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Governor says shelter system reforms reduced costs and numbers, will continue assessing reporting
Summary
Asked why real‑time shelter spending reports stopped after a legislative mandate expired, the governor said reports were submitted when required and described reforms (background checks, wait lists, case managers) that he said reduced shelter costs and populations; he declined to commit to restoring the reporting mandate.
A reporter asked whether the administration would voluntarily release fiscal‑year 2026 shelter spending data or seek to restore a lapsed legislative reporting mandate. The governor said the administration had submitted required reports while the mandate was in place, but is no longer required to publish that data.
"We continue to assess this, the impact and what's happening within the shelter system," the governor said, and described a series of reforms he said his administration put in place after he inherited a system he characterized as "totally out of control" and mismanaged. He listed background checks, an established wait list, case managers to speed placements into permanent housing, residency requirements and limits on length of stay.
The governor said those changes led to drops in both shelter costs and the number of people in the shelter system. He did not provide specific recent expenditure totals in this briefing and said the administration will "continue to assess things and evaluate things as we go." The governor framed the reforms as management improvements rather than new statutory requirements.
What happens next: the governor said the administration will continue assessment and did not commit to reinstating a statutory reporting requirement; reporters did not record a formal plan or timeline for resuming public reporting of shelter spending.
