BOSTON (SHNS) - The Healey administration took "a movement in the right direction" with its new family shelter system reforms, a key senator said Monday as he predicted a "robust conversation" among lawmakers when the administration seeks more money for the program. With an eye towards wrestling costs back down to the neighborhood of $350 million to $400 million, Gov. Maura Healey's office announced Friday that the state plans to further shorten the length of stay in traditional shelter sites and phase out the use of hotels and motels in the emergency assistance program. The changes stem from the broad recommendations of the Special Commission on Emergency Housing Assistance Programs, which was tasked by lawmakers with curbing the surging costs to the system caused by an influx of migrant families to Massachusetts over the last two years. "As the services were initially provided, it was not sustainable long-term but we had to deal with the crisis at hand. So I'm glad that the administration is recognizing that we've got to put some parameters around how we provide these services," Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues told the News Service. Rodrigues is "hopeful" that the administration's goal of reducing shelter costs down to about $400 million from roughly $1 billion this year and last is a realistic one, but hasn't had much discussion about whether the steps announced Friday are enough to accomplish that goal. "I think it's definitely a start, it's a movement in the right direction. You know, the Legislature hasn't had its say yet. I'm assuming that the administration will be coming back for a supplemental appropriation for the EA system, and when they do, it's going to be part of a robust conversation," he said. The Legislature has taken a mostly hands-off approach to the migrant influx that stressed the emergency assistance shelter system and pushed Healey to declare a state of emergency more than a year ago. Lawmakers have instead opted to give the administration enough money to run the system for months at a time, but have left the sometimes-controversial policy specifics largely to the executive branch. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Friday the administration wants to "dramatically reduce" the use of hotels and motels "as fast as we possibly can" from the 56 currently operating as emergency shelters. The administration thinks that, combined with other reforms like shortening the allowed length of a family's shelter stay, can bring the cost of the system back down closer to its historic average. "I mean traditionally EA shelter prior to our arrival was somewhere between $335-$350 million," Driscoll said. "We'd love to obviously get back in that $350 to $400 million range, just taking into account, you know, traditional cost escalation through inflation and whatnot." New demand for shelter has declined as well, with 15 to 18 families now seeking shelter each day compared to 40 families in late summer 2023, Healey's office said last week. The Healey administration has said it plans to file a supplemental budget seeking additional funding for the EA shelter system for the rest of fiscal 2025. Administration and Finance Secretary Matt Gorzkowicz recently said the system will likely run out of funds in January, and that Healey's team would be requesting more than $400 million. Rodrigues suggested that request will come in the new year, after the new Legislature has been sworn in. "Nothing like that will happen in an informal session. That will have to wait, and traditionally, the governor would file a supplemental budget at the same time, more or less, when he or she files House 1, their operating budget," he said, referring to the fiscal year 2026 budget due from Healey by Jan. 22. For fiscal 2025, lawmakers have so far approved a combined half-billion dollars between direct appropriations and available one-time funds, but the administration's latest report to lawmakers estimated that total fiscal 2025 shelter costs will actually be $1.018 billion, necessitating the coming supplemental spending. The Senate budget chief will influence the state's approach to family shelter funding in fiscal 2026. "Last year, it was brand new to us. We didn't know really what to expect. This year, as we have more experience with it and we can probably better forecast what the expenses would be, maybe it would be the time to bake in the full cost in the operating budget," Rodrigues said. "But that's something that we'll have a conversation about." Local News Headlines Town of Agawam rescinds open burning ban City of Westfield to hold annual tree lighting at new location Southampton man found not guilty of 2022 manslaughter National Cake Day: Where to get the best cake in western Massachusetts 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.