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Committee hears municipal home-rule petitions on recall thresholds and term limits from Pembroke and Bridgewater
Summary
Representatives described local petitions to lower recall petition signature thresholds in Pembroke and to add recall procedures and term limits in Bridgewater; both are home-rule petitions requiring legislative consideration and voter ratification.
Several local officials and lawmakers asked the Joint Committee on Election Laws to advance home-rule petitions that would change recall procedures and establish term limits in two Massachusetts towns.
Representative (unnamed in transcript) described Pembroke's vote to amend its recall law after a local incident and said the town seeks to lower the required petition signatures from 20% of registered voters to 10%. "This is not an attempt to weaponize recall," the representative said, noting the amendment passed overwhelmingly at town meeting.
Representative Gallagher presented two home-rule petitions for Bridgewater, for a recall procedure and for term limits contained in a town charter review. Gallagher said the Bridgewater Town Council voted 8–0 to send the petitions to the legislature and that any changes would then be placed on a local ballot for voter ratification. "If these move forward ... they do go to a ballot in the town of Bridgewater as well," Gallagher said.
On term limits, Gallagher said the proposed language would set limits at four three-year terms, totaling 12 years. He also noted the local charter review vetted the language and the town attorney reviewed it. No committee votes were taken; the panel accepted the testimony as part of a larger hearing on election-related bills.
The committee adjourned without taking action on the local petitions; Chair Dan Hunt reminded witnesses that written testimony could be submitted until committee action.
