Top Beacon Hill Democrats reached a deal Wednesday on a spending bill that could include millions for the emergency shelter system, key dollars that come as Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is running out of cash to pay for services.
Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues, the Democratic budget chiefs of their respective chambers, said they were finalizing the details necessary to file a compromise bill. A copy of the proposal was not immediately available, though the two lawmakers said the Legislature planned to take up the matter during formal sessions scheduled for Thursday.
“On behalf of our fellow conferees, we’re pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached resolving the respective differences between the House and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2024 supplemental budget,” the statement from Michlewitz and Rodrigues said.
Versions of the bills passed by the House and Senate differed in how much money legislators handed the Healey administration to pay for shelter services this fiscal year and the next.
House lawmakers sought a targeted approach, proposing to shuttle $245 million in surplus funds leftover from the pandemic for fiscal year 2024, when costs are expected to reach $932 million.
The Senate opted instead to give Healey the power to drain nearly all of a more than $1 billion account filled with surplus dollars that can only be used once. The branch approved a plan that allowed Healey to spend up to $840 million over fiscal years 2024 and 2025 with declining spending caps.
The House also included $175 million in surplus dollars for the shelter system in their fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which they started debating Wednesday and were expected to continue considering at least into Thursday.
Both branches also agreed to cap the time families with children and pregnant people can stay in state-run shelters at nine months but proposed different processes to apply for extensions.
The Senate version of the bill allowed shelter residents to renew their stays in 90-day increments if they met certain criteria like being a single parent of a child with a disability.
The House offered a single three-month extension to a similar group of people, including those with a job or who are in workforce training.
A panel of six lawmakers was tasked with negotiating a compromise between the two competing versions and discussions took place behind closed doors. The group indicated they had reached a deal earlier Wednesday when they picked up a key document necessary to file an accord.
This is a developing story…