Massachusetts House budget chief wants Gov. Healey to cough up more information on shelter system

Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald on Jan 23, 2025

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BOSTON — A top House Democrat demanded Gov. Maura Healey’s administration cough up more information about the state-run emergency shelter system before the chamber moves forward with a series of restrictive policies that could block out newly arrived migrants to Massachusetts.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Healey’s chief budget writer and lead housing deputy, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz pressed the executive branch to lay out the fine details of a shelter reform package Healey asked lawmakers to insert into a $425 million spending bill for fiscal year 2025.

“For the House to move forward with (the spending bill) and the governor’s request for changes to the emergency assistance system, we need more information on the impact of the potential modifications to the emergency assistance system and its beneficiaries,” Michlewitz wrote.

The North End Democrat previously told the Herald he wanted more information about crimes committed in state-run shelters and a plan to boost security before advancing Healey’s $425 million request to fund the shelter system through the end of the fiscal year.

But his letter to the administration goes much further.

Healey did not file her policy changes as legislation but rather asked Democrats to drastically rewrite the spending bill to include, among other things, a three-month residency requirement that could be bypassed if a family shows an “intent to remain” in the state.

Michlewitz wanted to know exactly how someone shows an “intent to remain in Massachusetts,” which Beacon Hill Republicans have argued could turn into a loophole for migrants arriving from other countries.

“If there is no process in place currently, do you plan to have a public process?” Michlewitz asked Healey’s top deputies. “Are there exceptions for individuals who are re-entering the shelter system or who have exigent circumstances?”

Democrats in the Legislature have long argued that implementing a residency requirement for access to the shelter system could run afoul of a person’s federal or state constitutional rights.

In his letter, Michlewitz said past discussions between the Legislature and Healey administration about the policy left it “unclear if a residency requirement would pass constitutional scrutiny.”

“What has changed and how has it been determined that the residency requirement meets constitutional scrutiny?” Michlewitz inquired of Healey.

Spokespeople for Healey’s budget-writing and housing offices did not respond to Herald inquiries.

Healey earlier this month faced blowback for a lack of widespread criminal background checks for everyone in the state-run shelter system.

Amidst the criticism, the first-term Democrat said she re-upped an order for officials to perform checks against the criminal offender record information database — also known as CORI — for all shelter residents in the emergency assistance program.

Michlewitz asked the Healey administration to describe its security policies for the shelter system and questioned whether officials considered other types of checks.

“Have you considered other types of background checks besides, or in addition to, a CORI as CORIs are unlikely to uncover any criminal or other conduct of migrants?” the North End Democrat wrote in his letter.

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