A top House Democrat said he wants to see more information on crimes committed in state-run shelters and a plan to boost security from Gov. Maura Healey before advancing a $425 million spending bill to fund the emergency assistance program through the end of the year.

Taxpayer-funded shelters for homeless pregnant women and families with children, including migrants, have come under intense scrutiny after the arrest of an illegal immigrant with an assault rifle and drugs and the release of a trove of records detailing disturbing incidents at shelter sites across the state.

House budget writer Rep. Aaron Michlewitz said Democratic leadership in the chamber wants to know more from the Healey administration on crimes in state-run shelters and what security measures can be put in place before signing off on a spending bill the governor filed earlier this month.

“We just don’t know that answer right now,” Michlewitz told the Herald Tuesday afternoon at the State House. “And I think that creates, certainly, concerns about what to do going forward. But certainly, something we need a little more information on before we can really justify whatever future bill we may put forward.”

The North End Democrat said lawmakers need to take a “hard look” at “potential loopholes” within the current structure of the emergency shelter system — including any that allowed for Leonardo Andujar Sanchez of the Dominican Republic to allegedly bring an AR-15 and $1 million worth of fentanyl into a Revere hotel serving as a shelter.

Safety at shelter sites around the state has exploded as an early headache for the Healey administration at the start of the 2025-2026 legislative session even as the sustainability and cost of the system has long been a key issue on Beacon Hill.

Healey said last week that she planned to commission an independent report from former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis on safety in shelters that would be due within a month. The first-term Democrat said she would make the report public once it is delivered by Davis.

Michlewitz pointed to the report as one opportunity to glean more information from the administration before releasing their own version of the spending bill.

“The administration talked about filing some type of report, or giving folks some type of report related to some of the findings on some of the complexities that have taken place,” he said. “I think we would certainly want to see what that was before making further recommendations on moving forward with the (spending bill).”

As talks on the spending bill continue, legislative Republicans seized on security issues Tuesday and announced a series of policy changes aimed at boosting transparency, security, and fiscal accountability in the emergency shelter program.

Conservatives included among the reforms a push to amend the state’s decades-old right-to-shelter law to require lawful presence in Massachusetts for one year before allowing someone access to the emergency assistance program.

The provision would not apply to victims of domestic violence and natural disasters.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said the package of reforms expected to be filed this week will emphasize “communication, accountability, and reform.”

“Those are essential elements of the path we must take to address this situation. It can no longer be ignored. It can no longer be addressed in a piecemeal fashion, and the future of the system cannot be left to chance,” he told reporters at the State House.

The Republican caucuses in the House and Senate have long tried to enact a residency requirement but failed multiple times during the last legislative session. But Republicans may find more openness to the idea from their Democratic counterparts after the arrest in Revere.

Healey signaled a willingness to discuss residency requirements last week and told reporters Tuesday that she plans to offer her own emergency shelter changes “very soon.”

“There’s a finite amount of money out there to support emergency shelter. I think it’s important that we take steps to change the law to make sure that the right to shelter law and emergency shelter is serving those it was intended to serve, and that is Massachusetts,” she said two days before she is set to offer her yearly State of the Commonwealth address.

Michlewitz said “everything has to be on the table for conversation” when asked if he would support a residency requirement.

“In terms of its constitutionality, its effectiveness, what it would actually do, again not knowing whether the folks that are committing some of these acts outside of the Revere issue, is it something that’s strictly coming from the migrant community or is it coming from our own residents? What’s the breakdown, what’s the difference?” he said.

Michlewitz is not the only Democrat to ask for more information before tackling Healey’s spending bill, which would drain the majority of an account filled with surplus dollars leftover from the pandemic to pay for the emergency assistance program.

House Speaker Ron Mariano said last week that Democrats would “discuss a lot of prerequisites” for taking up Healey’s shelter funding proposal.

“I’m outraged that a guy walked in with an (AR-15). I mean, that’s outrageous. You don’t put that in your pocket,” the Quincy Democrat said.

Related Articles

Boston Mayor Wu’s tax relief bill welcomed by ‘struggling’ senior homeowners, but hammered by real estate industry

Revere City Council to consider motions related to arrest of illegal immigrant on gun, drug charges

A major deadline was supposed to hold Beacon Hill accountable. Democrats may get rid of it

Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis not ruling out running for governor in 2026

Marblehead’s Amy Carnevale reelected as chair of Massachusetts Republican Party

A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka did not say whether she would support any of the ideas proposed by Republicans and instead cast blame on the federal government for forcing Massachusetts “to deal with (immigration) alone because of inaction in Congress.”

“The Senate is working alongside our colleagues in the House and the administration to continuously assess the program and our resources. We are working to balance our responsibility to prevent families in crisis — moms, dads and kids, many of whom are longtime Massachusetts residents — from sleeping on the streets, with our responsibility to be stewards of taxpayer dollars,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Legislative Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, outlined a series of reforms to state-run shelters Tuesday. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)