Governor Maura Healey said the right-to-shelter laws' “original intent” was not to cover the “waves and waves of people,” including migrant families, who have come into the state in recent years.

The residency requirements could effectively end the law as it's currently applied, meaning newly arrived immigrants could be ineligible.

BOSTON - The heavily scrutinized right-to-shelter law in Massachusetts would change significantly under a new proposal shared by Gov. Maura Healey Wednesday. The policy that became law in 1983 guarantees emergency housing to homeless families and pregnant women.

Less than a week after condemning security concerns surrounding a lack of background checks performed at shelters, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is proposing changes to the state's right-to-shelter law.

The proposal comes a day before her State of the Commonwealth address and as Republicans are seeking greater oversight of the troubled system.