Senate adopts emergency preamble and passes sick-leave bank; approves Eagle Scout resolutions

The Massachusetts Senate on July 3, 2025, adopted an emergency preamble and passed an act establishing a sick leave bank for Jato Charlatan, an employee of the Department of Transportation, and approved resolutions congratulating two Eagle Scouts.

The action began with the chamber asking members to rise for a standing vote to adopt an emergency preamble required for final passage of the measure creating the sick-leave bank. The presiding officer reported two members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative, and declared the emergency preamble adopted.

The Senate also approved resolutions introduced by Senator O'Connor congratulating Jack Geisel and Windsor Schepler on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. The presiding officer declared the ayes to have it and the resolutions were adopted.

Other employee sick-leave measures were advanced. The Senate, by unanimous consent, took up an act establishing a sick leave bank for Steven Forget, an employee of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office (House No. 4103), and ordered that bill to a third reading. A separate house bill to establish a sick leave bank for James Caruso, an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (House No. 4230 as read in the transcript), came from the House and was ordered to a third reading. The chamber also used a rule suspension to refer a petition and accompanying bill by Pavel and Payano concerning expansion of access to a "family self-sufficiency" program to committee.

The presiding officer moved final passage on the transportation employee sick-leave bill for Jato Charlatan; the president announced the bill had passed and would be laid before the governor. The transcript shows the act was passed, with the formal statement that the ayes have it, but it does not record a roll-call tally for that final passage.

The Senate concluded with historical remarks referencing July 3 anniversaries and adopted an order to adjourn until Monday next at 11:00 a.m.

Votes at a glance

- Act establishing a sick leave bank for Jato Charlatan (employee, Department of Transportation). Action: final passage with emergency preamble adopted. Vote tally: emergency preamble counted as 2 yes, 0 no; final passage tally not specified in the transcript. Referenced: transcript start 00:00:27–00:03:51.

- Act establishing a sick leave bank for Steven Forget (employee, Worcester County Sheriff's Office). Action: taken out of order and ordered to a third reading; outcome: advanced. Vote tally: not specified. Identifier in transcript: House No. 4103.

- Act establishing a sick leave bank for James Caruso (employee, Massachusetts Department of Transportation). Action: came from the House and was ordered to a third reading. Vote tally: not specified. Identifier in transcript: read as House No. 4230.

- Petition and bill by Pavel and Payano to expand access to the family self-sufficiency program. Action: Senate suspended rules and referred the matter to the committees on housing. Vote tally: suspension adopted; roll-call not recorded in transcript.

- Resolutions congratulating Jack Geisel and Windsor Schepler on achieving Eagle Scout rank. Action: adopted. Vote tally: not specified (presiding officer declared ayes have it).

Notes and clarifications

- Several bill numbers and names in the transcript contain transcription variants (for example, the Charlatan/Charlton spelling and multiple numeric variants). Where the transcript did not supply an unambiguous identifier, the article lists the text as read and marks numeric identifiers exactly as they appear in the record when present (House No. 4103 for Steven Forget; House No. 4230 for James Caruso as read). If a specific roll-call tally was not read into the transcript, this article reports that the tally was not specified.

- The transcript records routine procedural language ("the ayes have it", requests for unanimous consent) but does not include recorded individual roll-call votes for the final passage of each bill except the standing-count result for the emergency preamble noted above.

Sources: Senate proceedings, July 3, 2025 (transcript).