The Legislature has passed a $425 million supplemental budget and shelter system reform bill aimed at shoring up funding shortfalls in the state’s strained emergency assistance program.

The legislation now heads to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.

The bill comes as the state shelter system has been operating at or near capacity for more than a year, and has gone nearly a full month without operating capital after previously budgeted funds ran out on January 31.

Lawmakers approved the proposal mostly along party lines, with only Democrat Sens. John Velis of Westfield and Mark Montigny of New Bedford and Reps. Colleen Garry of Dracut and David Robertson of Tewksbury breaking ranks to join their Republican colleagues opposing the plan.

Government spending watchdogs at the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance said the bill does nothing to solve a problem that hasn’t gotten substantially better since the governor declared a state of emergency in the summer of 2023.

“Once again, the Massachusetts Legislature has kicked the can down the road. Instead of dealing with the underlying reasons for why the state needs to spend this $425M, they are simply buying themselves some time until the next time they run out of money,” MassFiscal spokesman Paul Craney told the Herald.

A real solution, Craney said, would need to address the underlying cause of the overcrowded shelter system — the influx of undocumented families to the Bay State — and not just throw more funding at the problem.

“The Governor and Legislature are not serious about reforming the right to shelter law benefit, they are just spending our tax dollars, and hoping the federal government deals with all the illegal border crossings. Until then, Massachusetts taxpayers will continue to fund the Legislature and Governor’s broken system,” Craney said.

Massachusetts is alone among the 50 U.S. states in guaranteeing a right to shelter for families with small children or pregnant parents. The bill passed Wednesday would change the state’s “right to shelter” law by imposing a 4,000-family cap — down from Healey’s previous cap of 7,500 — and introduce a six-month limit on the length a family in need of shelter can stay at a state-funded site.

It would also redefine who is eligible for shelter. Under the old version of the law, shelter had to be provided to qualifying families regardless of their official state residency or immigration status.

The new version of the law limits shelter to those families “consisting entirely of residents of the commonwealth who are citizens of the United States or persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing under the color of law in the United States,” or to families that include a child that meets those requirements.

The new rules further restrict shelter eligibility by dictating that those families “whose income exceeds 200 per cent of the federal poverty level for 3 consecutive months” are no longer eligible for the emergency assistance program.

The bill would also change how shelter recipients are vetted, requiring that “each individual adult applicant or beneficiary to disclose on their initial or subsequent application for emergency housing assistance benefits all prior criminal convictions, whether in the commonwealth or another jurisdiction.” The state would also check the criminal histories of all adult program applicants.

“Any adult applicant or beneficiary who fails to disclose prior criminal convictions consistent with this paragraph shall not be eligible for benefits and any existing benefits shall be terminated,” the bill reads.

House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement that the reforms will leave the right to shelter program in a better position to provide help to Bay State families without breaking the bank.

“By creating stricter eligibility requirements, along with increased security measures, this supplemental budget is the latest iteration of the House’s continued commitment to protecting vulnerable children and families in Massachusetts in a fiscally sustainable manner,” said Mariano said.

Senate President Karen Spilka said the bill strikes a balance between “our fiscal responsibility to Massachusetts taxpayers, and our moral obligation to moms, dads, and kids who are in a difficult moment.”

“We prioritize Massachusetts families in need, ensure transparency in the program, and take strong steps to ensure the safety of those in shelter. I thank Chair Rodrigues, each of the members of the Senate, and our colleagues in the House of Representatives for their collaboration and contributions to this legislation,” she said.

Matt Murphy, a spokesman for the Healey Administration’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance, told the State House News Service that they are happy with the final product.

“We are encouraged by the progress being made by the Legislature on our supplemental budget request and will continue to do all we can to ensure that services are not negatively impacted for families in our emergency assistance system,” Murphy said.