The bill makes only "modest changes" to the cash-strapped system, while failing to address underlying problems, House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. said.

Lawmakers passed a $425 million bill to finance the state's struggling emergency shelter system that also implemented a new cap on families and changed the qualifications for them to stay.

Representatives have about three dozen amendments to consider Thursday afternoon when they take up the first substantive legislation of the term, a $425 million mini-budget meant to both fund the emergency shelter program and make large-scale changes to the state’s response to family homelessness.