Mass. senate budget chief warns emergency shelter system could run out of money Monday

The Massachusetts Senate's top budget writer on Thursday said money for the state's emergency family shelter system is set to run out April 15.

Senate negotiators believe they must reach a spending deal for the program by Monday, according to a spokesperson for Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues. The shelter system has far exceeded expected costs after seeing record numbers of homeless families, migrants, and asylum-seekers, and needs an infusion of money to continue running through the end of the fiscal year.

A six-member conference committee is now meeting behind closed doors, trying to find a compromise between the House and Senate's competing supplemental budget proposals. The House aims to spend about $245 million to keep the shelter system running through the rest of this year. The Senate wants to spend over $800 million to fund it for longer.

Both chambers seek to limit how long most families can stay in the shelter system to 9 months. The Senate version would implement 90-day extensions for people who meet certain criteria; the House version would offer a single three-month extension.

House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz expressed less urgency about a funding deadline when asked by reporters Wednesday.

"I gave up a long time [ago] on guessing when we're going to come to an exact agreement," he said. "But we're working — we're continually talking with our Senate counterparts right now."

If lawmakers fail to reach a deal, it's unlikely the state would literally stop running the shelters next week. But the Healey administration is pushing for a resolution.

"As the administration has previously stated, direct funding for emergency assistance shelters will be exhausted early this spring," said Matt Murphy, chief of external affairs for the state's Executive Office for Administration and Finance. "We are both grateful to the Legislature for the work they have done so far to advance our supplemental funding request and hopeful that legislation can be finalized quickly for our review to address this time-sensitive need.”

There are now over 7,500 families in emergency shelter. Massachusetts is the only state in the country to guarantee a right to shelter for unhoused families and pregnant women.