House Plan Makes No Reforms and Takes No Responsibility

Multiple Amendments to Allow Cooperation with ICE Blocked without a Roll Call Vote

Beacon Hill politicians, led by House Speaker Ronald Mariano, have once again chosen to throw taxpayer money at a broken system rather than enact real reforms. Today, the Massachusetts House, by a vote of 126-25, approved a $425 million bailout for Governor Maura Healey’s failed emergency shelter program—without addressing any of the systemic problems driving the crisis.

Several House lawmakers offered amendments that would allow ICE and other federal agencies to cooperate with state agencies, but House leadership ruled the amendments out of scope. One amendment, offered by state Representative Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica), was accompanied by a fiery House speech in favor of the common sense measure. The Speaker’s procedural gimmick prevents lawmakers from going on the record to vote on the amendment. The Speaker’s tactic was used as a preventative measure to protect Democratic House lawmakers from going on record with a vote in support or against cooperation with ICE.

“The State House is doing what it does best—spending more taxpayer money while refusing to take any responsibility and keeping the public in the dark. The Governor’s shelter system is a disaster, riddled with abuse and mismanagement. We’ve heard too many stories of taxpayer resources being exploited, too many stories of victims suffering due to the state’s inept and inadequate policies, and today, we heard too many excuses from lawmakers who claim they have no choice but to keep throwing money at the problem," said Paul Diego Craney, executive director for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

"The most meaningful reform would be to require state resources to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, but Beacon Hill politicians refuse to act for purely political reasons. Representative Lombardo gave a passionate speech in favor of his amendment to allow ICE to cooperate with state agencies. His speech gave voice to what thousands of people in the Commonwealth are seeing with their own eyes everyday,” continued Craney.

“Instead of fixing the problem, taxpayers are stuck in an endless cycle of waste. The only thing that will come from today’s vote is more spending, more failures, and more bailouts when State House politicians are inevitably forced to come back in a few months asking for more taxpayer funds to be diverted. This is what failed leadership looks like," closed Craney.