Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House suspends rules and advances several measures, adopts amendment to sick-leave bank bill
Loading...
Summary
The Massachusetts House suspended rules to advance multiple measures, passed several bills to be engrossed including a Town Manager Act amendment, and adopted an amendment to a sick-leave bank bill for a Department of Transitional Assistance employee before adjourning to a future informal session.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives convened for a routine session in which members voted to suspend procedural rules to advance several measures, passed multiple bills to be engrossed, adopted an amendment to a sick-leave bank bill, and adjourned to meet Monday next at 11:00 a.m.
The presiding officer announced that the Committee on Rules recommended adopting an order extending until Wednesday, March 18, 2026, the time for the Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses to report on the House order (House No. 5172). After "Mister Wong of Saugus" moved to suspend the rules, the Chair called for the ayes; the House agreed and the order was adopted. The House also suspended Joint Rule 12 on the motion announced from the floor and agreed to schedule a number of measures for later consideration.
On measures brought forward, the House passed House No. 4502 (an act amending the Town Manager Act for the Town of Arlington) to be enacted. The clerk read a series of bills scheduled for second or third reading, including a Senate bill designating the last week in April as Building Trades Recovery Week (Senate No. 2110) and Senate No. 2574, a bill providing accidental death benefits for the surviving spouse of a former Boston firefighter (local approval received).
The House considered House No. 5014, a bill establishing a sick leave bank for Sonya Felix, an employee of the Department of Transitional Assistance. Representative Walsh of Peabody moved an amendment to replace the words "departments paid" with "extended illness" and to insert an emergency preamble; the amendment was adopted and the bill passed to be engrossed as amended.
Procedural votes also sent other bills to engrossment or third reading, including House No. 4817 (authorizing the town of Pembroke to grant an additional license for the sale of all alcoholic beverages not to be drunk on the premises) and other locally focused measures announced by the clerk. The presiding officer then put the question on an order that the House adjourn and reconvene Monday next at 11:00 a.m.; "Mister Smaller of Warren" moved the adjournment, the ayes prevailed, and the House stood adjourned.
Votes at a glance
- House No. 4502 (Town Manager Act amendment for Town of Arlington): passed to be enacted. - House No. 4817 (Pembroke additional liquor license): passed to be engrossed. - House No. 5014 (sick leave bank for Sonya Felix): amended (substitution of "extended illness" and insertion of emergency preamble) and passed to be engrossed as amended. - Joint Rule 12: suspended by vote; Rule 7A: suspended by vote; various bills scheduled for second/third reading or engrossment as announced by the clerk.
The session was largely procedural: committee reports and clerks' readings dominated the agenda, with limited floor debate and no recorded roll-call tallies in the transcript. The House adopted the scheduling orders and adjourned to the next informal session on Monday at 11:00 a.m.
