Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The fallout from Healey's big shelter move

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The fallout from Healey's big shelter move

With help from Kelly Garrity

NO VACANCY — Gov. Maura Healey’s move to effectively cap the emergency shelter system at 7,500 families is raising “significant” legal and humanitarian concerns among advocates and lawmakers, and setting off new questions about whether the state's “right-to-shelter” law should be modified, suspended or outright rescinded amid the migrant surge.

“The governor cannot unilaterally decide to stop complying with the law,” Oren Sellstrom, litigation director for Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in a statement calling on the governor to “reconsider this unfortunate decision.” The group told Playbook it is keeping “all legal options on the table.”

But Healey argues she doesn’t have a choice. Massachusetts is nearing 7,000 migrant and homeless families, or about 23,000 people, in its emergency shelter system. The governor said the state doesn't have enough space, service providers or funds to “safely expand” beyond 7,500 families, or about 24,000 people — a limit she expects to hit in just two weeks if nothing changes. The state will then shift to a “triage” system that will prioritize placements for “high needs” families while putting others on a waitlist.

Healey is hoping two new work programs — one to connect migrants with job training while they wait for work authorization and one to get them jobs once they have it — will help move people out of the shelter system and free up more space for new arrivals. She’s also appointed a former Massachusetts National Guard leader, Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice, as emergency assistance director.

Gov. Maura Healey (center) provides an update on the state's emergency shelter system with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll (left) and Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice (right) on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 at the Massachusetts State House. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

While some lawmakers backed Healey’s latest migrant moves , others worried about what could happen if they don’t work and families are indeed placed on a waitlist. “Will families just be on the street who keep arriving?” state Sen. Jamie Eldridge said.

The worsening crisis again raises the question of whether the 1983 “right-to-shelter” law that requires the state to provide immediate housing for certain families should be changed or spiked.

Healey was emphatic on Monday that “we are not ending the right-to-shelter law” even as she warned placements might not be guaranteed after the end of the month. Democratic legislative leaders have said in recent weeks it’s not something they’ve been considering. Yet some mayors whose communities are shouldering the burden of housing and schooling new arrivals have called to shelve the shelter law. And Republican lawmakers are pushing to change it to ward off any potential lawsuits.

But attempting to change the rules could bring its own set of legal and political challenges. In New York City, a coalition of homeless advocates, religious leaders and an influential labor union is fighting Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s attempt to roll back the city’s right-to-shelter rule. And Adams is facing pushback for trying to limit migrant families’ stay in the city’s shelter system to 60 days.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. There's still no word on if and when House lawmakers will move on Healey's request for $250 million to help prop up the shelter system.

"We have committed some monies" in the state budget, House Speaker Ron Mariano told Playbook's Kelly Garrity on Monday at an unrelated event. "But where we go beyond what we've already committed to is anybody's guess. We don't have the money to fund this forever. So we need help."

TODAY — Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll participates in the 2023 MassMakes Innovation Challenge at 10 a.m. at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is at Boston Green Academy at 8:30 a.m. and speaks at the Disabilities Commission’s 2023 Civic Engagement Day at 10 a.m. at City Hall. AG Andrea Campbell speaks at Tufts at 5:30 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? Thoughts on whether the shelter law should stay or go? Email us: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com.

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MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

HEALEY SLAMS PROTESTERS — Gov. Maura Healey ripped members of the local neo-Nazi group NSC-131 for "trying to scare people" after they protested outside her Arlington home on Saturday. “We won’t tolerate it,” the governor said in a statement on Monday.

NSC-131 has demonstrated outside of locations housing migrants and has been distributing recruitment fliers around the state, including in Westfield on Monday .

UNEXPECTED COSTS — Police calls to a Days Inn in Methuen have doubled since the hotel began housing migrant and homeless families last October, the Eagle-Tribune’s Monica Sager reports . The calls range from accidents to animal control to room conditions. Mayor Neil Perry said it’s “wasting a lot of manpower” and he is trying to get more support from the state.

— “Rockland hotel housing 7 migrant families, with more on way,” by Peter Blandino, Patriot Ledger.

FROM THE HUB

— “Council president calls for investigation into toddler found at Boston’s Mass and Cass,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “City Council President Ed Flynn is calling for the Boston Public Health Commission to conduct an investigation, after authorities discovered a 2-year-old boy spent a night in the violent, drug-ridden Mass and Cass zone.”

— “Greater Boston home sales haven't been this low since the 1990s,” by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

CALLING FOR A CEASEFIRE — President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday as progressive lawmakers and “squad” members including Rep. Ayanna Pressley continue to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “The murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas is horrific and unacceptable. And the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians is a horrific and unacceptable response from Israel,” Pressley said.

— “The Wexner Foundation cuts ties with Harvard over Hamas response,” by Hilary Burns, Boston Globe: “The Wexner Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering Jewish and Israeli leadership, said in a Monday letter to Harvard University’s board that it is ‘formally ending its financial and programmatic relationships with Harvard and the Harvard Kennedy School,’ because of the university’s response to this month’s surprise Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.”

— “Hundreds of Palestine supporters in Boston march to Israeli consulate,” by John Atwater, WCVB.

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MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Cannabis Control Commission Names New Acting Executive Director,” by Chris Faraone, Talking Joints Memo: “Chief People Officer Debra Hilton-Creek [will] temporarily fill [Executive Director Shawn Collins’] position. Though Hilton-Creek is relatively new at the agency, [Acting Chair Ava Callender] Concepcion noted her experience as a military veteran and ‘human resources practitioner with over 25 years of management and organizational leadership experience.’”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Aides to Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui of Cambridge allege toxic workplace behavior,” by Diti Kohli and Emma Platoff, Boston Globe: “Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui of Cambridge made history in 2020 when she became the first Muslim elected to lead a major Massachusetts city. ... [I]n office, she positioned herself as a progressive champion, promising to lift the city’s lowest. But eight women who have worked for Siddiqui since 2017 allege the mayor created a toxic work environment at odds with her public image. … Siddiqui declined an interview request for this story, but responded to detailed questions in an emailed statement, saying allegations of workplace mistreatment ‘are [either] simply not true or mischaracterizations.’”

— “Zarella's failure to pay taxes led to multiple liens,” by Paul Leighton, Salem News: “Mayoral candidate Jamie Zarella failed to pay taxes on time on multiple occasions over the last three decades, prompting the city, state and federal governments to place liens on his properties, public records show. … Zarella has paid off all the taxes, with the latest payment made to [Beverly] in July of this year. He took out nomination papers to run for mayor in May.”

— "The Springfield mayoral money race near the home stretch," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "As the Springfield mayoral race lumbered into October, the campaign cash dash was barely at a trot. Piles of money and late heat in the campaign propelled at-large Councilor Justin Hurst and Mayor Domenic Sarno past the September 12 preliminary. Yet, neither showed a surge of activity many had expected ahead of the final confrontation on November 7."

— "Are second homeowners in Truro changing residency to vote on Cape Cod?" by Walker Armstrong, Cape Cod Times: "Board members of a Truro part-time resident nonprofit organization presented a plan to its members in August asking them to change their voter registration to the town of Truro to exert more influence at the upcoming Saturday special town meeting. David Sullivan, former legal counsel to the state Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division, said the plan was illegal under Massachusetts state law."

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — The DNC is adding Rosemary Boeglin as comms director and promoting Libby Schneider to chief of staff and Brencia Berry to political director. Boeglin most recently was comms director for Sen. Ed Markey.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to retired Amherst state Rep. Ellen Story and Marcus Gadson .

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