Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislative Processing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mass. House advances local and statewide bills to third reading, adopts amendment to Somerville charter bill
Summary
The Massachusetts House ordered multiple bills to third reading, passed several bills to be engrossed, and adopted an amendment by substitution to a Somerville charter bill during a routine session in which the House also extended committee reporting deadlines.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives ordered multiple bills to third reading, passed several local acts to be engrossed and adopted an amendment to a Somerville charter bill during routine floor business.
The Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling reported a series of bills to be scheduled, including House bill 2517, "An act to update posterior screenings in schools," and House bill 2652, "An act relative to motor vehicle battery storage." Other bills listed for consideration included House bill 4275 (alcohol license permits and suspensions), House bill 4277 (maximum allowable check‑cashing rate), House bill 4285 (modernizing Massachusetts alcohol permitting laws), House bill 4286 (authorizing the town of Somerset to grant an additional license for sale of wine and malt beverages off premises, local approval received), and House bill 4287 (authorizing West Springfield to grant four additional all‑alcohol licenses off premises, local approval received). The House suspended rule 7A to proceed and ordered the listed bills to a third reading by voice vote.
On final passage motions, the House passed House bill 4245, "An act increasing the membership of the select board in the town of Mattapoisett," to be enacted by voice vote. The House then proceeded to third readings of bills released by the Committee on Bills in Third Reading. Among those, House bill 360, "An act relative to certain licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises in the city of Holyoke," was passed to be engrossed by voice vote.
House bill 2251, "An act establishing a special fund for the festival of hills receipts for the town of Conway," and House bill 4264, "An act establishing a charter for the city of Somerville," were taken up in third reading. During consideration of the Somerville charter bill, Representative Walsh of Peabody offered an amendment by substitution of a bill with the same title; the House adopted the amendment by voice vote and then passed the substituted bill to be engrossed.
The record shows standard procedural voice votes throughout ("all those in favor say aye; opposed no; the ayes have it"). The House also adopted committee orders extending reporting deadlines: the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies was authorized an extension to report current House documents until Dec. 1, 2025, and the Committee on Transportation was authorized an extension to report until Mar. 18, 2026, as reported by the Committee on Rules. Both extensions were adopted after suspension of the rules by voice vote.
No roll‑call votes, budget allocations, or new programs were recorded for these items during the session; actions taken were procedural steps to advance bills to later stages in the legislative process.
