In response to the release of the most recent Bi-Weekly Emergency Shelter Report, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is calling for a renewed urgency for lawmakers on Beacon Hill to reprioritize the failed shelter program under Governor Maura Healey.

“The fact that we are paying an average of $3,823 a week for each family in emergency shelter without scrambling for deep reforms of our emergency shelter law and other generous benefits is insulting to the taxpayers of our state. If you don’t think the average working Massachusetts family could use that kind of money each week after working hard and paying their taxes their whole lives, as opposed to just arriving here, you’re an elitist. The taxpayers deserve much more from their elected officials than continuing to use their money to fund a system filled with corruption and report after report of the bad actors plaguing the system,” said Paul Diego Craney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

This level of funding is happening at a time when, according to State House leaders, they are hard pressed to come up with the estimated $100 million to fund attorney pay raises who represent defendants for the state, resulting in a broken judicial system with some cases of violent criminals being released back into the public without trial.

“This is exactly the kind of behavior that reinforces public distrust in Beacon Hill. They spend close to $1 billion of our tax dollars annually on the emergency shelter program without batting an eyelash, yet when it comes to finding funds to essentially keep violent criminals from being released back into the public, there’s all of a sudden, a big hold-up. Beacon Hill needs to start prioritizing the people they represent, who have built the communities they call home,” said Craney.

“Under Governor Healey, for three long years, taxpayers have been told they must pay a billion dollars a year to fund this broken emergency shelter system. Now, lawmakers are attempting to break the judicial system by willfully ignoring the release of some dangerous individuals. This is reckless, costly, and making the state less safe,” concluded Craney.