Healey stopped publishing regular accounting of state-run shelter spending

Gov Maura Healey s administration no longer publishes a masses regular accounting of how much the state is spending in the current fiscal year on the exigency shelter system housing homeless families and pregnant women because a state law mandating the information expired In seven reports issued since fiscal year started July Healey officers quietly stopped including key sections that documented in real-time how much taxpayers had spent on shelter costs programs designed to move families out of shelter and municipal supports In place of the records the Healey administration only notes that Beacon Hill Democrats approved million in this year s state budget for the shelter system the average amount spent on families in shelter each week and the total amount of cash spent from a reserve fund The lack of information about fiscal year spending comes as the Healey administration spent million in fiscal year on the crisis assistance operation and related services according to the last shelter summary to include fiscal year spending records The shelter tab represents the second full fiscal year that Massachusetts taxpayers have shelled out larger-than-normal sums to house homeless families after a surge of migrant arrivals pushed the urgency assistance shelter system to a bursting point The administration spent million in fiscal year There were families in crisis shelters as of Oct a dramatically lower count than the highs seen in according to state statistics Sen Ryan Fattman a Sutton Republican who advocated for the original legislative language behind the reports stated they have provided lawmakers and the general the ability to ask tough questions about decisions made by the Healey administration I think it would be a disservice to every single person in the Commonwealth for them just to go poof he noted I think a real leader looks at this situation and says Yep it s been really intricate There s been a lot of challenges with it And despite the fact that we might not be required by law to do this anymore the spirit of the law is about transparency and accountability and I m going to continue to do it The biweekly reports were created through a supplemental spending bill signed by Healey in December after Beacon Hill Democrats and Republicans battled over one of the first attempts to cough up more cash to pay for shelter services amid an influx of refugees For more than a year and a half the documents have shed light on how much money state agents were shuttling towards a problem that consumed Healey s first year s in office and pushed lawmakers to grapple with what they consistently admitted was unsustainable spending The initial law that called for the reports only required the Healey administration to provide details on the total amount expended on shelters supplemental school district costs municipal supports any other spending and projected deficiencies through the end of fiscal year In a note included in the Sept description Healey s top budget and housing officers reported that we have completed reporting requirements established by that line item Reporting on pursuits that are no longer ongoing such as hotel shelter or spending from past fiscal years may be identified in previous bi-weekly reports the administration announced in the reports None of the reports published since July have included real-time or detailed fiscal year spending evidence and the documents since the Sept release no longer feature information about fiscal year A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities verified that the administration is no longer required to document fiscal-year-to-date spending The fiscal input in the documents were often a place where the population lawmakers and other elected authorities could glean information about a surge in spending that was often marked by quick decision-making and controversial political debates Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Director Paul Craney mentioned the facts provided a starting point to figure out where taxpayer dollars were being directed It s never really been the full picture because particular of these expenses are perhaps pretty fungible but it brings a level of accountability Craney communicated the Herald In a analysis issued Monday state bureaucrats commented the average weekly cost for families in the urgency assistance shelter plan is and that functionaries have spent this fiscal year from a reserve fund filled with pandemic-era dollars on shelter-related requirements Fattman revealed if the Healey administration will not voluntarily include real-time spending evidence then the Legislature should amend state law to require them to do so It took a bipartisan effort to get these reports to be produced to understand the costs per family per week Why wouldn t you continue that There s so little bipartisanship in the world these days he mentioned It should be continued well beyond fiscal year to help us understand the trends and the numbers because we re going to have fiscal challenges for years to come Craney agreed The Legislature should definitely reinstate this disclosure because it is helpful for the community to know how much they re spending on a weekly basis It genuinely makes it a little bit more tangible for the average person he declared Spokespeople for Sen Michael Rodrigues of Westport and Rep Aaron Michlewitz of the North End the chief budget writers in each chamber to whom the reports are addressed declined to comment when inquired if they noticed that Healey stopped publishing real-time spending records A spokesperson for Healey s housing agency explained the administration inherited a shelter system in that was not equipped to handle the surge in demand Massachusetts experienced these past minimal years Gov Healey imposed reforms such as a limit limit length of stay limit residency requirements and background checks that have successfully reduced caseloads and costs We expect fiscal year costs to be hundreds of millions of dollars less than fiscal year the spokesperson revealed in a comment to the Herald