BOSTON, Mass. — Maura Healey’s administration spent $942 million in a single fiscal year on emergency shelters, handed out “unlawful” no-bid contracts to do it, and then hid who was getting paid.
The Boston Herald reported that spending from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, reached $942 million, with the final total expected to climb by tens of millions more. Over two fiscal years, the administration was on track to spend at least $1.8 billion.
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s 74-page report found that Healey’s team failed to adequately prepare for the surge in demand, then relied on no-bid contracts the auditor called unlawful, driving up costs when the need “could have been addressed through alternative means.”
The examples are damning. Spinelli Ravioli Manufacturing received a $10 million, eight-month no-bid food contract the auditor called “inordinately long and inconsistent with best practices.” The caterer was overpaid on nearly 10 percent of deliveries, and the Globe reported it served raw chicken to homeless families. Spinelli’s owner and other executives had given $7,550 to Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll since 2019.
A $6.8 million no-bid transportation contract with Mercedes Cab, now Pilgrim Transit, produced a $140 charge for a 223-foot drive across a parking lot, plus 501 no-shows and 2,315 canceled rides totaling more than $351,000 in what the auditor called “excessive” charges. The state also spent $9,000 on gift cards, and the invoices never say what they were used for.
Taxpayers were kept in the dark. The Boston Globe reported that the administration has “broken with government accountability norms,” withheld key contractor information, and “shuttered the shelters from public view.” One $16.3 million hotel contract was provided with the vendor’s name blacked out, and $400,000 was spent before the deal was even finalized.
From the press office of Mike Minogue.