a job training program. The bill passed today also ensures that families are given at least 90 days of notice prior to the end of their stay and caps the number of families exiting the program at 150 families per week.

This balanced strategy aims to successfully exit families from the program and into the workforce, while opening space for families who have been waitlisted as a result of the emergency regulations issued by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities on October 31, 2023, which set a cap of 7,500 families participating in the program. As of yesterday, there were 7,519 families currently enrolled or waiting to be enrolled in the emergency assistance program, according to the Healey-Driscoll Administration.

Aiming to create a pathway to work to alleviate the shelter crisis, the bill also requires the Governor to seek federal approvals for a waiver from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to permit expedited work authorizations, temporary work authorizations, and provisional work authorizations for newly arrived migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. It also establishes a $2,500 tax credit per trainee for companies that provide workforce training to individuals enrolled in the emergency assistance program or staying at an overflow shelter site. The total amount of the credits would be capped at $10 million a year.

In November 2023, the House approved an additional $250 million for the program and required the Healey-Driscoll Administration to identify state-funded overflow emergency shelter sites for families on the waitlist. The bill passed today requires those overflow sites to be open daily until at least 9 a.m., and for future overflow sites to be operational 24 hours a day and located in diverse geographic areas. The bill would continue to require the Administration to provide comprehensive reporting, including details on overflow sites, job training programs, and the number of students in the emergency assistance program enrolled in public schools and other education-related reporting requirements. The bill also requires any funds expended for providing food to be subject to a competitive bidding process.

The $245 million will support the Commonwealth’s response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and influx of families seeking emergency assistance through the end of FY24. It specifically includes:

·       $10 million for workforce training programs

·       $3 million for Family Welcome Centers

·       $1 million for supplemental staffing

·       $1 million for resettlement agencies to connect families with housing and other services

·       $1 million for Head Start programing

In addition to the emergency assistance program reforms, the bill passed today also makes permanent or extends popular pandemic-era reforms. The bill permanently authorizes municipalities to approve outdoor dining requests without further review by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission; permanently authorizes establishments to sell alcoholic beverages to go; and permanently authorizes remote reverse mortgage counseling. The bill also extends for a year a current policy that authorizes senior nursing students and nursing graduates to practice without a license under the supervision of a health care provider.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the bill 121-33. It now goes to the Senate for their consideration.