Gov. Maura Healey’s top housing deputy met privately with Democratic Senators Wednesday to discuss funding for the emergency shelter system, which is projected to run out of cash at the end of the month without a budget infusion the governor has called on lawmakers to approve.
The meeting came as Healey has pressed lawmakers to greenlight a $425 million spending bill to fund state-run shelters through the end of fiscal year 2025 and sign off on a suite of policy changes that would largely prevent newly arrived migrants from instantly receiving benefits.
Housing Secretary Ed Augustus hosted a “listening session” for senators on the shelter system during an hours-long, closed-door meeting inside Senate President Karen Spilka’s office, Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues told the Herald.
Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat who chairs the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he wanted to hear “everything” from the Healey administration about the shelter system.
“We need to hear more about the system and how it’s working, how they intend to manage it going forward, what tools they need from us to help them manage it going forward, what kind of resources in terms of dollars they need for us to pay the bills,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said Augustus was “re-hashing” information on the shelter system that was included in a letter sent Monday by the Healey administration to a top House Democrat.
Augustus did not answer questions about the meeting as he left Spilka’s office.
“I’ll let the senators speak for themselves,” he said.
Sen. Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat, said there is a sense of urgency to provide more funding and he has received calls from shelter providers in his district on the need for more cash.
“They’re worried about the funding not being made (available) for them to pay for the services after the deadline,” he said.
Healey’s top budget writer said earlier this month that funding for the state-run shelter system, which has come to house thousands of migrant and local families, is expected to run dry by the end of January if lawmakers do not approve more money.
House lawmakers are still mulling Healey’s spending bill and have prodded the governor for more information. The earliest the spending bill could clear the chamber is next week after the House canceled a formal session they had originally scheduled for Thursday.
At an unrelated event Wednesday, Healey did not say what would happen if money dries up.
“I know discussions are ongoing right now in the Legislature. We’re aware, I know they’re aware of the calendar on this so hopefully, we’ll be able to get some resolution,” Healey told reporters at the State House.
Sen. Liz Miranda, a Boston Democrat, said the meeting with Augustus was “really substantial.”
“I learned a great deal and I think there’s a lot more that they have to share,” she said. “But it was for me, a very healthy conversation to learn about, particularly, the part of EA shelter that’s affecting my community the most since I have a large immigrant population.”
Augustus met with senators just as other elected officials on Beacon Hill pushed their colleagues to approve a trio of bills that would largely detangle local law enforcement from working with federal immigration officials.
One bill, which supporters have dubbed the “Safe Communities Act,” would largely limit interactions between local police and federal immigration authorities, including by barring law enforcement in Massachusetts from performing the functions of an immigration officer.
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Marlborough Democrat and lead sponsor of the bill, said immigrant communities in Massachusetts “have grown more scared, insecure, and uncertain over the past week.”
“I want to lift up that this legislation is not about political affiliation or partisanship, but rather to set a clear, bright line between the role of federal immigration officials and our state and local law enforcement and court personnel,” he said at a rally outside the State House.