HOUSE REPUBLICANS indicated on Wednesday that they intend to block Democrats if they try to ram through a $2.8 billion closeout budget containing money for the state’s emergency shelter program during informal sessions between now and the beginning of January.
The move ratchets up the drama on Beacon Hill, where Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have failed to reach consensus on $250 million in emergency shelter funding and backed themselves into an awkward corner. By not reaching an agreement before the Legislature recessed for the holidays on November 15, the Democrats, even if they do strike a deal, have given the heavily outnumbered Republicans tremendous leverage. In informal sessions, the objection of just one member can prevent a vote from taking place.
Republicans in the House released a statement Wednesday afternoon indicating they are prepared to use their leverage, even if it means money in the closeout budget for pay raises for state employees will be held up. The Republicans urged the Democratic leaders to call the Legislature back into session and have a full-fledged debate on the spending bill, and particularly the provisions dealing with the emergency shelter system, which has been struggling to absorb migrants from other countries.
“The House Republican Caucus believes this spending bill should receive a roll call vote in a full formal session, and not be passed in a sparsely attended informal session,” the statement said. “The hard-working men and women who have been waiting months for their collectively bargained pay raises continue to show up for work, and the members of the House and Senate should be prepared to do the same and reconvene in a full formal session.”
Previously, Republicans in the House and Senate had urged Democratic leaders on Beacon Hill to separate out and seek passage of provisions in the spending plan that everyone agrees on, including the pay raises, and leave any contentious issues such as the emergency shelter funding for later debate.
Democrats have ignored those appeals, reportedly because it would give Republicans even more leverage to block whatever proposal emerges on the emergency shelter funding if it is divorced from more sought-after provisions like the union pay raises.
Gov. Maura Healey earlier this week urged state lawmakers to pass the closeout budget this week, in part to get raises to state workers. Her administration previously has indicated the emergency shelter system could begin to run out of money by mid-January if the $250 million is not forthcoming.
Healey’s spokesperson, Karissa Hand, issued a statement indicating the consequences of inaction could be dire. “Even with no further expansion of emergency assistance, the system will run out of funding early in 2024 unless additional resources are made available,” she said. “We will also not be able to continue to support school districts or provide the wraparound services to families that were included in our September budget request. This supplemental budget also includes time sensitive funding to support municipalities with special education and flood relief, as well as hard-earned raises for workers.”
Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday said she hopes Republicans will not block action on the spending bill once it emerges from the conference committee. “I hope people realize that it’s critically important that we get this done as soon as possible and that it will move forward,” she said.
In their statement, the House Republicans said they strongly oppose provisions in the House and Senate versions of the spending plan dealing with the emergency shelter program.
“The state’s emergency shelter system has been overwhelmed by the recent influx of thousands of individuals and families arriving in Massachusetts, while cities, towns, and school districts continue to be burdened by the increased costs associated with housing and educating these migrants,” the statement said. “Although Gov. Healey has implemented a cap on the number of migrant families entering the emergency shelter system at 7,500 and moved others to a waitlist, there is currently no plan in place to stem the flow of new arrivals and no policy reforms implemented to ensure that longtime residents in need are not denied housing assistance, which is completely unacceptable.”
Senate Republicans welcomed a fourth member – Sen. Peter Durant of Spencer — to their caucus on Wednesday, but refused to say anything about their strategy for dealing with the closeout budget and its emergency shelter funding.
“It would be irresponsible of me, and not well advised, to lock any of us into a position at this moment,” said Sen. Bruce Tarr of Gloucester, the Senate minority leader.
The House Republicans disclosed that negotiations over the closeout budget seem confined to just two people – Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of Boston and Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees.
Shortly before the holiday recess, the House and Senate appointed three members each to a conference committee charged with reaching consensus. Two Republicans, one from the House and one from the Senate, were included on the conference committee.
Both branches approved a $250 million boost in the emergency shelter funding as part of their spending plans, but the House version directed in broad terms how the money should be spent while the Senate version left spending decisions to the Healey administration.
The statement from the House Republicans said the conferees “have yet to meet as a group and have instead relied on private discussions between the House and Senate Ways and Means chairs to try to broker a deal.”
Restricting negotiations to two people on a conference committee is not unusual, but the optics are bad at a time when the two officials, who report to the House speaker and Senate president, seem stalemated on the issue.
“If it is the intent of Democratic leadership to attempt to pass the $2.8 billion closeout budget in its entirety in an informal session, minus any meaningful policy reforms, we want to make it clear that we strongly oppose this option,” the House Republicans said. “The fact that the speaker, Senate president, and governor have been unable to reach consensus on the migrant issue shows that this is too contentious an issue to take up in an informal session.”
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