House adopts amendment to strip residency requirement from Ipswich town manager charter

The Massachusetts House adopted an amendment to House 4243, "An act amending the charter of the town of Ipswich to eliminate residency requirement for town manager," striking section 2 and then passed the bill to be engrossed as amended. Representative Walsh of Peabody moved the amendment; the Chair put the question and, after a voice vote, said, "The ayes have it." The amendment was adopted and the House later announced the bill "is passed to be engrossed as amended."

The motion to amend—which the clerk acknowledged as being "in the hands of the clerk"—was the only recorded floor action on House 4243 in the provided transcript. The record shows the amendment was agreed to by voice vote; the transcript does not include substitute text for the new version of the bill, nor does it record a roll-call tally.

Because the transcript supplied contains the formal amendment motion and the chair’s voice vote announcement, the House’s action on the residency requirement is captured as an adopted amendment followed by a motion to engross the bill as amended.