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

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

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 "changes are appropriate and needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state shelter system," Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday.

The Bay State will spend upwards of $8 billion over the next ten years improving its roads, bridges and regional transportation services if a proposal announced by the governor Tuesday is passed by the legislature.

Maura Healey on Wednesday asked lawmakers to limit emergency shelter to Massachusetts residents, among other major changes to the state's right-to-shelter law. Why it matters: The emergency shelter system has come under scrutiny in recent years for expanding to house thousands of migrants fleeing their native countries,