Press Room

The Massachusetts State Senate is adding an additional channel to deliver news and insights directly to members of the public by joining Substack, a popular digital publishing platform, and launching a Senate-focused newsletter, The Gavel Drop.

The Massachusetts Senate today passed bipartisan legislation to require ballot campaigns to routinely report to the public who is funding their campaigns and how the money is being used.

The Massachusetts Senate today unanimously approved a new special license plate to honor the memories of fallen law enforcement officers by offering a symbol of respect to their surviving spouses, parents, and children.

The Senate took action today to make housing more affordable in Massachusetts, approving new tools that give cities and towns the ability to lower the cost of property taxes and put money directly back in residents’ pockets.

An Act to prevent property tax bill shocks focuses directly on the most vulnerable taxpayers in a community and creates a way to shield them from the shock of an extraordinarily high tax bill in a year when the community’s residential property tax levy is rising by more than 10 per cent. Cities and towns would have the ability to opt into this model and offer a tax credit to gradually phase in the increase for vulnerable households. The credit addresses the shock felt by taxpayers when they receive third- and fourth-quarter tax bills, which fold in the entire tax increase.

An Act relative to senior property tax deferral expands eligibility for the Senior Tax Deferral program in order to keep more money in the pockets of Massachusetts seniors at a time when property values, and therefore local property tax bills, are continuing to climb.

An Act relative to municipal tax relief offers an additional tool for cities and towns to support lower- or middle-income taxpayers who already receive the local-option residential tax exemption.

An Act authorizing the establishment of a mean tested senior citizen property tax exemption makes it easier for towns and cities to offer tax relief to seniors through a local property tax exemption by opting in to a new statewide program.