Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Start Time:

1:00 PM

Location:

A-2 and Virtual

Event Description

General Veterans Legislation

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Hearing Room A-2

The Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs will hold a hybrid public hearing to solicit written and oral testimony in-person and remotely on the following bills:

General Veterans Legislation

Please be advised that the schedule and agenda are subject to change at the agreement of the Chairs.

All matters filed in the House that are listed above are required to be reported on by September 20, 2025, subject to extensions consistent with House Rule 27.

The public is invited to participate in this hybrid hearing, which will be livestreamed on the General Court website, https://malegislature.gov/. Hearings will be recorded and posted publicly on the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs page, https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J31/Hearings.

To register to testify, you must provide contact information through this form by 12:00pm on July 21, 2025. The Chairs will limit testimony to three minutes per individual. The Chairs reserve the right to call public officials out of turn.

For those testifying remotely, you will receive a Microsoft Teams link with more information prior to the start of the hearing.

At the discretion of the Chairs and per committee rules, written testimony received by the committee will be made publicly available. 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.

Written testimony can be submitted via email at kerry.rugenstein@mahouse.gov or physically mailed to the House Chair:

CHAIR JOSEPH W. MCGONAGLE

JOINT COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AND FEDERAL AFFAIRS

ATTN: KERRY RUGENSTEIN

24 BEACON ST ROOM 171

BOSTON MA 02133

This hearing will be chaired by House Chair Joseph W. McGonagle. If you have any questions regarding the hearing, legislation, format of the hearing or reasonable accommodations required to ensure people with disabilities can participate fully in the committee process, please email Kerry Rugenstein at Kerry.Rugenstein@mahouse.gov. House Chair McGonagle’s office can be reached via telephone: (617) 722-2015.

If you have Accessibility needs, click here.

Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs - 7-22-2025	7/22/2025 1:00 PM	01:48:19

General Veterans Legislation 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.3884	An Act relative to emergency medical transportation provided to veterans	Todd M. Smola
H.3881	An Act increasing access to medical care for veterans	Adam J. Scanlon
H.3880	An Act relative to courtesy retail parking spaces designed for non-handicapped veterans	Adam J. Scanlon
H.3879	An Act providing for prisoners of war	Adam J. Scanlon
H.3875	An Act relative to the establishment of a veterans research trust fund	Sean Reid
H.3872	An Act expanding the mission of the Office of the Veteran Advocate	Kelly W. Pease
H.3868	An Act exempting veterans disability payments as income when they are applying for other Commonwealth services.	John J. Marsi
H.3866	An Act relative to waiving education requirements for skilled veterans to be LPNs	Kate Lipper-Garabedian
H.3865	An Act relative to reimbursing armed service members	Kate Lipper-Garabedian
H.3858	An Act relative to 100% disabled veteran recreation	Patrick Joseph Kearney
H.3852	An Act relative to veteran health, opportunity, notification, observance and respect	Steven S. Howitt
H.3850	An Act establishing the Massachusetts veterans service dog program	Tara T. Hong
H.3847	An Act recognizing and providing assistance for military service-related injuries from agent orange and burn pits	Jessica Ann Giannino
H.3840	An Act fraudulent representation of an accredited veterans service officer, accredited agent or attorney	Colleen M. Garry
H.3838	An Act to support veteran owned businesses	Patricia A. Duffy
H.3826	Resolve to study women veterans and the long-term effects of combat on motherhood	Shirley B. Arriaga
H.3824	An Act to reform veterans’ services at the municipal level	Shirley B. Arriaga
H.3823	An Act relative to assisting veterans in need	James C. Arena-DeRosa
H.3822	An Act relative to enhancing public service pension equity for veterans	James C. Arena-DeRosa
H.3819	An Act relative to 100% disabled veteran recreation	James Arciero
S.2497	An Act relative to shelter benefits for veterans	Michael F. Rush
S.2495	An Act ensuring the fair treatment of military service members and veterans	Michael F. Rush
S.2492	An Act relative to appropriate notice for changes to Veterans’ district agreements	Michael F. Rush
S.2491	An Act relative to veteran employment opportunities	Michael F. Rush
S.2490	An Act relative to outreach to veterans	Michael F. Rush
S.2489	An Act relative to veteran health care	Michael F. Rush
S.2487	An Act relative to uniformity in veteran benefits	Michael F. Rush
S.2485	An Act relative to military personnel and medical records	Michael F. Rush
S.2484	An Act relative to protecting veterans	Michael F. Rush
S.2483	An Act relative to courtesy retail parking spaces designed for non-handicapped veterans	Pavel M. Payano
S.2481	An Act relative to reimbursement for annual training for armed forces members	Jason M. Lewis
S.2478	An Act relative to reimbursement to armed service members	Jason M. Lewis
S.2477	An Act relative to waiving education requirements for skilled veterans to be LPNs	Jason M. Lewis
S.2469	An Act extending the time of military service purchases	Ryan C. Fattman
S.2466	An Act expanding the mission of the Office of the Veteran Advocate	Ryan C. Fattman
S.2461	An Act relative to age restrictions for veterans applying to be police officers and firefighters	Sal N. DiDomenico
S.2460	An Act creating equal access to a common application for low-income veterans	Sal N. DiDomenico
S.2459	An Act recognizing and providing assistance for military service-related injuries from agent orange and burn pits	John J. Cronin

Present (10)

Joseph W. McGonagle, Jr. (HOU)

James C. Arena-DeRosa (HOU)

Shirley B. Arriaga (HOU)

Patricia A. Duffy (HOU)

John R. Gaskey (HOU)

Patrick Joseph Kearney (HOU)

Estela A. Reyes (HOU)

Joshua Tarsky (HOU)

Justin Thurber (HOU)

Jeffrey Rosario Turco (HOU)

Absent (1)

Alan Silvia (HOU) *

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs

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