Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Massachusetts House adopts multiple orders, passes bills and adjourns to Monday
Summary
The House adopted a resolution congratulating Stoneham on its 300th anniversary, suspended rules to extend committee reporting deadlines, concurred with a Senate petition on school bus safety, passed several bills including a Westfield age-limit bill and a Revere noise ordinance measure, and adjourned to meet Monday at 11 a.m.
The Massachusetts House met, opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and proceeded through a series of committee reports and procedural actions before adjourning to meet Monday at 11 a.m.
The House adopted a resolution congratulating the town of Stoneham on its 300th anniversary after the Committee on Rules reported it ought to be adopted and Mr. Owens of Watertown moved to suspend the rules. The motion carried by voice vote.
Committee reports dominated the session. The Committee on Rules recommended orders to extend committee reporting deadlines on several matters: the Judiciary Committee (extension until March 18, 2026), the Committee on Public Service (extension until March 18, 2026), the Committee on Revenue (extension until Feb. 20, 2026), and the Committee on Transportation (extension until March 18, 2026). In each case, a member moved suspension of the rules and the House adopted the corresponding order by voice vote.
The House concurred with a Senate petition from Paul W. Mark to create a special commission to examine school bus safety, referring the matter under suspension of Joint Rule 12 to the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.
The steering, policy and scheduling committee reported several items to be scheduled for consideration, including a bill validating the proceedings at the Town of Millbury annual town meeting, a bill establishing a sick leave bank for a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education employee (name variants in the transcript), a House bill to allow in-person payment of daily parking fees at certain MBTA commuter rail stations, and a resolve directing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of extending the Orange Line. The House ordered those bills to a third reading.
An engrossed bill (House 3916) authorizing the city of Westfield to establish an age limit for original appointment to the position of police officer was presented for final passage and was passed to be enacted by voice vote.
House Bill 4,603, an act permitting the City of Revere to establish penalties and liens for noise ordinance violations, was released by the Committee on Bills in the Third Reading and subsequently passed to be engrossed after third reading.
Before adjourning, Mr. Mariano of Quincy offered an order that the House, upon adjournment, would reconvene Monday next at 11 a.m.; the House adopted the order. Mr. Smola of Warren then moved to adjourn and the motion carried by voice vote.
Votes reported in the transcript were voice votes recorded as "the ayes have it"; the transcript does not provide roll-call tallies or recorded individual member votes for these actions. Where a person’s name appeared with inconsistent spelling in the transcript (for example, the employee tied to the sick leave bank), the transcript variants are noted rather than corrected in this account.
The House will reconvene Monday at 11 a.m. in an informal session.
