Local lawmakers react to $500M emergency shelter spending
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – 22News is hearing from local lawmakers after the state released new numbers on emergency shelter spending.
According to the state's latest report, the total amount spent on the emergency housing program for fiscal year 2025 is nearly $500 million.
Spending to date, includes shelter & associated services, National Guard activation, clinical and safety risk assessment sites, temporary emergency shelters, and exit programs. State Representative Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield) told 22News, 'Especially during these winter months I think it's the humane thing to do to make sure that we tighten the budget, but provide the services necessary to make sure that people are safe.'
The report also shows last year's spending on emergency housing assistance totaled nearly $900 million. We are also hearing from state Senator John Velis. In a statement to 22News, Velis says that the amount spent on the program is 'astounding,' and that the state needs to consider a change in this trajectory.
'Multiple times a day I hear from residents and organizations who provide vital resources to Massachusetts residents and who are now being asked to do more with less and are having trouble staying afloat,' Velis adds. 'The unfortunate reality is that the astronomical spending on the current e-a program is impacting everything else. Enough is enough. As I have been saying for several years now, we need real, substantive, reforms to handle this crisis.'
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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