Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Start Time:

1:00 PM

Location:

Gardner Auditorium and Virtual

Event Description

Home rule petitions, municipal finance, zoning, housing

The public is invited to participate in this hybrid hearing, which will be live streamed on the General Court website, https://malegislature.gov . Hearings will be recorded and posted publicly on the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government page which is accessible at [https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J10].

Those wishing to testify remotely must pre-register by clicking on this link before 3 PM Monday, July 28. Those wishing to testify in person may sign up on the day of the hearing but are encouraged to sign up ahead of time using the link above. Once registered, those planning to testify remotely will receive an email with a Microsoft Teams link and instructions prior to the start of the hearing. The presiding chair may limit the time allotted for oral testimony based upon the number of participants and bills on the agenda.

Written testimony is encouraged and will continue to be accepted after the hearing until the relevant bill is acted upon. Such testimony may be submitted via email to jointcommittee.municipalities&regionalgovernment@malegislature.gov or physically mailed to the committee:

Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, House Chair

Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Massachusetts State House

Attn: Geoff Richelew

24 Beacon Street, Room 450

Boston, MA 02133

The committee respectfully asks that individuals use only one method to submit testimony. Please provide the bill number in the subject line of the email, as well as your name, address, phone number and organization, if any, and address your comments to both House Chair Lewis and Senate Chair Rebecca Rausch.

At the discretion of the chairs and per committee rules, written testimony received by the committee will be made publicly available by request. The committee may limit availability or redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information, information about minors, or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness, or safety of the testifier or others.

Please note that all matters on the agenda that were filed in the House will be subject to the reporting procedures in House Rule 27.

This hearing will be chaired by House Chair Jack Patrick Lewis. Questions regarding the hearing, legislation, or reasonable accommodations to ensure people with disabilities can participate fully in the committee process may be directed to Geoff Richelew with Chair Lewis at Geoff.Richelew@mahouse.gov or 617-722-2582, or Clay Spivey with Chair Rausch at Clayton.Spivey@masenate.gov or (617) 722-1555.

If you have Accessibility needs, click here.

Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government - 7-29-2025	7/29/2025 1:00 PM	05:01:06

Home rules, municipal finance, zoning, housing 1:00pm - 6:05pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.2266	An Act repealing section 3A relative to MBTA communities	Paul K. Frost
H.2267	An Act relative to exemptions from MBTA community designations	Paul K. Frost
H.2278	An Act relative to late fees and accrued interest on parking tickets	Carlos González
H.2279	An Act relative to travel mileage rate fees for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and constables	Kenneth I. Gordon
H.2284	An Act encouraging public-private partnerships to create affordable housing at public sites	Kevin G. Honan
H.2285	An Act creating a commission to study the effects of unfunded mandates on municipalities	Steven S. Howitt
H.2288	An Act relative to MBTA communities	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2289	An Act to preserve public safety grant funding for cities and towns	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2290	An Act providing for municipal flexibility in state housing mandates	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2291	An Act allowing municipalities to appeal zoning provisions under the MBTA Communities Act	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2292	An Act relative to extending the requirements of the MBTA Communities Act to all cities and towns	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2294	An Act relative to voluntary municipal right of first refusal	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2295	An Act providing for retroactive housing compliance under the MBTA Communities Act	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2296	An Act amending the MBTA communities act to provide recategorization and alternative compliance	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2297	An Act relative to protecting municipalities from unfunded mandates	Hannah Kane
H.2305	An Act reforming the MBTA Communities Act	Kathleen R. LaNatra
H.2308	An Act relative to multi-family zoning in MBTA communities	Marc T. Lombardo
H.2327	An Act mitigating MBTA Communities funding impact for First Responders and Education	David Allen Robertson
H.2338	An Act relative to exemptions from MBTA community designations	Kenneth P. Sweezey
H.2339	An Act relative to guidelines for MBTA communities	Kenneth P. Sweezey
H.2340	An Act repealing section 3A relative to MBTA communities	Kenneth P. Sweezey
H.2343	An Act repealing the MBTA communities act	Jeffrey Rosario Turco
H.2344	An Act requiring Safe Harbor exceptions to the MBTA Communities Act	Jeffrey Rosario Turco
H.2345	An Act relative to the MBTA Communities Act	Jeffrey Rosario Turco
H.2348	An Act relative to exclusionary zoning	Andres X. Vargas
H.2355	An Act authorizing the town of Northfield to acquire property in the town of Bernardston	Susannah M. Whipps
H.2356	An Act incentivizing inclusionary zoning	Christopher J. Worrell
H.3923	An Act granting the city of Somerville the authority to require the adoption of institutional master plans subject to the review and approval by the municipality	Christine P. Barber
H.3997	An Act establishing the suburban infrastructure fund to help municipalities pay for improvements and upgrades to town-owned roads, bridges and sidewalks	Dennis C. Gallagher
H.4020	An Act relative to owner occupancy requirement for accessory dwelling units	Patrick Joseph Kearney
H.4021	An Act relative to municipal housing requirements	Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.
H.4074	An Act relative to the development of single family and multi-family housing for veterans	Christopher Richard Flanagan
H.4252	An Act updating the linkage exaction program in the city of Medford	Paul J. Donato
H.4253	An Act relative to elected terms and municipal years	Daniel J. Ryan
S.1430	An Act to promote Yes in God's Back Yard	Brendan P. Crighton
S.1433	An Act relative to zoning for housing production	Julian Cyr
S.1434	An Act relative to funding affordable housing and incentivizing zoning reform	Julian Cyr
S.1437	An Act providing exemptions under the MBTA communities law	Kelly A. Dooner
S.1438	An Act granting a compliance extension for certain adjacent communities	Kelly A. Dooner
S.1439	An Act exempting certain adjacent communities from MBTA zoning requirements	Kelly A. Dooner
S.1440	An Act ensuring municipal access to state funding	Kelly A. Dooner
S.1441	An Act simplifying inclusionary zoning	Lydia Edwards
S.1447	An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants	Patricia D. Jehlen
S.1465	An Act relative to community exemptions from MBTA community designations	Patrick M. O'Connor
S.1466	An Act restoring local zoning control	Patrick M. O'Connor
S.1467	An Act allowing MBTA Communities to seek relief	Patrick M. O'Connor
H.1512	An Act to exempt local housing authorities from the penalties of the MBTA Communities Law	Richard M. Haggerty
H.1514	An Act providing a buffer for manufactured home communities	James K. Hawkins
H.1535	An Act requiring triennial reports on the impacts of multi-family zoning in MBTA communities	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.4292	An Act amending the charter of the town of Hopkinton to incorporate appointment powers of the board of library trustees	James C. Arena-DeRosa
H.4293	An Act establishing an economic development special revenue account for the town of Hopkinton	James C. Arena-DeRosa

Present (11)

Jack Patrick Lewis (HOU)

Michael S. Chaisson (HOU)

Mike Connolly (HOU)

Carmine Lawrence Gentile (HOU)

Homar Gómez (HOU)

Kristin E. Kassner (HOU)

Samantha Montaño (HOU)

Norman J. Orrall (HOU)

Lindsay N. Sabadosa (HOU)

Joshua Tarsky (HOU)

Richard G. Wells, Jr. (HOU)

	Document
	H.1512 Summary_Haggerty_MBTA Act penalties
	H.1514 Summary_Hawkins_Provide buffer for manufactured homes
	H.1535 Summary_Jones_MBTA Act triennial reports
	H.2266 Summary_Frost_Repealing Section 3A_MBTA communities
	H.2267_Summary_Frost_MBTA_Exemptions
	H.2278_summary-Gonzalez-late fees and interest on parking tickets
	H.2279 Summary_Gordon_Relative to travel mileage rate fees for sheriffs deputy sheriffs and constables
	H.2284 Summary_Honan_Encouraging public private partnerships to create affordable housing at public sites
	H.2285 Summary_Howitt_Creating a commission to study effects of unfunded mandates on municipalities
	H.2288_Summary_Jones_Relative_To_MBTA_Communities
	H.2289_Summary_Jones_Public_Safety_Grant_Funding
	H.2290_Summary_Jones_Providing_Municipal_Flexibility
	H.2291_Summary_Jones_Providing_Housing_Appeal
	H.2292 Summary_Jones_Extend MBTA communities act requirements to all cities and towns
	H.2294 Summary_Jones-municipal right of first refusal
	H.2295 Summary_Jones_Retroactive housing compliance under MBTA act
	H.2296 Summary_Jones_Amend MBTA Act for recategorization and alternative compliance
	H.2297 Summary_Kane and Arciero_Relative to protecting municipalities from unfunded mandates
	H.2305 Summary_LaNatra_Reforming the MBTA Communities Act
	H.2308 Summary_Lombardo_relative to multi-family zoning in MBTA communities
	H.2327 Summary_Robertson_Mitigating MBTA Comm Act funding impact
	H.2338_Summary_Sweezey_MBTA_Exemptions
	H.2339 Summary_Sweezey_Guidelines for MBTA communities
	H.2340 Summary_Sweezey_Repealing Section 3A MBTA communities
	H.2343 Summary_Turco_Repealing the MBTA communities
	H.2344_Summary_Turco_Safe_Harbor Exceptions
	H.2345 Summary_Turco_Relative to the MBTA Communities Act
	H.2348 Summary_Vargas_Relative to exclusionary zoning
	H.2355 Summary_Whipps and Comerford_Authorizing Northfield to acquire property in Bernardston
	H.2356 Summary_Worrell_incentivizing inclusionary zoning
	H.3923 Summary_Barber_Somerville Institutional Master Plans
	H.3997 Summary_Gallagher_suburban infrastructure fund for improvements
	H.4020 Summary_Kearney_owner occupancy requirements for ADUs
	H.4021 Summary_Puppolo_relative to municipal housing requirements
	H.4074_Summary_Flanagan_housing for veterans
	H.4252 Summary_Donato_Medford updating linkage fee schedule
	H.4253_Summary_Ryan_Boston_Elected_Terms
	H.4292_Summary_ArenaDeRosa_Hopkinton_Library
	H.4293_Summary_ArenaDeRosa_Hopkinton_Revenue_Account

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

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