Representative Steven S. Howitt works to restore emergency shelter spending reporting requirement

House GOP proposal retained in final FY25 closeout budget

Boston – State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk) recently supported a Fiscal Year 2025 closeout supplemental budget that contains House GOP leadership-sponsored language requiring the Healey Administration to resume providing ongoing updates on the amount of state spending associated with running the Commonwealth’s emergency shelter system.

Language requiring the reinstatement of the reporting requirement was included in House Bill 4761, which allocates funding to address deficiencies in multiple state spending accounts while officially closing the books on Fiscal Year 2025, which ended on June 30. The bill represents a negotiated compromise between earlier versions of the bill passed by the House and Senate, and was enacted by the House on a vote of 146-9 on November 19 and by the Senate on a vote of 38-0 the same day.

Representative Howitt noted that spending on the emergency shelter system has reached an unsustainable level of approximately $1 billion a year due to the migrant shelter crisis. The Legislature first implemented the reporting requirement in 2023 to require public disclosure of “any projected deficiency in funds related to said crisis in Fiscal Year 2024 and projected costs related to said crisis through the end of Fiscal Year 2025”. Because the original reporting requirement expired on June 30, the Healey Administration is no longer reporting these figures.

To ensure continued transparency to the state’s taxpayers, House Republican Caucus leadership offered a successful floor amendment when the closeout budget was initially debate in the House on October 15. The amendment requires the Administration to continue providing details on how much the state is spending on the program as part of the bi-weekly reports issued by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

The House GOP amendment makes the reporting requirement permanent, while also directing the administration to provide retroactive spending figures dating back to July 1. Representative Howitt said reinstating the reporting requirement will give the state’s taxpayers a better understanding of program costs.

In addition to restoring the shelter spending reporting requirement, the closeout supplemental budget also directs the Inspector General to investigate the state’s sheriffs’ offices, which were collectively seeking $162 million in deficiency funding, well above prior years’ levels. This investigation will include, but is not limited to, a detailed accounting of sheriffs’ offices’ expenditures, spending on programs that are not statutorily required, as well as an analysis of compensation levels over the last three years, with a preliminary report due by February 27, 2026 and a final report due by May 31, 2026.

Representative Howitt said House Bill 4761 also provides $10 million for operational and transitional enhancements at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to help ensure accurate information is being collected on recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This will help to improve the accuracy of eligibility and benefit determinations in Massachusetts, so the state will not face financial penalties from the federal government for having an elevated error rate.

House Bill 4761 also contains provisions that criminalize the impersonation of a federal officer. It calls for enhanced penalties that include a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than 2 1/2 years.

Representative Howitt said that in addition to these policy reforms, House Bill 4761 provides additional funding for a variety of state programs, including:

• $12 million to support universal school meals;
• A $100 million transfer of excess surtax revenues to the Student Opportunity Act Investment Fund;
• $18.3 million for student financial aid assistance, including the creation of a Public Higher Education Student Support Fund;
• $2.5 million for the Committee for Public Counsel Services to cover indigent persons fees and court costs;
• $50 million for the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund;
• $1.67 billion for MassHealth, which is expected to cost the state $303 million in net spending once federal reimbursements are factored in;
• $374 million in gross funding for Steward Hospital payments, with a net cost of $236 million for the state; and
• $10 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

Representative Howitt noted that the closeout supplemental budget includes $2.31 billion in gross spending. It will have a net cost of $806.9 million to the state once federal reimbursements are taken into consideration.

House Bill 4761 is now on Governor Healey’s desk for her review and signature.