House Speaker Ron Mariano and Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz answer reporters' questions after caucusing privately with fellow Democrats on Oct. 17, 2023. Photo by Sam Doran | State House News Service

With the state’s emergency shelters on the verge of hitting a new capacity limit, House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a new plan to create an “overflow” option that would support families for whom space is not immediately available.

Venturing into the shelter crisis after months of effectively letting Gov. Maura Healey call the shots, House Democrats are newly flexing their legislative muscle by seeking to prevent the governor from capping the number of families in shelters unless she also stands up some kind of alternative for those stuck on the waitlist she plans to deploy.

The House Ways and Means Committee released a long-awaited $2.74 billion spending bill (H.4167) that combines new shelter funding and policies with a bevy of appropriations, including the action needed to close the financial books on fiscal year 2023.

Representatives will be asked to vote on the spending bill on Wednesday, one week before both branches must conclude formal sessions for the year under legislative rules.

The bill would authorize the full $250 million injection into the shelter system that Gov. Maura Healey requested nearly two months ago while setting additional requirements on how the money can be used.

One of the most significant measures would take aim at the 7,500-family capacity limit the administration set by requiring $50 million of the $250 million to go toward “the identification, acquisition and operationalization of a state funded overflow emergency shelter site or sites” for families placed on a shelter waitlist.

Under the House proposal, the administration would have 30 days after the effective date of the legislation to launch an overflow site. If officials fail to do so, the bill would require Housing Secretary Ed Augustus to revoke the limit on how many families can be in the shelter system “until said overflow site or sites are secured and operational.”

It was not immediately clear Tuesday — the same day the administration announced a $5 million grant program with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay to support overnight “safety net” shelters — what kinds of services the proposed overflow sites would provide.

The bill also calls for the administration to provide a 60-day notice if officials want to cap how long a family could stay in emergency assistance shelter, a step Healey said last week is under consideration.

Anti-homelessness advocates who have been pressing the Legislature to get involved in the emergency response praised the House’s legislation. Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, said the bill would “address some of the gaps we found” in the Healey administration’s waitlist plan.