Mass. House passes bill to replace outdated disability terms in state law

The Massachusetts House voted to pass House Bill 4704, an act amending certain laws relative to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, after floor debate and a recorded tally reported by the clerk. Supporters said the measure replaces terms such as "handicapped," "disabled," and "mental retardation" with person-first language (for example, "person with a disability") without changing substantive legal rights.

The bill’s sponsors and advocates framed the change as a dignity and inclusion measure. Representative Massey (Representative; district noted in the transcript as "of Tarleton") said the bill matters personally: "words matter," and described his adult daughter Jessica—"she's an extremely happy person"—as part of his case for updating statutory language. Miss Silvinson of Boston and other members urged the House to take the bill up by a call of the yeas and nays to record members’ positions.

Sponsors and committee chairs said the change required extensive cross-checking to avoid unintended legal or fiscal effects. Members thanked advocates and offices that reviewed the draft and verified citations; floor remarks noted that staff reviewed "over 400" statutory citations to ensure that replacing terms would not alter eligibility, benefits or program rules.

The bill drew broad, bipartisan floor support. Representative Garboli of Arlington described an aide who found derogatory language in a printed copy of the General Laws, saying constituents and staff deserve increased dignity in statutory language. Committee members and advocates credited organizations including the Disability Law Center, the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, The Arc of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Advocates for Children with helping to redraft text and verify impacts.

Procedural record: the clerk reported the roll call tally for the bill as 152 in the affirmative and 0 in the negative; the House ordered the bill to be engrossed and adopted the emergency preamble where applicable. The House also recorded prior companion and committee reports that led to the bill’s placement on the floor. The measure was referred and advanced in coordination with the Senate’s related language updates earlier in the session.

The House made the changes on the floor after several speakers recounted the bill's multi-year history and the work required to ensure that word substitutions did not change legal intent. Supporters repeatedly emphasized the limited scope of the bill—language modernization rather than substantive policy change—and asked colleagues to consider the dignity implications of statutory wording.