Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Event Details

Status:: Completed
Event Date:: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Start Time:: 1:00 PM
Location:: Original Location A-1 and Virtual
New Location B-1 and Virtual
Event Description: Municipal Empowerment Act

The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government will hold a hybrid public hearing to accept written and oral testimony on sections 1-17, 20-44, 73-82, and 87 of H.56, An Act empowering municipalities and local governments, filed by Governor Maura Healey.

This hearing will be chaired by Senate Chair Becca Rausch. Please be advised that the docket is subject to change by agreement of the Chairs.

Persons seeking to provide oral testimony, whether in person or remotely, should pre-register by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 27, 2025, using this online form: https://forms.office.com/g/mTp0aJMj7H. Persons seeking to testify remotely must pre-register by the stated deadline; further instructions on how to participate will be provided after registration. Oral testimony is limited to 3 minutes per person. Oral testimony from panels is limited to 8 minutes total, to be distributed at the discretion of the panelists. Individuals and panels may testify only once, and testimony may cover multiple bills; all testimony must be completed within the stated time limits. The Chairs may reduce the testimony time limits at their discretion.

Written testimony does not require pre-registration and may be submitted via email to: jointcommittee.municipalities&regionalgovernment@malegislature.gov. Written testimony should be submitted not later than two (2) weeks following the hearing date.

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 Committee page: https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J10/194/Hearings

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.

The Committee strongly prefers that written testimony be submitted by email, as specified above. If email submission is not possible, written testimony may be submitted in hard copy to:

Senator Becca Rausch, Senate Chair

Representative Jack Lewis, House Chair

Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

State House Room 215

Boston, MA 02133

Questions regarding the hearing, legislation, or reasonable accommodations to ensure people with disabilities can participate fully in the committee process may be directed to Clay Spivey with Chair Rausch at Clayton.Spivey@masenate.gov or 617-722-1555, or Geoff Richelew with Chair Lewis at Geoff.Richelew@mahouse.gov.
If you have Accessibility needs, click here.

Videos
Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government - 10-28-2025	10/28/2025 1:00 PM	02:39:56

Municipal Empowerment Act 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Hearing Agenda
Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.56	An Act empowering municipalities and local governments	Maura T. Healey

Present (10)

Jack Patrick Lewis (HOU)

Michael S. Chaisson (HOU)

Mike Connolly (HOU)

Carmine Lawrence Gentile (HOU)

Homar Gómez (HOU)

Kristin E. Kassner (HOU)

Norman J. Orrall (HOU)

Lindsay N. Sabadosa (HOU)

Joshua Tarsky (HOU)

Richard G. Wells, Jr. (HOU)

Hearing Conflicts (1)

Samantha Montaño (HOU)
*Emergency constituent district issue

Documents
	Document
	H.56_Summary_Governor_MEA.pdf

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Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Municipal Empowerment Act 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Dockets

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

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