Gov. Maura Healey has made a point of saying that Massachusetts is not a “sanctuary state.” 

But it should be.

Not for immigrants who ignore the law and come here illegally, nor for illegal immigrants who are charged with crimes while here and want to evade deportation.

Massachusetts needs to offer sanctuary for taxpayers who are sick and tired of shouldering the costs for agendas they don’t want.

Bay Staters have been reeling from soaring energy bills this winter. It’s been especially cold, and the state’s decarbonization agenda isn’t helping. Among the state environmental initiatives: Mass Save, a program that supports Massachusetts’ “statutorily-required greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.”

A new poll shows Massachusetts residents want natural gas over renewable energy as the federal government aims to revive a pipeline project that could lower utility costs by $1 billion.

Roughly 47% of the 800 likely voters who participated in the poll by nonpartisan watchdog Fiscal Alliance Foundation earlier this month supported the construction of new pipelines into the state, while 37% preferred a complete push to renewables.

Too bad for the majority — Healey is all in on renewables.

The governor is rolling out a plan she’s said will eventually cut billions from taxpayer bills. Healey’s also ordering the state DPU to demand utility companies reduce costs by at least 5% for the remainder of the heating season.

A whopping 5%. That’s like a 40-cent coupon off an $8 carton of eggs.

While Bay State residents cope with stratospheric energy bills, they can take little comfort in Healey’s announcement of regulations that require applicants to the program to consent to a local criminal background check or be barred from receiving benefits.

Healey said the changes “empower our team to keep families, staff and communities safe by enhancing our criminal background check process and disqualifying anyone who has been convicted of a serious crime.”

Now, some 19 months after Healey declared a state of emergency around migrant arrivals in 2023, after municipalities were “selected” to host migrant shelters, after the cost of running those shelters has consumed hundreds of millions of dollars, and after a spate of occupants of those shelters have been charged with heinous crimes.

Now we’re going to tighten up the background checks.

Healey lays blame at the foot of the feds: “Massachusetts is managing this federal problem, but Congress needs to act on meaningful immigration reform instead of making Massachusetts taxpayers foot the bill for their failures.”

The “federal problem” has a name – President Joe Biden and the progressives who backed his all-but-open border policies. And Massachusetts taxpayers might not have had to foot the bill had Healey stuck to the letter of the Right to Shelter Law: it covered Massachusetts residents. Before Healey’s new regulations, shelter-seekers could just “self-attest” that they were residents of the state. Now, proof is required.

The state budget could have used this 19 months ago.

Editorial cartoon by Chip Bok (Creators Syndicate)