Last week, Governor Maura Healey declared Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state. Tuesday, Republican state lawmakers indicated they are readying legislation that would make sure that’s the case by reforming the Massachusetts Right to Shelter law.
“What we’re talking about is to reverse the course and turn the tide,” said Sen. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr. “This situation is financially unsustainable.”
The law, passed more than forty years ago, was originally intended to provide emergency shelter for pregnant women and families with children who suddenly found themselves homeless. The law’s intent may have been to serve Massachusetts residents in need. But that was never spelled out.
Hence, the current shelter crisis — caused by a wave of migrants seeking refuge from such places as Haiti. The Right to Shelter law forced the state into quick, drastic measures to house the thousands who flooded in — including renting out hotels and rehabilitating an old jail in Norfolk.
Republicans expect the bill for shelter expenses this fiscal year will top $1 billion.
Reforming the Right to Shelter law took on new urgency after police arrested a migrant at a hotel shelter in Revere last month — on charges he possessed an assault rifle and around ten pounds of fentanyl.
That led to an investigation on migrant background checks. Last week, Healey said that at some shelters — for reasons yet unknown — those checks were not carried out. The Governor appointed former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to oversee an in-depth examination of the shelter situation. He’s to report back in about a month.
At a press conference announcing that appointment, Healey said given Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, those seeking housing here won’t get it.
State Republican lawmakers want the Right to Shelter law reformed such that it’s got some legal teeth to deny housing. Tarr said their proposal would require one year of legal residency in the state to qualify for shelter — with a six-month limit on shelter stays. Republicans are also calling for honoring ICE decisions to detain potentially troublesome migrants — and kicking out of shelters those who commit violence while there.
“Time after time after time, violent individuals who have been the subject of ICE detainers are being released,” Tarr said. “Anyone who commits a violent act in a shelter system property cannot return to the shelter system unless there is an order in writing to ensure safety be preserved.”
Although Republicans seem to be on the same page as the Governor when it comes to reform of the Right to Shelter Law, they did complain Tuesday about a lack of transparency — and thus called for the naming of a shelter ‘czar.’
“For far too long, this has been a system where we learn about one part of the situation, then we learn another, then we learn about another,” Tarr said. “It’s time to have the oversight that the office of the inspector general can provide.”
Legislative measures aside, Republicans called on the Healey/Driscoll administration to hold monthly meetings with lawmakers about the shelter situation — as well as provide monthly cost assessments. They’re also looking to shrink the size of the program.
“We’re asking the administration to give us a plan on scaling down this program, so that we can make it sustainable, we can make it efficient and, in some ways, we can make it safer,” Tarr said.
House Minority Leader Brad Jones said it’s all about taking an honest look at what Right to Shelter has wrought.
“We need to be wide-eyed about what its costs are and face the reality that those costs are crowding out our ability to meet the needs of citizens — longstanding citizens of the Commonwealth — who find themselves in need.”
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