[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog. Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.]
With a spike in homelessness in Massachusetts, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker has decided to dip a toe into the policy pool with the declaration of a general goal:
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Baker Wednesday said he would work, by the end of his first year in office, to eliminate the state practice of sending homeless families to hotels and motels when shelters are full.
But don’t confuse that statement with an actual pledge:
Baker declined to make an ironclad pledge to eliminate putting homeless families in hotels and motels in his first year in office, if he wins.
It’s not the first time that Republican Charlie Baker made a policy pronouncement regarding homelessness, only to quickly temper it:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker yesterday backed away from a proposal he made Tuesday to require anyone seeking help from a Boston homeless shelter to prove he or she is a legal resident of the country. […]
“Baker’s proposal to require homeless shelters to turn away people, including veterans and even families with children, if they can’t produce proof [of] residency is inhumane and wrong,” [Governor Deval] Patrick said in the statement. […]
[Baker spokesman Rick] Gorka said yesterday that the Pine Street Inn offers both long-term housing and emergency services and that Baker was referring only to those needing long-term assistance. “It’s not in contradiction, or anything like that,” Gorka said. Baker did not draw that distinction, however, during the initial news conference when the question was asked.
This “Papers Please” approach to homelessness that Republican Charlie Baker promoted was immediately and universally criticized as shockingly inhumane, leading Team Baker to quickly walk it back. Of course, that was back during the Angry Charlie Baker campaign of 2010, not the “really enthusiastic, hard-charging, set-the-bar-high, let’s-go-get-it-type” Charlie Baker campaign of 2014.
Regardless, the episode serves as another reminder that Republican Charlie Baker will continue to play fast and loose with his policy positions until he finds the most politically expedient path. Baker may have been a Beacon Hill insider under Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci, but he seems to have learned the most from Mitt Romney.
