Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

Event Details

Status:: Completed
Event Date:: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Start Time:: 1:00 PM
Location:: 222 and Virtual
Event Description: Home rule petitions and animal legislation

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 3:00 PM on Monday, March 2. All 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 muni.committee@malegislature.gov or physically mailed to the committee:

Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, House Chair

Sen. Becca Rausch, Senate 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 Jack Patrick 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.

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.
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Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government - 3-3-2026.mp4	3/3/2026 1:00 PM	00:23:08

Home rule petitions and animal legislation 1:00pm - 1:30pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.4738	An Act regarding special meetings of the Holyoke City Council	Patricia A. Duffy
H.4843	An Act providing for the exchange of certain park land in the town of Lexington	Michelle L. Ciccolo
H.4844	An Act providing for the appointment and removal authority of the town administrator of the town of Wilbraham for employees other than those sworn officers of the Wilbraham police department and Wilbraham fire department appointed by the select board, and department heads appointed by the select board, and department heads appointed by boards and commissions so authorized by general law or by-law	Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.
H.4845	An Act granting Uxbridge the ability to post public meeting notices	Joseph D. McKenna
H.4849	An Act related to the enforcement of chapter 140	Brian M. Ashe
H.4878	An Act allowing a lease term of up to 99 years for 305 South Street east or a portion thereof	Dennis C. Gallagher
H.4887	An Act authorizing the town of Plymouth to establish a special revenue account for land acquisition	Michelle L. Badger
H.4924	An Act to amend the operations of the city of Boston Finance Commission to establish the Boston Inspector General Oversight Commission	Christopher J. Worrell
H.5052	An Act relative to town meeting accessibility	Kenneth I. Gordon
H.5053	An Act establishing a charter for the town of Orange	Susannah M. Whipps
S.2878	An Act authorizing the town of Tewksbury to lease the North Street Elementary School for a term of years not exceeding 99 years	Barry R. Finegold
S.2894	An Act authorizing print-free digital legal notices in the city of Newton	Cynthia Stone Creem
S.2897	An Act authorizing the town of Berkley to increase the membership of the board of selectmen	Kelly A. Dooner
H.5102	An Act relative to the town of Reading Home Rule Charter	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.5107	An Act relative to the charter and the town clerk in the town of Falmouth	David T. Vieira
H.5108	An Act relative to the acquisition and disposition of certain land in the town of Falmouth	David T. Vieira
H.5109	An Act authorizing the town of Falmouth to expend funds to offset certain costs associated with the installation of low pressure pumps on private property in future sewer service areas	David T. Vieira
H.5128	An Act providing for the establishment of a board to oversee use and occupancy payments for manufactured housing community accommodations in the city of Attleboro, Massachusetts	James K. Hawkins
H.5136	An Act increasing the maximum amount of penalties which may be imposed for violations of ordinances in the city of Newton	Greg Schwartz
S.2963	An Act authorizing the town of Milton to use certain land acquired for conservation purposes for school purposes	William J. Driscoll, Jr.
S.2956	An Act amending the operations of the city of Boston Finance Commission to establish the Boston Inspector General Oversight Commission	Liz Miranda

Present (10)

Jack Patrick Lewis (HOU)

Michael S. Chaisson (HOU)

Mike Connolly (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)

No Reason Given (1)

Carmine Lawrence Gentile (HOU)

	Document
	H.5102_Summary_Jones_Reading charter changes.pdf
	H.5107_Summary_Vieira_Falmouth charter - appointed town clerk.pdf
	H.5108_Summary_Vieira_Falmouth acquisition and disposition of certain land.pdf
	H.5109_Summary_Vieira_Falmouth expend funds for low pressure pumps.pdf
	H.5128_Summary_Hawkins_Attleboro manufactured housing payments oversight board.pdf
	H.5136_Summary_Schwartz-Creem_Newton increase maximum penalties for violations.pdf

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

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