House passes $425 million supplemental for emergency shelters with new verification, limits and cap

The Massachusetts House on Feb. 3 voted to pass House Bill 57, a supplemental appropriation of $425,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 that funds the state's emergency shelter assistance program and adds new eligibility, verification and safety measures, lawmakers said.

The bill includes a requirement that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities verify residency at intake rather than waiting 30 days; mandatory CORI checks and disclosure of prior convictions (excluding sealed or expunged convictions); a reduction in the maximum consecutive stay in Emergency Assistance shelters from nine months to six months (with existing hardship waivers retained); temporary use of respite (overflow) sites for up to 30 days while verification is completed; and a temporary system cap of 4,000 families by the end of calendar year 2025, the bill text and floor remarks show.

Representative Michael Wits of Boston, speaking on behalf of the bill's sponsors, said the measure was intended to preserve the Commonwealth's "right to shelter" while making the program fiscally sustainable. "This bill proposes spending $425,000,000 on the shelter program to fund it for the remainder of the…