Authorizes the Office of the Inspector General to expend $1,000,000 from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund in hospital fiscal year 2026 to maintain a health safety net audit unit overseeing hospital practices, including care of the uninsured and resulting free charges, and reviewing the Medicaid Program; permits the Comptroller, at the direction of the Secretary of Administration and Finance, to transfer up to $15,000,000 from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund; and allows nursing facility rates effective October 1, 2025 to be developed using 2019 costs.

Directs the Department of Transportation, within six months, to promulgate regulations establishing requirements for municipal participation in an automated road safety enforcement program-including standardized notices, uniform signage and distance rules, camera calibration and verification guidance, and data-protection provisions-and makes those provisions effective July 1, 2026; and requires the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to issue regulations within six months to implement electronic titles, with those provisions effective six months after enactment.

Staggers implementation of other provisions by applying certain tax provisions to taxable years beginning January 1, 2025 and to August 1, 2025, delaying specified penalties until the quarter beginning October 1, 2025, making specified provisions effective January 1, 2026, and tying one provision's effective date to a determination by the Secretary that voluntary federal contributions covering adults 65 and over are available to state adult vaccine funds and that all necessary approvals have been received; and makes certain provisions effective upon the earlier of a specified certification or June 30, 2026, while setting a general effective date of July 1, 2025.

Overhauls internal control oversight by directing the Comptroller, in consultation with the State Auditor, to issue regulations establishing reporting requirements and minimum internal control standards for all State Agencies, including documented systems with plans, risk assessments, policies, procedures, and training, and to provide a training program.

Requires each agency to designate a senior official to maintain written internal control documentation, annually assess effectiveness, promptly evaluate audit results and implement corrective actions, make documentation available to the Comptroller, State Auditor, and Secretary of Administration and Finance, and incorporate necessary fixes into budget requests.

Mandates immediate reporting to the State Auditor of variances, losses, shortages, intentional violations of financial controls, or thefts; directs the Auditor to determine review scope, report amounts and control weaknesses to management and law enforcement, issue remedial recommendations, and requires immediate implementation; and extends these requirements to audited State Authorities that lack direct appropriations and are outside the Comptroller's jurisdiction, while updating cross-references.

This bill regulates nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) concerning unlawful workplace behaviors, such as harassment, discrimination, and misconduct. It prohibits settlement agreements from containing clauses that restrict the disclosure of claims related to sex offenses, workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Courts are also restricted from issuing orders that limit disclosure, except at the claimant's informed request to protect their identity. Settlement agreements that violate these provisions after the bill's enactment are considered void, and claimants maintain their rights under existing agreements, irrespective of subsequent disclosures. The bill also requires that settlement agreements be processed and reported via the Commonwealth's Financial Records Transparency Platform and forbids the use of public funds for settling claims against public employees. Additionally, it prevents government entities from including NDA clauses as a precondition for employment or as part of settlements, except when confidentiality of identity is requested by an employee or student. 

Conditions county commissioners' expenditures on jails and other public buildings on advisory board authorization, except for emergency repairs, and bars construction or enlargement of a jail, house of correction, or reformatory until plans are approved by the Commissioner of Correction.

Authorizes commissioners to manage county property, adopt a county seal, and sell, convey, or lease real estate; requires any sale of prisoner-housing property to be at fair market value, with net proceeds dedicated to new jails, jail additions or temporary facilities, or to reimburse county maintenance and operations expenditures or loans.

Requires counties to first offer any real estate proposed for sale or lease to the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, who has at least 90 days to accept, and upon non-acceptance to the municipality where the land is located.

Overhauls pension forfeiture by replacing the existing framework with a defined process that, after notice and hearing, triggers forfeiture upon a final felony conviction involving laws applicable to the member's office or arising from employment, explicitly including specified child-related sex offenses for teachers and members whose duties involve contact with children.

Authorizes retirement boards to impose graduated penalties-one-third, two-thirds, reduction to a defined minimum, or total forfeiture-guided by enumerated factors and consistent with any prosecutorial recommendation for total forfeiture. Sets that members with fewer than ten years of creditable service lose all pension rights and receive only a non-interest return of contributions, while those with ten or more years may be partially or totally forfeited, must repay benefits received after the offense date, and become ineligible for membership or reinstatement; any later reinstatement permits only deferred-compensation contributions.

Bars pension calculations based on intentionally concealed or misreported pay and allows restitution from a member's contributions; channels appeals to Superior Court within 30 days with de novo review of legal issues; requires employers, the Attorney General, and District Attorneys to notify retirement boards of qualifying convictions; and removes "moral turpitude" language from existing retirement provisions.

Strikes paragraphs (i), (j), and (p) from existing law.

Overhauls pension forfeiture by requiring retirement boards, upon a member's final felony conviction tied to office or arising from employment, to hold a hearing and impose graduated penalties for those with ten or more years of service-reductions by one-third, two-thirds, to a minimum allowance, or complete forfeiture with only a return of employee contributions without interest-while members with less than ten years forfeit all pension rights and receive only a return of their contributions; directs boards to weigh factors including crime severity, monetary loss or gain, breach of public trust, role in any scheme, and prosecutorial recommendations.

Defines covered offenses to include, for teachers and employees whose primary duties involve contact with children, specified sex offenses involving minors; requires restitution before any payment for offenses involving public funds or property and repayment of benefits in excess of the allowable amount received after the offense date; and bars reinstatement and future retirement system membership for individuals with full or partial forfeitures, limiting any reinstatement to contributions to the deferred compensation fund.

Establishes procedures for initiating cases, notice, hearings, and employer and prosecutorial notifications; prohibits using concealed or knowingly misreported salary in benefit calculations and limits benefits to regular compensation actually reported, with excess contributions returned without interest; creates a dedicated Superior Court appeal with de novo review of legal issues outside the general administrative appeal process; and strikes the phrase "without moral turpitude" from retirement provisions.

Overhauls regulation of blasting and fireworks by requiring a certificate of competency for blasters and users' certificates for explosives and fireworks, issued by the Marshal after application, fees, and examination; certificates are valid for 24 months, renewable, and subject to re-examination after seven years, with duplicates authorized. Mandates general liability insurance maintained for at least one year with 30 days' notice to the Marshal of any change, setting minimum limits for blasting ($1 million per person and $5 million per occurrence/aggregate for bodily injury; $1 million per occurrence and $5 million aggregate for property damage) and fireworks ($1 million per person and $2 million per occurrence/aggregate for bodily injury; $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate for property damage), naming the host city or town as an additional insured for blasting and defining "loss" for fireworks to include municipal firefighting expenses.

Modernizes bond requirements by recognizing acceptable bond documentation, routing examination and approval through the Commissioner of Banks, requiring approved bonds or documentation to be accessible to the State Treasurer, and directing the State Treasurer to maintain a public record of approved bonds or documentation. Repeals the Treasurer-administered cash or securities deposit option and related certificate language, requires the State Treasurer to retain existing deposits for five years before refund absent notice of pending claims and to notify depositors within six months, and authorizes the State Treasurer's Department to charge state entities for reasonable service costs.

Dissolves the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Employees' Retirement System upon the Authority's dissolution; transfers all members to the Massachusetts State Employees' Retirement System; shifts benefit administration to the State Board of Retirement; transfers all records and assets to the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board as Massachusetts State Employees' Retirement System assets; abolishes the Authority's retirement board; and makes annuity, pension, refund, and other benefit payments a state obligation, with liabilities attributable to members' service with other governmental units reimbursable, effective July 1, 2009.

Requires that employees of the Department of Transportation hired on or after January 1, 2010 join the Massachusetts State Employees' Retirement System, which assumes liability for their Department of Transportation service, with liabilities attributable to their service with other governmental units recoverable from those units.

Establishes an Office of Economic Empowerment within the Office of the State Treasurer to deliver equity-centered programs, policies, and partnerships that expand equitable access to opportunities and resources and promote residents' economic mobility and financial independence.

Places the office under an Executive Director, subject to the State Treasurer's direction and control, who serves as the executive and administrative head responsible for administering and enforcing applicable laws and regulations. Authorizes the Executive Director, subject to appropriation, to appoint and remove employees and set duties and salaries, provided total salaries do not exceed amounts appropriated by the General Court.

This bill establishes the Massachusetts Baby Bonds Trust Fund, designed to support children born on or after July 1, 2026, who receive Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children or are under the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families' care during their first year. Funds will support their pursuit of education, homeownership, and entrepreneurship. Beneficiaries can access these funds between the ages of 18 and 35 for eligible activities such as education, starting a business, or buying a home within Massachusetts. Receiving these funds do not impact other state benefit eligibility and are not treated as taxable income. A Massachusetts Baby Bonds Trust Fund Advisory Board will aid the Treasurer in policy formation, fraud prevention, and creating partnerships, and a Community Advisory Committee will manage outreach efforts.

Overhauls local taxation, procurement, and valuation: raises procurement thresholds to $100,000, updates bidding and advertising rules, adds snow hauling and removal, and authorizes cooperative purchasing with multiple-award RFPs; increases caps on local room occupancy and meals taxes and allows a local-option increase to the motor vehicle excise; and assigns the Commissioner of Revenue to annually value utility, telecommunications, and cable personal property with new confidentiality and appeal procedures. Expands property-tax relief by creating a local-option exemption for income- and age-qualified domiciliary homeowners tied to the state circuit breaker (with local asset limits and benefits up to 200 percent of the credit), permitting CPI-based annual increases to statutory exemptions, treating beneficiaries under trusts as owners for exemptions and deferrals, updating relief for surviving minor children of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty, and granting local discretion over the additional exemption percentage.

Updates the Open Meeting Law to define adequate alternative public access, allow fully remote participation without a physical quorum when all are audible and required parties may appear remotely, require timely approval of minutes, and clarify the scope of deliberation; and requires cities, towns, and districts to report known cybersecurity incidents to the Security Operations Center under regulations of the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security.

Streamlines local finance by allowing spending of certain state road funds and many grants without appropriation, depositing revolving-fund interest to the general fund, authorizing a PEG Access and Cable Related Fund, permitting amortization of major-disaster deficits over three years, broadening borrowing purposes and extending school construction debt to 40 years, and enabling regional boards of assessors and intermunicipal services; sets deadlines and enforcement for removing double utility poles and authorizes the Department of Public Utilities and the Department of Telecommunications and Cable to regulate movement of third-party attachments.

Excludes fentanyl test strips from drug paraphernalia and grants good-faith civil, criminal, and professional immunity for their use; adjusts unemployment insurance by extending between-terms ineligibility to services provided to or on behalf of educational institutions and by partially offsetting benefits for certain employer-based pensions; authorizes a one-year ballot override for nonrecurring operating costs; creates a time-limited program allowing retirees to be rehired in designated critical-shortage positions notwithstanding standard post-retirement limits; and establishes a commission to study retiree healthcare and other non-pension benefits.

The Massachusetts Consumer Privacy Act establishes obligations for businesses dealing with personal data in the state. This legislation applies to businesses managing a significant volume of consumer data and earning substantial revenue from its sale. The bill grants consumers the right to access, amend, delete, and obtain their personal data, as well as to opt out from targeted advertising, data sales, and certain profiling activities. Businesses are required to provide straightforward methods for consumers to exercise these rights and must secure explicit consent for processing sensitive data. Minors are subject to more protective standards, and explicit consumer consent is required when processing sensitive data, like data data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health condition or diagnosis, sex life, sexual orientation, citizenship or immigration status, and other private information.

The bill mandates that data controllers and processors adhere to reasonable security practices and conduct impact assessments for high-risk data activities. It includes exemptions for certain data types and entities to ensure alignment with federal laws like HIPAA and COPPA and provides guidelines for handling de-identified and pseudonymous data.

This bill requires the State Treasurer to develop and update a digital module along with supplementary resources on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The resources will help people manage their finances more effectively, understand money management strategies, and safeguard their financial security. 

This bill sets a framework for the regulation and assessment of streaming entertainment services using public digital infrastructure. Under the bill, the state will levy assessments on streaming services generating over $250,000 annually in Massachusetts for their use of infrastructure. Additionally, the bill establishes a PEG Access Facilities Revenue Advisory Board to analyze industry data and recommend appropriate assessment rates to fund local public, educational, and government (PEG) access facilities. Assessments collected will be allocated to the Streaming Entertainment Fund, overseen by the state treasurer, to cover enforcement-related expenses and ensure fair fund distribution. 

This bill sets net neutrality standards that broadband internet service providers (BISPs) must adhere to. Under the bill, BISPs are prohibited from engaging in practices such as paid prioritization, imposing data caps, or charging surcharges based on internet usage. A certification process to provide a net neutrality seal of approval to BISPs meeting these standards is established by the bill, and state agencies and municipalities are forbidden from renewing contracts with providers lacking net neutrality certification.

The bill sets a tax of 50% of any surcharges imposed by non-compliant BISPs, with proceeds channeled into the Municipal Broadband Development Fund, established by the bill. The Municipal Broadband Development Fund will provide funds to local agencies to start or support publicly-administered BISPs.

This bill concerns consumer protection when dealing with artificial intelligence (AI) systems, with a particular emphasis on those deemed high-risk. Key provisions require developers and deployers of high-risk AI systems to exercise reasonable care to prevent algorithmic discrimination, which is an unlawful differential treatment or impact that disfavors an individual or group of individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived age, race, disability, ethnicity or other protected classifications. Developers must supply detailed documentation to deployers, covering intended uses and potential risks. Deployers, in turn, must uphold a risk management policy and conduct yearly impact assessments to address and reduce potential algorithmic discrimination.

Additionally, the bill mandates that consumers be informed when AI systems significantly influence decisions, with explanations provided, and an ability provided to correct data or appeal decisions. Exemptions exist for certain small businesses and scenarios where adherence would breach trade secrets or pose security risks.

Imposes a 5 percent assessment on the gross annual revenues that a "streaming entertainment operator"-a provider of streaming entertainment services delivered via facilities at least partly in the public rights-of-way with more than $250,000 in in-state revenue-derives from sales to individuals and businesses in the state. Requires biannual financial statements used to assess amounts owed; sets penalties for late filing (1 percent after 30 days, 2 percent after 60) and late payment (2 percent after 30, 3 percent after 60); authorizes audits of the prior three years with a 10 percent penalty on underpayments; and provides expedited judicial review and enforcement by the Attorney General, municipalities, and community media centers, including recovery of unpaid assessments and injunctive relief within seven years.

Establishes a Streaming Entertainment Fund to receive assessment proceeds and distribute them twice yearly without further appropriation-one-fifth to the General Fund, two-fifths to municipalities by population, and two-fifths to community media centers by population-and authorizes municipalities that accept to create PEG Access and Streaming Entertainment Funds limited to supporting public, educational, or governmental access media centers.

Takes effect January 1, 2025.

This bill contains a number of provisions concerning Massachusetts' agricultural economy. It directs the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, along with other state agencies, to create and update a resilience plan every five years. It establishes a full-time food system coordinator position, who will lead state food program oversight, enhance interagency collaboration, and present findings and recommendations periodically.

The bill calls for a comprehensive policy to optimize the distribution of local food through state food assistance programs, including partnerships with regional food banks and state departments to monitor and improve local food distribution, enhancing transparency through metrics and recommendations. It also establishes the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, to increase access to healthy local foods and support Massachusetts' food supply and distribution networks through capital needs grants. In addition, the bill creates the Next Generation Farmers Fund, offering grants to educational institutions and community organizations, with an emphasis on assisting historically underserved communities. It also amends regulations to include "agritourism" and supports agricultural preservation through enhanced valuation practices for agriculture-related infrastructure and land.

This bill amends the definitions and regulations concerning hemp and cannabidiol (CBD). It defines hemp as being the same as federal standards by specifying a THC concentration that does not exceed federally mandated limits, and recognizes hemp as an agricultural commodity requiring a license for planting, growing, and processing. Under the bill, the Department of Agricultural Resources is granted oversight authority, including the ability to inspect facilities and enforce compliance. The bill specifies that hemp-derived supplements, foods, and beverages won’t be considered adulterated or misbranded merely due to hemp content. The bill allows the sale of hemp products from other states, as long as they comply with federal USDA regulations. 

Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, within three months of enactment, to submit a report detailing the resources the Department of Transitional Assistance needs to ensure timely participation by eligible households in the federal nutrition assistance benefits it administers.

Mandates that the report specify the Department's short- and long-term goals for improving benefits access and providing timely customer service, and the financial and other resources required to achieve those goals.

Establishes a computerized children's vision and eye care registry and requires licensed health care providers who conduct screenings or exams to report data; sets strict confidentiality, limited-access, and research-use rules; provides for record correction and good-faith liability protections; and authorizes disclosure without express consent, unless objected to, to treating providers, school nurses, and specified state program staff.

Creates a Children's Vision and Eye Health Advisory Council within the Department, chaired by the Commissioner and including designated state officials, clinical and community representatives, and parents, to advise on the registry, public health campaigns, and recommendations to improve children's vision and eye health. Amends school health screening requirements by adding preschool entrants, directing that results be provided to school personnel and the children's vision registry, removing a parental-request qualifier, and striking the second paragraph.

Establishes an independent, federally designated protection and advocacy system for persons with disabilities, authorizing it to investigate abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation; pursue legal and administrative remedies; and provide information, referrals, and training.

Grants the system broad access rights-immediate access to individuals and to facilities and other locations under specified circumstances; reasonable unaccompanied access during working and visiting hours; private communication with service recipients; staff interviews; inspection and photography of areas used by service recipients; and review of relevant records and policies consistent with law-requires state departments, officers, agencies, and institutions to cooperate and permits them to request services, allows the Governor to designate a liaison, mandates confidentiality of the system's records and consent for disclosures, protects reporters and participants from retaliation, authorizes public or agency reports that maintain confidentiality, and generally requires exhaustion of administrative remedies before litigation except to prevent imminent serious harm.

Directs the Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Mental Health, and the Department of Public Health to transmit quarterly death reports for individuals they serve, entitles the system on request to lists of discharge-ready individuals in state-operated mental health facilities, and adds the state protection and advocacy system as a required recipient of certain abuse-related death reports.

This bill concerns the provision and coordination of mental and behavioral health services, focusing on specialized services for mental health and developmental issues. Under the bill, the Department of Mental Health is responsibile for managing a spectrum of mental health services, which includes both inpatient and community-based treatments. Additionally, the bill requires the creation of a model emergency response plan tailored for medical and behavioral health crises in congregate care settings. The Department of Children and Families and the Department of Developmental Services must develop comprehensive strategies to improve access to mental and behavioral health services, with a focus on reducing wait times and enhancing access to post-hospitalization settings.

The bill further outlines protocols for congregate care programs providing foster care services, requiring adaptable emergency response plans that ensure continuity of care for children post-discharge. It requires these programs to document cases where readmission is refused and mandates data collection and reporting of such instances, disaggregated by demographic factors. This data will be made publicly available. Finally, the bill establishes a special commission to study issues related to children and adolescents with intensive behavioral health needs. 

This bill establishes a livable home modification grant program to assist eligible individuals, particularly people with disabilities and their caregivers, in making existing homes more accessible. Under the bill, applicants earning up to 120% of the area median income are eligible. The program provides grants covering up to 50% of the modification costs, capped at $5,000. Property owners, including of rental properties, are required to maintain these modifications for a minimum of ten years.

Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to raise reimbursement rates paid to community-based human service providers on a schedule that narrows the salary disparity between their human services workers and comparable staff in state-operated programs-reducing the gap to 50% by July 1, 2026, 30% by July 1, 2027, 10% by July 1, 2028, and eliminating it by July 1, 2029, with earlier elimination permitted and maintained thereafter.

Directs that all resulting rate increases be used to increase compensation for human services workers and requires these agencies, with the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, to adopt implementing regulations. Mandates annual reports beginning July 1, 2025 detailing the current disparity, the rate increases and annual appropriations needed to meet the schedule, and the implementation of necessary rates by agency, job description, and start date.

Establishes the Accessibility in the Creative Economy (ACE) grant program and fund, administered by the Office on Disability, to finance capital improvements and programmatic accessibility for people with disabilities across for-profit, non-profit, and public entities in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. Dedicates one-tenth of one percent of appropriations to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to the fund, permits donations and investment income, and makes the fund non-lapsing and available without further appropriation.

Creates the ACE Commission, composed predominantly of individuals with disabilities and specified appointees, to recommend criteria for competitive grants. Authorizes eligible uses including training, accessibility consulting led by members of the disabilities community, ADA-related self-evaluation and transition planning, and capital upgrades such as ramps, elevators and LULAs, signage, Assistive Listening Systems, and curb cuts, and directs grant distribution to consider racial diversity and equity, geographic diversity, and programmatic diversity.

Requires an annual report detailing expenditures and the fund balance and requires the Commission to be established no later than December 1, 2026.

This bill modernizes the Massachusetts General Laws by updating terminology related to individuals with disabilities. It replaces terms such as "handicapped," "autistic," and "mentally retarded," with more current and respectful language like "persons with disabilities," "Autism," and "persons with an intellectual or developmental disability." Under the bill, changes are systematically applied throughout the General Laws, encompassing areas such as education, health, and housing, as well as references concerning veterans and insurance.

This bill sets a statutory framework for reviewing child fatalities and near fatalities. It establishes a child fatality review team within the Office of the Child Advocate, composed of state officials and medical professionals, with responsibilities including identifying the causes of such incidents, recommending changes in practices and legislative policy. 

The bill also mandates the formation of local child fatality review teams in each county, led by the district attorney with representation from local agencies. These local teams will review incidents based on state protocols, promote inter-agency collaboration, and suggest legal or procedural adaptations to prevent future occurrences. The bill also includes guidelines for accessing and protecting confidential data. 

Redefines protections for adults with disabilities by creating "abuse per se" so specified conduct is abusive regardless of injury, defining "reportable condition," refining "disabled person," and expanding "mandated reporter." Establishes within the Disabled Persons Protection Commission a Special Investigative Unit with sole responsibility for initial evaluations or investigations of alleged criminal conduct, requires assignment of at least five State Police officers, expands mandatory referrals to prosecutors to any criminal offense that harms a person with a disability, and directs immediate protective-services referrals when there is imminent risk of substantial harm.

Restructures investigative and protective-services workflows by clarifying referrals between the Commission and agencies within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services based on caretaker status, preventing duplicative inquiries, authorizing access to any sites relevant to allegations, adding notifications to the Department of Developmental Services, the Department of Mental Health, or MassAbility as appropriate, and permitting referrals of regulatory violations to the proper oversight agency. Strengthens confidentiality by barring release of personally identifiable information as public records, requiring regulations to minimize disclosure, and making the abuse registry and related investigations and proceedings confidential; updates mandated reporter procedures by replacing the oral-and-written dual report with a single filing and extending protections to participation in investigations and hearings; revises Commission member terms to five years and vacancy appointments; and updates the registry's employer definition to include entities funded or licensed by the Department of Developmental Services and MassHealth day habilitation providers.

Prohibits any program, agency, or facility funded, operated, licensed, or approved by a state entity from using behavior-modification procedures that cause obvious signs of physical pain on people with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, including hitting, pinching, and electric shock.

Bars such programs from employing any physical contact or punishment that is otherwise illegal or would be illegal if used on a non-disabled person, and from denying reasonable sleep, food, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities, or other elements of a humane existence.

This bill introduces a comprehensive framework for supported decision-making as an alternative to guardianship and conservatorship for adults with disabilities. The bill requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to develop a training program, coordinating with various state departments to educate both supporters and decision-makers on their rights and responsibilities in these agreements. School districts must provide information about supported decision-making to students with disabilities and their families starting at age sixteen, integrating this into the transitional planning process.

The legislation amends existing legal frameworks to incorporate supported decision-making agreements alongside traditional guardianship and conservatorship, defining the roles and responsibilities of decision-makers and supporters. It specifies criteria for support, addresses potential conflicts of interest, and mandates that agreements be written in plain language, notarized, and customized to the individual's needs. Provisions for terminating agreements and handling supporter abuse or exploitation are included. The bill also establishes a Supported Decision-Making Commission tasked with assessing the system and recommending improvements, such as expanding state registries. It also outlines transitional provisions for existing agreements and sets deadlines for implementing training programs and regulations.

Overhauls child welfare transparency and planning by requiring the Department of Children and Families to publish a detailed annual performance report, issue quarterly profiles, file special reports on fair hearings, foster care reviews, and services to young adults, and maintain a rolling 5-year plan with numerical targets and annual measurements; also requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in consultation with DCF, to set timelines for school enrollment and timely transfer of records for children in DCF custody.

Restructures the Office of the Child Advocate as an independent state agency with expanded authority to examine multi-agency services, access court and criminal-justice records, create a statewide mandated reporter website and evidence-based training addressing bias, partner with agencies and provide technical assistance without compromising oversight, revise governance, and update the definition of "critical incident" to include emotional injury, with demographic details included in incident notifications.

Establishes State and Local Child Fatality Review Teams within the Office of the Child Advocate-replacing the prior structure-to coordinate reviews of child fatalities and near fatalities, set model protocols, mandate cross-agency data sharing subject to confidentiality protections, and issue annual findings and recommendations.

Creates comprehensive benefit-management rules for children in foster care requiring screening and application for federal benefits within 60 days, notice to counsel of applications and determinations, detailed accounting to counsel and the court, conservation of funds without using a child's benefits to reimburse foster care costs (including use of ABLE or other appropriate accounts), and ongoing financial information and literacy training beginning at age 14, with annual reporting and regulations; requires DCF to promptly notify a child's or young adult's attorney of placement or hospitalization changes, pertinent 51A reports, arrests, court involvement, and school discipline events, and to launch an attorney portal with automated notifications within two years; and extends abuse-prevention and harassment orders issued on behalf of minors beyond the age of majority unless otherwise ordered, with the court to determine any further extension or permanent order upon the plaintiff's appearance at expiration.

This bill sets a legal framework for supported decision-making agreements to assist adults with disabilities in making autonomous life decisions with the aid of designated supporters. Under the bill, decision-makers can voluntarily establish these agreements where supporters may help decision-makers understand information, make decisions, and communicate those decisions, but are restricted to powers explicitly defined in the agreements. Importantly, decision-makers retain the right to modify or terminate these agreements at any time, and may revoke an agreement if a supporter is found by a court to be abusive or exploitative.

The legislation specifies that having a supported decision-making agreement does not restrict a decision-maker's independent access to personal information. Agreements must be signed voluntarily by both parties in the presence of witnesses or a notary public and detail how support is provided, as well as steps to take if abuse is suspected. Additionally, the bill requires consideration of supported decision-making as an alternative during guardianship proceedings.

This bill bill directs the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to create a network of community-based child and family service programs via family resource centers. These centers will offer comprehensive support services, such as behavioral health, education, mentorship, and crisis management, to help families avoid entering or re-entering the child protective system. The bill requires that juveniles, their legal guardians, or school officials engage in community-based interventions before resorting to juvenile court processes.

Creates a student loan repayment program for human services workers, administered by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services under Department of Higher Education guidelines, to defray qualified education loans for certificate and degree holders.

Requires applicants to have completed 12 consecutive months of at least 35 hours per week with community-based human service providers funded by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, or the Department of Early Education and Care; authorizes criteria to prioritize applicants and set award amounts, prioritizing workers with at least three years' experience, those serving in Advancing Health Equity in Massachusetts (AHEM) priority geographic areas, those earning under $60,000, and those able to provide care in needed non-English languages.

Provides awards up to $6,000 for associate degree holders, $20,000 for bachelor's, and $30,000 for master's, conditioned on service commitments of 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively.

Requires the Board to provide an autism endorsement-entailing at least two years of coursework and field experience-for licensed special education teachers and, with degree prerequisites, for paraprofessionals and teacher assistants, and requires all teachers, paraprofessionals, and teacher assistants in classrooms serving students with autism to hold the endorsement. Requires placement, when it is the least restrictive environment, in autism-specific special education programs; mandates periodic IEP review by an independent three-educator panel with autism endorsements appointed by the Administrator of Special Education; and requires installation of video cameras in all classrooms and quiet rooms where such students are taught, with recordings maintained as education records.

Establishes in-service training and response guidelines through the Municipal Police Training Committee for law enforcement and correction officers on appropriate interactions with persons on the autism spectrum-emphasizing positive responses, de-escalation, sensory and language processing differences, and appropriate interrogation-without increasing required training hours. Requires the Registrar to furnish, without charge and upon application with satisfactory evidence, distinctive registration plates bearing a blue puzzle piece or "COMMUNICATION IMPEDIMENT," and to offer a voluntary communication-impediment indicator on licenses, learner's permits, and identification cards supported by a physician-completed form.

Authorizes mature minors aged 15 or older who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian and are experiencing or at significant risk of homelessness-including lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence-to consent to supportive services when a provider reasonably believes they understand the benefits, risks, rules, and limits of the services and that the services are necessary for their safety and wellbeing; permits such minors who are parents to consent to supportive services for their children. Requires informed written consent stating the minor's age, guardianship status if known, and current living situation, and bars services if the provider knows the minor supplied false information or does not meet the definition.

Grants service providers civil and criminal immunity when acting in compliance, except for gross negligence or willful or wanton conduct. Authorizes providers funded by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services' Homeless Youth Services Division to serve these minors with such consent and directs the Office of Children, Youth, and Families to promulgate regulations.

Authorizes broker-dealers and investment advisers to delay disbursements or transactions when, after an internal review, they reasonably believe an eligible adult (a person 60 or older or a disabled person) may be subject to financial exploitation; requires written notice of the delay to authorized parties other than suspected perpetrators and to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the appropriate protective services agency within 2 business days, with ongoing updates; allows delays of up to 15 business days, extendable to 55 upon agency request, and permits a court to further extend or order protective relief.

Permits qualified individuals-including agents, investment advisers and representatives, broker-dealers, and designated supervisory, compliance, investor protection, or legal personnel-to notify the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Disabled Persons Protection Commission or the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, as appropriate, and to contact a designated or reasonably associated third party unless suspected of exploitation; grants immunity from administrative or civil liability for good-faith, reasonable-care disclosures, including any failure to notify the customer, and for good-faith delays.

Requires broker-dealers and investment advisers to provide relevant, including historical, records to the protective services agency and law enforcement for investigations; specifies that shared records are not public records; and preserves the Secretary of the Commonwealth's authority to examine books and records.

This bill establishes the Downtown Vitality Fund, which is financed by a one percent set-aside of sales tax revenue collected from remote retailers who have no physical presence in Massachusetts. This fund is dedicated to supporting commercial areas by providing grants to downtown district management organizations and offering technical assistance. It prioritizes small business districts in Gateway Cities and low-income areas, while promoting entrepreneurial opportunities for underrepresented communities. The bill also creates the Office of Massachusetts Main Streets, tasked with promoting and revitalizing downtown and commercial districts statewide.This bill creates the MassMakers Portal, an interactive online platform designed as a unified access point for business information and compliance resources. Developed in collaboration with various state agencies, the portal provides resources to simplify the process of establishing and expanding businesses in the Commonwealth through services such as electronic applications, compliance alerts, and technical suppor

In addition, the bill establishes the Supply Mass/Buy Mass program, aiming to bridge the gap between local suppliers and purchasers via a dedicated web portal for MassMade businesses to connect with institutional and commercial buyers, and sets up the Microbusiness and Minority Business Strategy Commission. This commission will recommend strategies to enhance their viability, including fee exemptions. 

Requires procurement contracts for commodities or services with socially or economically disadvantaged businesses-including minority-, women-, veteran-, worker-, or immigrant-owned micro and small businesses-to include an upfront downpayment of at least 30 percent of the total contract value, disbursed within 15 business days of execution upon eligibility verification. Authorizes the agency to use up to 15 percent of the fund to guarantee or make low-interest bridge loans to such businesses that secure state contracts, prioritizing enterprises located in or serving a gateway municipality, delivered through Treasury-certified community development financial institutions, certified community development corporations, or other nontraditional nonprofit lenders, and requires pledging anticipated gross loan revenues, net of administrative costs, to finance additional bridge loans.

Directs the Executive Office for Administration and Finance to promulgate implementing regulations and, within 90 days of the effective date, issue regulations, guidance, or model contract provisions; takes effect 90 days after passage.

Creates a five-member Board of Registration of Commercial Interior Designers and establishes a two-year registration program tied to accredited education and passage of the NCIDQ examination; protects the title "Registered Commercial Interior Designer" while allowing non-registrants to practice under other titles; requires continuing education; and authorizes registrants to prepare, seal, and submit nonstructural interior plans for building permits independent of a licensed architect, with penalties for violations. Requires use of a Board-authorized seal on permit plans, maintains a public roster, provides enforcement through the Attorney General, and establishes an emeritus credential for retired registrants and a time-limited provisional registration pathway for experienced designers pending NCIDQ passage.

Amends the Designer Selection Board by revising its membership to include certified interior designers and three industry-designated members (architect, engineer, general contractor), setting two-year terms with limited reappointment, barring appointees with disciplinary records, and adding a nonvoting project manager representative for projects under consideration.

The Massachusetts Internet Gaming Act regulates internet gaming by establishing a framework for licensing and oversight. The Act authorizes two licensing categories: Category 1 for existing gaming license holders and Category 2 for other eligible entities, with a cap of four Category 2 licenses. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is responsible for licensing operators, ensuring compliance, and creating regulations for fair play, security, and responsible gaming practices. The legislation mandates that operators implement responsible gaming programs, restrict certain advertising practices, and prominently display a problem gambling hotline. Operators are required to pay a 20% excise tax on adjusted gross internet gaming receipts. Additional provisions include measures for self-exclusion, underage gaming prevention, and penalties for non-compliance. The Gaming Commission is allowed to establish reciprocal agreements with other jurisdictions for multijurisdictional gaming.

Establishes a nine-member Board of Registration of Behavior Analysts within the Department of Public Health, appointed by the Governor with specified representation, to meet at least twice annually, hire staff, maintain a public roster, and exercise broad licensing and enforcement powers, including reciprocal licensure, fines and other discipline, and summary suspension with a hearing within 10 days, with members indemnified.

Overhauls licensing by retitling credentials to "Licensed Behavior Analyst" and "Licensed Assistant Behavior Analyst," requiring good moral character and verification of current certification by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or another board-approved NCCA- or ANSI-accredited certifying entity, and for assistants, evidence of ongoing supervision by an approved Licensed Behavior Analyst; provides reciprocity, biennial renewals with certification verification, deposits fees into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund, and mandates a criminal record review with a 10-year lookback and rehabilitation showing.

Prescribes ethical standards and robust disciplinary procedures; prohibits unlicensed practice and protected title use while allowing students, interns, and qualified members of other professions to practice within their scope without using protected titles; authorizes reinstatement after three years; replaces prior applied behavior analyst provisions and updates definitions; and revises the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions to proportionally represent license types with specified seats, grandfathering current behavior analyst licensees until their next renewal and setting staggered initial terms for the new board.

This bill regulates private and control label brands of distilled spirits, which are controlled by the retailer or use a name owned by the retailer. The bill mandates that retailers must clearly disclose any sale of private or control label brands, ensuring such information is visibly presented in stores, advertisements, and online. The bill prohibits packaging or labeling that might mimic other alcoholic beverages. Compliance with Massachusetts' approved distribution system is required, with suppliers mandated to follow existing laws and guidelines. Retailers must adhere to trade practice laws typically applicable to suppliers, manufacturers, and wholesalers and are prohibited from engaging in preferential treatment for these brands unless equitable opportunities are extended to other products. Additionally, retailers must fund brand development costs, while pricing decisions are to be made independently by suppliers or wholesalers.

This bill establishes a regulatory framework for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of cannabinoid-infused beverages in Massachusetts. The bill sets detailed requirements for entities to acquire necessary approvals from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to engage in the manufacturing, wholesale, or retail sale of these beverages. Manufacturers are required to use certified facilities and ingredients, specifically transportable hemp concentrate, must have licenses for alcoholic beverages, marijuana-infused products, or hemp products, must secure an endorsement from the Commission, and comply with strict registration and labeling mandates. The sale of infused beverages to individuals under 21 is prohibited. The bill also provides for packaging and labeling standards, including health risk warnings and requirements for tamper-evidence packagiing that may not appeal to children. The bill sets an excise tax of $2.20 per gallon for these beverages, with revenues earmarked for regulatory enforcement and public health education. 

Requires the Division of Medical Assistance and its contractors to cover group therapeutic behavioral health care delivered by certified specialists, directs the Division-consulting with the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health-to set payment rates by regulation, and creates a MassHealth pilot to promote and evaluate such care, supporting practice development, encouraging referrals, conducting outreach, and tracking demographic and outcomes data, with launch within one year, evaluation within three years, and a minimum focus on regions with limited access to behavioral health services or at risk due to limited access to social determinants of health.

Establishes a Board of Certification of Group Therapeutic Specialists to certify practitioners, set education, training, and continuing education standards, approve programs and trainer qualifications, process applications and renewals, adopt regulations, enable competency examinations and reciprocity with equivalent state or national certifications, and investigate complaints and impose discipline.

Directs the Health Policy Commission to study integrating group therapeutic behavioral care, analyzing utilization, cost-benefit, barriers relative to individual therapy, comparative outcomes, and use of culturally competent techniques and minority practitioners, and to issue recommendations by December 1, 2026.

Prohibits licensed funeral establishments, as defined by regulations of the Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing, from concurrently operating any organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

This bill requires that municipalities allow the sale of Massachusetts State Lottery games in their city or town in order to receivie funding from the State Lottery and Gaming Fund. which distributes lottery revenue.

Authorizes the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to obtain all available criminal offender record information for each applicant for an original alcoholic beverages license.

Permits sharing that information with the local licensing authority reviewing the application and limits its use and dissemination exclusively to reviewing and approving the license.

This bill amends the evaluation process for professional and occupational licenses. The bill requires licensing bodies to perform individualized assessments of applicants’ situations, not considering non-violent misdemeanors, juvenile adjudications, and certain convictions that occurred over three years prior, unless they are related to severe crimes. In addition, licenses may only be denied or restricted if there is a direct relationship between the applicant’s criminal history and the professional duties, and if public safety interests substantially outweigh the applicant’s right to a license. Authorities are instructed to assess evidence of rehabilitation, taking into account factors such as the applicant’s age at the time of the offense, elapsed time since the offense, and character references. The bill also mandates a triennial review and report of the application processes by licensing authorities to ensure they enhance economic opportunities without compromising public safety. Additionally, a special commission is established to examine background check requirements and the usage of terms like “good moral character” in licensing, with the goal of producing recommendations for more equitable practices.

Amends charitable solicitation disclosure requirements to require that solicitations state the charitable purpose and the percentage of each contribution that will be received by the charitable organization.

Establishes distinct licenses for Licensed Dietitians and Licensed Nutritionists, defines their scopes of practice including medical nutrition therapy, authorizes dietitians to develop and order therapeutic diets via oral, enteral, and parenteral routes, permits nutritionists, consistent with competence, to order oral therapeutic diets and nutrition-related laboratory tests, and permits practice via telehealth.

Requires rigorous licensure pathways with graduate degrees, specified coursework, supervised practice, and passage of the CDR or CNS examinations or current RD/CNS credentials; provides biennial renewal with 30 hours of continuing education; and authorizes one-year provisional supervised licenses and reciprocity.

Restricts medical nutrition therapy and the titles "dietitian," "dietitian nutritionist," and "nutritionist" to licensees while allowing use of earned, federally trademarked credentials, and exempts students and trainees, other licensed professionals acting within scope, general non-medical nutrition information and wellness services, certain weight-control programs, WIC personnel, supervised support staff, and limited out-of-state telehealth.

Empowers the Board of Registration of Dietitians and Nutritionists to regulate, examine, and discipline licensees with fines, probation, community service, education, supervision, rehabilitation, restitution up to $50,000, summary suspension, injunctive relief, and fingerprint-based national background checks; establishes a Dietetics and Nutrition Board within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services composed of specified state officials and nine gubernatorial appointees; retains current registration board members through their terms and converts existing licensees to Licensed Dietitian or Licensed Nutritionist based on RD status.

This bill enacts the Interstate Dental and Dental Hygiene Licensure Compact, an agreement allowing the transfer of dental and dental hygiene licenses among member states while preserving each state's authority to regulate practices within its boundaries. It establishes uniform licensure standards, facilitates the sharing of information, and permits member states to enforce disciplinary measures on licensees within their jurisdictions. Special provisions ease license transfers for military personnel and their spouses without requiring Compact-related fees, and the bill simplifies the licensure process by minimizing duplicate documentation.

Under the bill, the Interstate Dental and Dental Hygiene Compact Commission, comprising representatives from member states, manages and enforces the Compact. This Commission's responsibilities include developing bylaws and regulations, overseeing budget management, and ensuring compliance with the Compact's provisions. Additionally, the Commission will draft uniform application processes, maintain a primary document repository, and issue advisory opinions. The Compact provides for the handling of criminal background checks for licensure applicants, including the retention of fingerprint data for ongoing suitability assessments. 

Creates a special registration allowing dentists who have completed 10 years of practice under a limited registration to practice without supervision both at the hospital or institution designated on their registration and in any private dental practice that accepts MassHealth, provided they practice in equal amounts in each setting.

Authorizes one-year limited registrations for qualified dental school faculty or appointed dental interns with an approved dental degree, restricting practice to the designated institution under the direction of a dentist holding a regular or special registration and prohibiting private office or clinic practice, except that full-time faculty may participate only in intramural group dental practices within nonprofit dental educational or research institutions and their affiliated hospitals. Limits practice under a limited registration to five years unless the applicant passes a board-administered clinical examination or is a full-time faculty member; an applicant who has practiced for five years and passed the exam may obtain renewals for up to an additional five years to continue practicing in the designated institution under supervision.

Requires individuals who construct, install, repair, improve, winterize, or alter irrigation systems to hold a Board-issued certificate and requires firms to hold a business permit employing at least one registered irrigation contractor; prohibits unlicensed practice and title use, mandates display of credentials, and allows work under a registered contractor's direct supervision with exemptions for supervised employees, homeowners, certain golf course and agricultural work, vendors, licensed landscape architects and professional engineers, and professional irrigation consultants.

Establishes the seven-member Board of Registration of Irrigation Contractors, appointed by the Governor (four irrigation contractors, two manufacturer/distributor representatives, and one public member who is a professional engineer or landscape architect), serving four-year terms, meeting at least twice annually, and serving without compensation but with expense reimbursement.

Authorizes the Board to register contractors, issue business permits, adopt rules, require continuing education, maintain rosters, and impose discipline up to suspension or revocation; permits a written examination through the Irrigation Association and consideration of national certification for expedited review.

Sets application attestations and documentation requirements, liability and workers' compensation coverage for permit holders, biennial fees set by the Secretary of Administration and Finance, January 31 biennial expirations, late penalties, possible re-examination, and unlawful acts punishable by fines or imprisonment, with violations deemed unfair or deceptive acts.

This bill establishes a regulatory framework for issuing and operating limited video gaming machine licenses exclusively for veterans' organizations. Eligible organizations in good standing with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and compliant with tax obligations can receive non-transferable video gaming licenses, valid for five years. The licenses permit organizations to operate up to five video gaming terminal (VGT) machines per establishment, with individual bets limited to $2.00 and maximum winnings capped at $599. Use is restricted to organization members and their guests, all of whom must be over 21, and no remuneration for gaming activities is allowed for employees or members. VGTs are integrated into a central computer system ensuring secure operation, preventing cash handling by employees, and requiring winnings to be dispensed through kiosks. A 35% tax on the gross profits from VGTs is allocated to the Gaming Revenue Fund.

Establishes a rural development initiative administered by the Executive Office, through a contract with the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, to provide technical assistance that spurs direct investment in rural communities.

Requires the Secretary of Economic Development, in consultation with the Rural Policy Advisory Commission, to identify and implement strategies to create jobs and expand businesses, build cross-sector partnerships, accelerate community engagement in actionable planning, and implement local economic development initiatives.

Requires domestic and foreign limited liability companies to disclose their beneficial owners to the State Secretary, including the full chain of intermediaries linking each owner to the company (diagrams may be required), treats trustees, beneficiaries, and grantors as beneficial owners when a trust holds or controls at least 25 percent or exercises substantial control, and makes all disclosed beneficial ownership information a public record. Limits tracing of indirect ownership to chains that run through a publicly traded entity, REIT, UPREIT, or mutual fund and only where the owner holds or controls at least 25 percent, until person-level disclosure is achieved.

Mandates listing each beneficial owner in certificates of organization and foreign registration filings, requires prompt amendments to reflect changes, and sets a 30-day deadline for foreign companies to update after any change in beneficial ownership. Defines "beneficial owner" to include any holder or assignee of a membership interest or any person exercising substantial control-including ultimate beneficial owners-while excluding minors, nominees, employees whose interest derives solely from employment, creditors, and heirs unless otherwise meeting the definition; requires identifying information (name, date of birth, address, government ID number, and taxpayer ID or a legal entity identifier); permits use of current federal beneficial ownership submissions to satisfy state filing requirements; and requires reporting the number of in-state properties each beneficial owner holds and the city or town where each is located.

Establishes a mandatory minimum kindergarten entry age of five and permits a child to enroll in the school year beginning in September of the calendar year in which the child attains age five.

Establishes a coordinated system to monitor and support language and literacy development for deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing children from birth through age 6, directing the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to jointly select language developmental milestones, create a multilingual parent resource aligned with existing standards, and issue annual disaggregated reports.

Requires the selection of educator tools to assess expressive and receptive language, to be used alongside federally required assessments by IFSP/IEP/504 teams to track progress toward English literacy; permits parents to opt out of the annual assessment; and compels teams to explain lack of progress and recommend specific strategies, services, and programs.

Creates an 18-member Committee on Kindergarten Readiness-comprised mostly of deaf, deafblind, or hard-of-hearing individuals and balanced between ASL and spoken English users-to recommend milestones, advise on assessment use, review annual data, and address systemic gaps. Amends early intervention law to include Language Readiness Services and directs the Department of Public Health, in coordination with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to promulgate uniform regulations for their provision.

Requires school districts, charter and nonpublic schools, and contracted service providers to screen prospective hires for positions with direct or regular student contact by obtaining detailed employment histories, written disclosures and authorizations, checking certification status and the Department of Children and Families Central Registry-disqualifying any applicant with a substantiated finding of physical or sexual abuse-and contacting former employers for corroborating information.

Mandates former employers to furnish information on investigations, discipline, separations, and license actions within deadlines; treats received records as non-public and limits their use to fitness determinations; permits provisional employment for up to 90 days only after all applicant materials are submitted and absent disqualifying knowledge; and authorizes denial or termination, and possible professional discipline, for false statements or omissions.

Prohibits agreements that impede mandatory reporting and forbids assisting a school employee in obtaining a new job when there is knowledge or probable cause of sexual misconduct, with exceptions where allegations were properly reported and officially closed, resulted in acquittal or exoneration, or remained open without charges for four years.

Sets tailored rules for substitutes and contracted service providers, including recordkeeping, disclosure of known incidents to schools, school veto of assignments, and portability of prior reviews within the same organization; grants good-faith immunity for employers that share personnel information and authorizes civil penalties and professional discipline for willful noncompliance; empowers the Attorney General to enforce with fines and contracting bars; and directs the Department of Education to collect and annually report aggregated data on sexual misconduct and abuse and to develop standardized forms and materials, with the Board of Education authorized to promulgate regulations.

Establishes a statewide system to train, assess, and qualify school interpreters and sets tiered assignment standards to serve limited English proficient parents: Tier 3 interpreters are required for all specialized meetings; Tier 2 or 3 may serve standard meetings; and Tier 1 may be used for spontaneous, unannounced interactions when higher tiers are unavailable.

Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide coursework and field-experience courses for Tiers 1-3 and to create a public mechanism to identify Tier-3 interpreters for scheduled specialized meetings; and, consistent with School Interpreters Task Force recommendations, directs the Department to adopt regulations establishing language-proficiency assessments and tier competencies, supervised field hours for Tier 3, grandfathering for school employees whose primary job has been interpreting for at least one year, and procedures to implement the public mechanism. Authorizes phased implementation, subject to appropriation, and makes statewide compliance-including the Tier-3 requirement for specialized meetings-effective upon certification by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Requires each child of kindergarten age to attend a full-day educational program and directs the establishment of permissible and mandatory ages for school attendance.

Amends compulsory attendance provisions to explicitly include any child enrolled in full-day kindergarten.

Requires school attendance from age 6 until 18, unless a student has graduated from high school or earned a high school equivalency credential, and prohibits criminal penalties for students over 16 who fail to attend during the compulsory period.

Establishes a High School Graduation Commission, chaired by the Secretary of Education and including the Commissioners of Higher Education and of Elementary and Secondary Education, along with gubernatorial and legislative appointees, to study barriers to graduation, identify at-risk students, and recommend targeted services; directs it to consider risk indicators, data systems and benchmarks, wraparound supports, reengagement strategies, tutoring, and emotional supports, and to report within six months of the act's effective date.

Takes effect at the start of the next school year.

Eliminates MCAS as a graduation requirement and requires local school committees to issue a High School Diploma to students who demonstrate competency by meeting state academic standards and curriculum frameworks through local requirements; issuance certifies the competency determination and confers all rights and privileges of high school graduation.

Authorizes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to grant a certificate acknowledging passage of state assessment tests, including MCAS or its successors, to students who pass those assessments.

This bill amends a number of provisions in state law concerning funding for school construction. The bill doubles from one percent to two percent the sales tax revenue dedicated to school construction and permits school districts with disproportionate construction needs to allocate up to 1% of their state school aid towards construction cost debt. The bill updates reimbursement policies by setting a minimum funding threshold per square foot based on recent cost trends and raises the maximum reimbursement rate from 80% to 100%. Additionally, it introduces a "School Integration Percentage," granting an extra 10% reimbursement for projects that enhance racial integration.

The bill prohibits disqualifying Accelerated Repair Program projects solely due to having a budget under $100,000. It also classifies extraordinary maintenance projects as eligible for net school spending, capped at $500,000 per project per school.

This bill requires all public, charter, private day or residential and collaborative schools to incorporate comprehensive opioid use disorder education into health education. The objectives include understanding opioids and the development of substance use disorders, recognizing opioid overdose signs, and the role of naloxone in reversing overdoses. The curriculum will work to destigmatize naloxone possession and educate students about the statewide medical amnesty available to those who administer naloxone or call emergency services during an overdose. 

Establishes a competitive grant program, administered by the Commissioner, to fund eligible entities in creating and maintaining teacher leadership programs, reserving at least 5 percent of appropriations for planning grants and permitting limited set-asides for technical assistance and administration. Awards run up to three years with possible two-year extensions and ensure geographic diversity. Requires proposals to embed distributed leadership with shared decision-making, provide training and support for teacher leaders, and create structured opportunities to increase teacher retention, including among underrepresented populations.

Mandates open application to full-time teachers with at least three years' experience who remain classroom instructors; selection using defined competencies; access to programming for all teachers and paraprofessionals; and compensation for added duties that may be converted to paid time off or contract satisfaction. Caps administrative expenses at 5 percent and directs at least 95 percent to school- or classroom-level implementation, including collaboration, instructional material development, and differentiated roles and compensation. Prioritizes awards to high-need educational or Local Educational Agencies, Local Educational Agencies receiving basic support payments under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, entities planning to use the program to bolster teacher recruitment, and partnerships with demonstrated success in teacher leadership, retention, or diversity. Requires grantees to submit data for an independent evaluation with disaggregated retention and teacher-leader metrics and directs an annual report with recommendations for regulations and legislation.

Requires public-school food service providers to improve lunch nutrition by ensuring that at least 50% of weekly lunch entrées offered as reimbursable meals under the USDA National School Lunch Program are healthy foods featuring whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and other fiber-rich proteins, and that no more than 20% of such entrées are ultra-processed, contain more than 30 milligrams of cholesterol, or derive more than 5% of calories from saturated fat; mandates monthly public itemized nutrition data to demonstrate compliance; and phases these requirements in over three years from the provider's most recent contract or by the first day of the 2033-2034 school year, whichever comes first.

Directs the Governor to annually proclaim March 21 as Child Nutrition Day.

This bill directs the Department of Education to annually assess and disseminate detailed, student-specific data on topics including school performance, corporal punishment of students, student punishments, school bullying, activities of school resource officers, charter school operations, school census data, standardized testing results, and student class assignments. The analysis must be cross-tabulated by categories such as racial and ethnic group, gender, socioeconomic status, high needs status, English learner status, disability categories, and homelessness. The resulting data, detailed down to individual schools, will be made publicly available state-wide.

School committees are also mandated to report on the delivery of special education services across different demographics—such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. This reporting, like the student-specific data, must be cross-tabulated and anonymized. Additionally, the bill requires comparing the increase in the assignment of students with disabilities to separate classrooms data from the 2018-19 school year to assess equity in education. 

Adds health education to the core academic subjects and mandates comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically accurate standards covering growth and physical development; physical activity and fitness; nutrition; reproduction and sexuality; mental health; family life and interpersonal relationships; disease prevention and control; safety and injury prevention; tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use and abuse prevention; consumer health and resource management; ecological health; and community and public health.

Requires re-evaluation of the foundation budget for classroom and specialist teachers, instructional equipment, and professional development to ensure sufficient funding.

Clarifies the Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework guides local curricula and does not require an MCAS exam in health education, and requires districts offering curricula primarily involving human sexual education or human sexuality issues to adopt parental/guardian notification policies that allow written opt-outs without penalty and provide reasonable access to instructional materials. Takes effect July 1, 2027.

Requires the Department to establish standards mandating that public elementary, secondary, and vocational schools prohibit student use of mobile communication devices during instructional hours and require devices be stored in designated areas or lockers during school hours. Allows use by authorized personnel for official school purposes and by students with documented medical needs or other exceptional circumstances approved by school administration, and permits schools to allow basic cellular phones without internet or application capabilities to facilitate parent/guardian contact.

Requires clear communication to students and parents regarding the regulations and consequences for violations. Takes effect at the beginning of the next academic year following passage.

Establishes the Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Trust Fund, credited with appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, and interest, and authorizes the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education to expend it without further appropriation to develop and implement K-12 Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Plans, including curricular materials, educator professional development, best-practice sharing, and technical assistance, with priority to underserved and environmental justice communities and first-time implementers.

Creates an Interdisciplinary Climate Literacy Advisory Council and requires the Commissioner, in consultation with the Council, to issue guidelines for district-level plans developed with youth involvement, consultation with environmental and civics partners, culturally competent instruction, and opportunities for English language learners. Authorizes districts to implement plans addressing the causes and impacts of anthropogenic climate change, environmental justice, the climate system, evidence-based policy options and the role of activism, and skills to find credible information, communicate effectively, and make informed decisions; directs the Department to use the fund to support implementation and to provide annual reports on fund receipts, expenditures, recipients, and projected student beneficiaries.

Replaces references to "STEM" with "STEAM" across multiple sections, inserting "art" after "engineering" wherever the disciplines are listed, including in section titles and subsections.

Updates the affected provisions to reflect the inclusion of art alongside science, technology, engineering, and math.

Establishes a Farm to School Program administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that pairs a competitive grant program with a Local Food Incentive reimbursing School Food Authorities and licensed early education and care programs $1 for every $2 spent on in-state foods and $1 for every $3 spent on foods from other New England states or New York, for purchases from farms, fishers, cooperatives, food hubs, or distributors.

Creates a Farm to School Fund and, with advice from an advisory committee and a full-time program coordinator, awards grants for kitchen equipment, staff training, food-literacy curriculum and experiential programming, and garden or indoor growing infrastructure, limited to K-12 schools and licensed child care participating in the National School Lunch Program or the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program, under rules promoting geographic, social, economic, and racial equity.

Directs the department to define eligible products, including value-added dairy and lightly processed seafood, consistent with federal Child Nutrition Program standards; encourage purchasing from socially disadvantaged producers and small farm or seafood businesses; maximize federal financial participation; set annual award caps based on appropriations and available federal funds; require annual reporting on program activities and impacts; and adopt implementing regulations within 180 days.

Requires all public high school students to study and demonstrate general knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators to graduate, with instruction based on American Heart Association, American Red Cross, or other nationally recognized programs aligned to the most current evidence-based Emergency Cardiovascular Care guidelines and incorporating psychomotor skills, including hands-on practice and skills testing. Specifies that hands-only CPR and AED instruction must align with current Emergency Cardiovascular Care guidelines; permits licensed teachers to provide non-certification instruction without being certified CPR trainers, while requiring certification courses to be taught by authorized CPR/AED instructors.

Establishes, subject to appropriation, a health education grant program to assist school districts, directing the Department to set application and timeline requirements, a scoring rubric with award determinations, allowable uses, and the data needed to evaluate the program.

Creates a Promise Scholarship Account program depositing $9,500 per participating student per year, subject to appropriation, into parent-directed accounts for qualified education expenses-including private school or postsecondary tuition and required textbooks, certified tutoring, curricula and approved online programs, licensed therapies, transportation fees up to $500, account management fees, and approved technology-with up to 50% of unused funds rolling over annually and post-graduation balances usable for in-state postsecondary tuition.

Limits eligibility to students who reside with a parent and attended a public school for at least six weeks in the prior school year; requires parents to provide instruction in core subjects, refrain from public school enrollment while participating, and use funds only for qualified expenses; bars students in publicly funded private special education placements; treats participation by students with disabilities as a waiver of IDEA and Section 504 services; and ends eligibility upon public-school return, high-school graduation, or age 20 (22 for special education students).

Directs the Department to approve and oversee participating schools and providers, make quarterly electronic payments (including up to a $1,000 advance to reserve private-school seats), and deduct up to 3% for administration; requires participating schools to meet fiscal soundness, anti-discrimination, health and safety, and staffing-credential standards and prohibits rebates to parents; authorizes audits, sanctions, and referral to the Attorney General for misuse; establishes a Parent Review Committee to advise on qualified expenses and hear appeals; employs a lottery prioritizing continuing students if demand exceeds funds; and mandates annual student testing with Department-approved nationally norm-referenced tests or statewide assessments, collection of demographic and graduation data, an annual report on performance, expenditures by category, parent satisfaction, and fiscal impacts (including quantified savings), and annual audits by the State Auditor.

Requires that science standards include only peer-reviewed and age-appropriate subject matter.

Defines "peer-reviewed" as conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods, and "age-appropriate" as topics, messages, and teaching methods suited to particular ages or age groups based on the developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for those ages.

Requires each school, subject to appropriation, to maintain a stock supply of non-patient specific epinephrine available to all students, including those with individualized health care plans, and directs the Department of Public Health to promulgate regulations requiring unlocked, easily accessible storage; population-based inventory and auto-injector types; training for authorized personnel, including use of epinephrine dose-calculation devices; and routine expiration checks and replacement.

Grants civil immunity to school nurses, other authorized individuals, and their school districts for good-faith provision, administration, or assistance in administering epinephrine during an anaphylactic emergency, assesses the cost of supplying stock epinephrine on surcharge payors, and adds administration of epinephrine auto-injectors to the listed life-saving interventions alongside resuscitation.

Requires every school to update its bullying prevention and intervention plan every two years, post a draft on school premises and the school website, open a 30-day written public comment period-limited to enrolled families for non-public schools-and, if no plan exists, conduct a pre-development comment period; schools must consider comments before finalizing and submit each updated plan to the Board within 30 days.

Authorizes the Board and the Commissioner to enforce compliance using existing authority. Clarifies that references to bullying or retaliation include incidents resulting in student suspension or expulsion, and requires the Department to investigate certain alleged bullying incidents within two years of their occurrence.

This bill mandates that personal financial literacy be incorporated into the curriculum for grades 9 to 12, requiring students to complete relevant coursework prior to graduation. The curriculum includes earning and spending, taxes, financial planning, investment risks, and new financial technologies. Each high school is required to provide at least one experiential financial literacy opportunity for students. The bill also sets up the Financial Literacy Trust Fund, managed by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, which will be financed through public and private sources. The fund develops and disseminates financial literacy educational resources and support professional development, especially in underserved areas. 

Establishes MassCore, a statewide high school program of study mandatory for students entering grade 9 in 2027-2028, requiring at minimum 4 English, 4 mathematics, 3 lab-based science, 3 history, 2 consecutive world language, 1 arts, and 5 additional core electives, while preserving educator curriculum autonomy. Requires regulations to provide waiver pathways for specified student subgroups, permit approved high school credit for MassCore-equivalent middle school coursework, allow temporary district waivers for demonstrated hardship, ensure flexible course options including for career and technical education students, set compliance reporting, and create a public process to update MassCore; and creates a MassCore Advisory Council of stakeholders to collaborate on development and implementation.

Directs districts to report capacity and costs by December 31, 2025, requires an appropriation request by February 1, 2026 for districts with demonstrated financial hardship, and delays enforcement for students in those districts until such funding is provided, while allowing earlier adoption or stricter local graduation requirements. Creates a Special Commission to study and recommend authentic, federally compliant student assessment methods, considering ESSA requirements, potential waivers, and alternatives such as portfolios, capstones, service learning, and performance assessments, using an inclusive public process and reporting by August 31, 2026.

Amends statewide curriculum standards to require sufficient instruction on the histories, roles, and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in United States and state history.

Requires history standards to explicitly include LGBTQ content within U.S. and state historical narratives.

Requires the Board to submit copies of the frameworks to the Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities and to make them publicly available on the Board's website at least 60 days before taking effect.

This bill directs the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education to issue guidelines to school districts and charter schools regarding the appropriate and effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by both students and educators to enhance learning. The guidelines will focus on outlining the benefits and limitations of AI in the educational context, promoting the safe use of AI, addressing equity considerations, and providing a framework for schools to develop their own AI-related policies. The department will conduct at least three public hearings to gather feedback from various stakeholders, including superintendents, school leaders, and teachers before issuing the guidelines.

Authorizes all school districts to offer tuition-free universal full-day kindergarten that meets the same minimum school day and school year standards as elementary schools and prohibits charging tuition, with eligibility to apply for reimbursement from a new Universal Full-Day Kindergarten Trust Fund. Creates the Trust Fund, administered by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, capitalized by appropriations, interest, and public and private contributions, non-lapsing and available without further appropriation to reimburse school committees for up to 100 percent of implementation and maintenance costs in districts that lacked tuition-free universal full-day kindergarten as of January 1, 2021.

Amends the definition of foundation enrollment to count students by category, including preschool and kindergarten, and to include students educated outside the district for whom the district pays tuition. Requires districts without such programs to submit cost estimates within 90 days, directs the Board to report aggregate funding needs within 180 days, and mandates annual reporting on the Trust Fund's receipts, distributions, and projections.

Requires the Board to establish statewide policies and procedures to ensure appropriate education for advanced, gifted, and talented K-12 students, ensuring district programming aligns with best practices and provides effective challenges within students' zones of proximal development during the ordinary school day.

Mandates an annual survey of schools and districts on identification and education policies and the number of advanced and gifted students identified and served at each grade level, disaggregated by race/ethnicity and low-income status, and requires the Board to compile and publish these data in an annual report and in school and district profiles.

Directs the Board to publish an additional annual report describing how the state and districts are developing structural capacity to enable gifted, talented, and advanced students to reach their full potential.

This bill looks to enhance financial literacy, targeting underserved communities. The bill mandates the integration of personal financial literacy education into the high school curriculum as a graduation requirement. The curriculum will address financial topics like income management, taxation, budgeting, credit, investments, and emerging financial technologies. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will support educators through professional development and resource provision in alignment with these new standards. The bill also creates the Financial Literacy Trust Fund, which funds programs such as professional development for teachers, the creation of educational materials, and experiential learning partnerships with institutions and stakeholders. Additionally, the bill authorizes a special legislative commission to devise a statewide financial literacy strategy for all residents. This commission will explore potential partnerships and consider developing an online financial education platform. 

Requires standards to include instruction in the history and current issues of the Aquinnah Wampanoag, Mashpee Wampanoag, other Wampanoag tribes, the Massachuset, the Nipmuc, and other Native American tribes in the state; information about tribes and confederacies with historic ties, such as the Wabanaki Confederacy; the tribal history of Native Americans throughout the United States; tribal sovereignty and governance, treaty rights, genocide, cultures, languages, socioeconomic experiences; and ongoing issues common to contemporary Native Americans throughout the state.

Directs the Board, in developing these standards, to consult consistent with the special relationship with Native Americans as molded by Treaty and Agreement, Legislative Act, and Executive Order.

This bill establishes an Office of Career Technical Education within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Led by the Deputy Commissioner of Career Technical Education, the office is responsible for creating credentials for CTE program graduates by collaborating with recognized industry credential providers to develop state-specific certifications. The office will also work to ensure instructor competency and develop pre- and post-assessment methods, facilitate data sharing, and establish articulation agreements with community colleges to support students in earning credits and credentials. The office will partner with Regional Workforce Boards to align CTE programs with local and national labor market needs. Every comprehensive high school will be required to provide at least one CTE course or internship to expand students' career exposure. The bill also amends existing laws to allow cities and towns to participate in both vocational regional school districts and other regional districts offering vocational programs, subject to approval processes.

Additionally, a two-year pilot program will be launched by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to foster collaboration between schools offering CTE and those that do not, aiming to improve students' access to skill training and career opportunities. 

This  bill concerns data privacy and security within K-12 educational settings by safeguarding information related to students, teachers, and school staff. The bill prohibits operators of online sites from using information they obtain for targeted advertising and from selling or renting student data. Operators are also required to adopt strong security practices and must either return or destroy data upon request or when it is no longer needed for educational purposes.

Contracts between educational entities and operators must now incorporate specific data protection clauses, outlining data ownership, access permissions, security measures, and procedures for breach notifications. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is directed to issue regulations identifying the data security duties of schools and operators. A Chief Privacy Officer will ensure compliance with these regulations and to create privacy policies. School districts are mandated to develop their own privacy policies, assign data managers, and ensure public access to information about their data handling practices and the operators with whom they work. The bill also requires that staff members who access covered information undergo annual training on maintaining student data confidentiality.

This bill establishes a Workforce Skills Cabinet within the Governor's office. The cabinet's main objective is to enhance workforce skills and improve college and career readiness by advising and aligning programs and policies across the Executive Offices of Labor and Workforce Development, Education, and Housing and Economic Development. Under the bill, the cabinet convenes monthly and conducts biennial audits to evaluate and align career pathways with labor market demands, releasing annual reports to analyze the state’s job market and forecast future workforce needs. Additionally, the cabinet will improve data collection on educational pathways and advise educational departments on enhancing student employability skills. Strategic goals will be set to ensure universal access to educational opportunities like early college and vocational programs, enabling high school students to earn college credits and industry credentials. 

Requires all high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and all middle schools no earlier than 8:00 a.m., including charter schools, and exempts rural school districts. Sets an implementation deadline of July 1, 2028, or upon expiration of a school district's or charter school's collective bargaining agreement operative on January 1, 2026, whichever is later, and applies to all academic years after July 1, 2028.

Directs the Board to establish the minimum length of the school day and the minimum number of school days, promulgate regulations to implement these requirements, and provide reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for any state-mandated costs.

Establishes a permanent, independent Commission on American Indian and Alaska Native Education composed of 17 members appointed by specified education, health, human services, veterans, youth, and housing agencies, including seven appointed by the Commission on Indian Affairs in consultation with tribal governments and intertribal organizations. Members serve two-year terms selected through an open statewide application process; the Commission may designate vice-chairs and create advisory committees on high school education, higher education, human services, and youth. Charges the Commission to marshal public and private resources to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native students, support tribal self-determination and heritage language and history learning, and partner with the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health on school- and community-based suicide prevention, violence intervention, and zero-tolerance policies for harassment and discrimination, while making ongoing policy recommendations to those agencies and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Authorizes the Commission to request information from state agencies; accept and solicit gifts, grants, bequests, and federal funds; adopt by-laws; appoint regional chapters; hold public meetings and hearings; and, subject to appropriation, hire an Executive Director and staff and maintain offices, and requires an annual report.

Strengthens evaluation and services for English learners in special education by requiring school committees to consider students' English proficiency, administer assessments in the child's primary language in forms most likely to yield accurate information, ensure IEP teams include participants with expertise in second-language acquisition and the student's language needs, and mandate IEPs that address both English language and special education needs.

Prohibits school districts from recommending that parents decline any English learner program services, including for scheduling reasons, and requires English learner programs to address any academic deficits resulting from a focus on language acquisition within a reasonable amount of time.

Requires the Board to ensure meaningful communication with parents and guardians through qualified, bilingual, trained interpreters and translators; expands school anti-discrimination protections to include immigration or citizenship status and disability; and directs the Department to promulgate regulations to maintain and enforce specified federal provisions as of January 1, 2025.

This bill appropriates $300 million for a competitive grant initiative to expand vocational-technical education programs. The grants provide financial support for capital improvements and equipment necessary to expand career technical education in fields that are high-demand and high-wage, and aligned with regional labor market needs. The grants target specific capital expenditures including construction, improvements, and equipment purchases, but exclude staff salaries, professional development, and overhead costs. Eligible applicants consist of vocational technical schools, agricultural high schools, and comprehensive high schools offering programs in regions that experience enrollment waitlists. Priority is given to institutions located in Gateway Cities, those with excessive applications, and schools that maintain robust relationships with regional employers. Each grant can be up to $25 million, with a commitment of at least $100 million awarded annually over an initial three-year period.

In addition, the bill provides for an increase in project reimbursement rates for regional vocational-technical high schools and county agricultural high schools to at least 75% of eligible construction costs, with additional incentives for projects that include state-approved vocational-technical education programs. It directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish policies aimed at increasing awareness and access to vocational-technical education, especially for middle school students, to ensure fair and equitable access to information and opportunities.

This bill requires public schools to provide inclusive instruction that reflects the histories, experiences, and contributions of historically underrepresented groups. This includes a curriculum on history, social science, literature, arts, sciences, cultural customs, and discussions on discrimination, bias, and inequities. The curriculum must address topics such as immigration, discrimination, slavery, segregation, and the effects of colonial and exclusionary practices. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will work with educational stakeholders to offer professional development to support these objectives.

The bill also establishes the Comprehensive and Inclusive Curriculum Trust Fund to support the creation of curriculum frameworks across various subjects while emphasizing professional development and collaboration. The fund's grants will promote this inclusive curriculum, focusing on the inclusion of historically underrepresented groups in subjects like literature, arts, and sciences.

This bill establishes a mandate for comprehensive sexual health education across Massachusetts schools. The bill sets standards for sexual health education, which must be medically accurate and age-appropriate. It requires that the curriculum align with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Curriculum Framework and meet the needs of all students, regardless of gender, race, disability status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The content must span topics including human development, anatomy and reproduction, abstinence, contraceptive use, relationship skills, consent, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

The bill also modifies parental notification policies. Schools must have a written policy to inform parents about the sexual health curriculum, their ability to opt-out their children, and the process for doing so. Parents can review program materials upon request, and students opting out must receive alternative educational activities without penalties. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is responsible for issuing implementation rules, ensuring compliance, setting minimum qualifications for instructors, and updating the curriculum framework at least every ten years.

Requires, effective July 1, 2023, a computer-adaptive assessment with a high ceiling and low floor to monitor individual students' mastery of K-12 learning standards in English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, annually identifying mastered and unmastered standards to measure authentic growth and to hold educators more accurately and fairly accountable; and mandates that assessment instruments be criterion-referenced and flexible enough to gauge which levels of standards students are meeting.

Directs the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to, by July 1, 2023, issue regulations to engage each child at an instructional level and pace commensurate with prior demonstrated achievement; and by July 1, 2025, develop or procure formative, computer-adaptive interim assessments for each K-12 standard, expand the statewide student-level data system to include those results alongside annual summative data, analyze all assessment data to determine each student's appropriate instructional level in each content area, and deliver results to schools. Defines "school age child" and prohibits age-based discrimination in access to the advantages, privileges, and courses of study of any public school.

Requires, effective July 1, 2021, implementation of a computer-adaptive assessment with a high ceiling and low floor across K-12 English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies to monitor individual students' mastery and progress, annually identify standards already mastered and those not yet, determine each student's learning readiness, ensure continuous progress through the standards, and hold educators more accurately and fairly accountable through an authentic measure of achievement and growth.

Requires, effective July 1, 2023, that assessment instruments be criterion-referenced and flexible enough to determine which levels of the academic standards students are meeting.

Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish regulations for K-12 whole-grade and content-specific academic acceleration, directing districts to provide access to curriculum, instruction, and pacing beyond age level for students who demonstrate readiness.

Mandates universal evaluation of all children for acceleration using screening assessments and a bias-reducing evaluation tool, with evidence-based decisions documented in a written acceleration plan that includes relevant academic and social-emotional supports and is implemented by administrators, counselors, and teachers.

Requires districts to provide and document professional development to support accelerated students and directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop and offer such professional development and other assistance; in developing the regulations, the Department must consider strategies including single-subject and whole-grade acceleration, multi-age classes, online courses and open educational resources, dual enrollment/early college, curriculum compacting, competency-based advancement, credit by exam or prior experience and credit toward graduation for high-school-level work completed in earlier grades, self-paced instruction, mentoring, early entrance to first grade, and early graduation.

Establishes a comprehensive system to identify and educate gifted, beyond grade-level, twice-exceptional, and highly or profoundly gifted students, and directs the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to promulgate regulations that define these students, assign state, district, and school responsibilities, embed a talent development framework, and provide appropriate placements, including collaboratives, state-operated or contracted programs, or private placements when needed. Authorizes inter-district and public or private agreements to deliver services and assigns districts responsibility for associated costs, excluding medically necessary healthcare covered by third-party payors.

Creates within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education an Office of Beyond Grade-Level and Gifted and Talented Education led by a full-time director, and amends statewide education goals and reporting to include gifted and beyond grade-level students and the number served.

Requires educator preparation and professional development by establishing a gifted education professional development program; mandating Board-required coursework for certification; training in strategies for educating gifted and beyond grade-level students for initial licensure; and at least 15 hours of gifted education professional development every five years for renewal for educators in schools or districts with such students.

Mandates district professional development plans and annual reports to address gifted education and the use of federal funds for identification, services, and training; requires documented pathways of accommodations and interventions, including acceleration and curriculum compacting, and comparable services for homeless students; and requires annual district and Department reporting on programs, services, professional development, and disaggregated participation data.

This bill requires schools to limit student access to personal electronic devices during the school day. Exceptions are made for emergencies or educational needs. Schools must communicate these policies to parents and submit them to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for oversight and guidance. Schools must also educate students on the social, emotional, and physical risks of social media use.

Social media platforms must implement nearly foolproof age verification systems and establish default privacy-focused settings for minors, including permitting communication and content sharing only with established connections, disabling features like autoplay and continuous scrolling, and barring access during certain hours, such as nighttime and school hours. Platforms are also required to include mechanisms for flagging unwanted content and must issue health warnings related to social media use. 

Requires newly elected or appointed school committee members to complete at least 8 hours of orientation within three months at no cost; bars noncompliant members from participating in any formal committee business.

Directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop the orientation-covering school finance, statewide education goals and academic standards, open meeting, public records, conflict of interest, special education, collective bargaining, school leadership standards and evaluations, and school committee roles and responsibilities-and allows the statewide association of school committees and other entities approved by the Commissioner of Education to deliver it. Requires providers to offer at least three sessions annually at no required cost to eligible school committees, issue certificates of completion, and file notice with the member's city or town clerk.

Requires evidence-based early literacy practices by mandating elementary curricula include instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in consultation with the Department of Early Education and Care, to issue K-3 reading screening guidelines using department-approved evidence-based screeners, and requires districts to screen all K-3 students at least twice yearly, deliver evidence-based interventions with progress monitoring for students below benchmarks, notify families within 30 school days, and annually disclose each district's screening instruments and approval status.

Overhauls teacher preparation oversight by updating terminology to "candidate" and requiring the Commissioner to regularly evaluate and meaningfully differentiate program providers based on program quality and graduates' outcomes, review implementation of evidence-based reading preparation, and annually publish provider approval status, enrollment, candidate demographics, licensure areas, and graduate employment; imposes an application fee for program review set annually by the Secretary of Administration and Finance.

Subject to appropriation, establishes a two-year paid teacher apprenticeship pilot in high-needs districts with highly proficient mentor teachers, provides supports to ensure competitive participation, requires outcome reporting, authorizes regulations, and orders a statewide study recommending incentives to recruit and retain diverse, highly effective educators in high-needs districts, including salary surveys, National Board Certification incentives, a master educator corps, and salary parity analyses.

Requires each approved private special education school or program enrolling publicly funded students to file by January 1 annual reports and independent audits conducted under governmental auditing standards with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State Auditor, and to provide copies to enrolling districts. Audited statements must disclose related-party transactions; real estate purchases, sales, or leases; the names, duties, and total compensation of the five highest-paid employees; administrative and overhead spending; and information on programs and services, including cost-effectiveness.

Mandates that the Board annually publish a supplemental report presenting student achievement data for each approved private special education school or program, including statewide assessment results.

Prioritizes school construction funding for projects that create space for in-district special education programs and services and awards incentive points to projects that include such spaces, including for education collaborative programs in public school buildings. Limits data sharing between the Department of Early Education and Care and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to jointly approved residential programs, and directs the Secretary of Education, in consultation with those departments and the Operational Services Division, to study oversight of Approved Day and Residential Private Special Education Programs and deliver recommendations within 12 months.

Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to integrate Integrated Cultural Studies into K-12 core subjects, including History and Social Science and English Language Arts, and requires every district to update curricula, develop an implementation plan within one year of the advisory council's final report, and submit annual reports on courses, instructional hours, and student participation beginning the first academic year after enactment.

Establishes an Integrated Cultural Studies Advisory Council, appointed by the Commissioner within 90 days, to develop a model curriculum and framework, conduct an initial statewide survey and annual follow-ups, and issue a final report whose recommendations the Department must use to modify curriculum frameworks; creates an Integrated Cultural Studies Liaison to oversee district implementation and advise on curriculum improvements.

Directs the Department to set minimum teacher qualifications, provide professional development and guidance documents, review district plans with the council, promulgate rules, and launch an open educational resources portal. Takes effect for the academic year immediately following passage.

Requires, subject to appropriation, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to pay school districts per-student awards: $1,000 for industry-recognized credentials with high employment value as determined by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development or recognized for academic credit by a public institution of higher learning; $800 for other industry-recognized credentials addressing regional demands identified by the local MassHire Workforce Board; and $1,000 for students completing cooperative education or equivalent substantial work-based learning.

Mandates that at least 80% of any award flow to the originating school, prohibits supplanting basic operating funds, and limits use to supporting or maintaining the programs, including instructor stipends and subsidizing certification fees for low-income students; authorizes certification development awards for instructor development, equipment, and other directly related program start-up needs.

Requires an annual report detailing participating student counts (including low-income, ELL, and SPED), credentials earned, and whether funding was sufficient, and takes effect upon passage.

Establishes a High Quality Pre-Kindergarten Education grant program, administered by the Department of Early Education and Care in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to fund mixed-delivery pre-K for children from age 2 years and 9 months until kindergarten eligibility, with proposals requiring partnerships with licensed community-based early learning programs.

Requires grantees to meet rigorous standards, including a child-instructor ratio no greater than 10:1, class sizes capped at 20, full school-day programming, inclusion of children with disabilities, qualified teachers with ongoing professional development, salaries and benefits comparable to district K-12 staff, evidence-based curricula and health and safety standards, developmentally and linguistically appropriate instruction aligned to state early learning and development standards, comprehensive services, family engagement, student tracking using the state identifier, and continuous evaluation.

Allocates awards based on readiness-an approved local preschool expansion plan detailing system assessment, need, resources, and budgets-and on need, defined by the share of high-need students, with funds awarded from highest to lowest need and preference to underperforming or chronically underperforming districts; requires local governing councils, quarterly reporting, and timely implementation with funds reverting for noncompliance; and directs the Board of Early Education and Care to issue regulations within six months while the Commissioner conducts annual evaluations and provides technical assistance.

Prohibits denying an invitation to apply for a school facilities grant solely because of the age of the system in need of repair, while allowing age to be weighed when designating approved school projects and when prioritizing approvals and reimbursements, including prioritization of older systems.

Increases from 1 to 2 the applicable numerical figure in two related provisions.

Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, beginning in FY2026 and notwithstanding any contrary law, to annually submit to the General Court an appropriation request that complies with the state's total funding obligation established in law.

Requires school districts to select elementary literacy curricula aligned with evidence-based literacy instruction; defines evidence-based consistent with scientifically based reading research and prohibits three-cueing practices. Adds accountability reviews of districts' literacy materials for alignment with Department-recommended high-quality curricula, and mandates district plans to implement evidence-based instruction, with required planning when early literacy screening shows more than 50% of K-3 students below benchmarks.

Requires educator preparation programs seeking approval to align with evidence-based literacy instruction and ensures educator apprenticeship pathways provide a foundation in such instruction. Directs the Department to provide professional development for Pre-K-3 educators, including a list of approved high-quality programs and vendors and free online training modules, and to issue guidelines districts must follow to identify and remediate reading deficiencies after consulting experts on intervention approaches. Establishes annual district data reporting and statewide aggregation beginning in 2025 to monitor implementation and authorizes the Department to promulgate regulations.

Establishes a Commission on Geography Education, chaired by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, to assess K-12 geography within the history and social science frameworks, review programs and national standards, evaluate the use of professional development points for geography-focused training, and submit findings with draft legislation by December 31, 2025; requires the commission to convene within 90 days of the act's effective date.

Amends the Council on Global Education to include the directors of each of the Bay State centers for global education and a representative from the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance. Requires the Governor to annually proclaim the first week of April as Massachusetts Geography Education Week.

Requires all children under 18 who have not graduated from high school to attend school beginning September 1, 2025.

Establishes, subject to appropriation, a three-year competitive grant pilot administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for districts with dropout rates above the state average and local community agencies serving resident students to fund dropout prevention and recovery programs that use at least one of the following: alternative education with evidence-based instruction and supports; graduation coaches with individualized graduation plans and follow-up; targeted outreach and transition supports for students who have left school; and policies, liaisons, flexible scheduling, and data collection for expectant and parenting students. Requires annual progress reviews and reporting on participating entities, services, and student progress and attainment of high school diplomas or general educational development, and a final report with analysis and recommendations on whether to expand, maintain, or discontinue the program.

This Massachusetts bill focuses on advancing workforce development and educational readiness. It establishes a Workforce Skills Cabinet within the governor’s office to coordinate efforts among the Executive Offices of Labor and Workforce Development, Education, and Housing and Economic Development. The cabinet will undertake strategic planning, enhancing workforce skills, facilitating data integration, and advising on employability competencies. They are required to publish annual reports on labor market needs and improve data concerning college and career readiness pathways.

Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide $1000 certification awards to students who earn industry-recognized certifications in high-demand occupations. The bill also supports the expansion of career technical education and requires the development of employability credentials for students. Public high schools must offer at least one foundational computer science course as part of this initiative and adopt a plan for implementing the MassCore curriculum as a graduation requirement.

Requires the Secretary of the Executive Office of Education, in collaboration with the Secretaries of Labor and Workforce Development and of Housing and Economic Development, to conduct a biennial return-on-investment audit of public high school college and career pathways, including career technical education and vocational programs, to assess alignment with state and regional labor market plans, employer demand, postsecondary programs, and industry-valued credentials. Directs the audit to identify offerings linked to high-skill, higher-wage, in-demand occupations; evaluate program-level student participation and outcomes-postsecondary attainment, employment status, and wage earnings; flag misaligned programs with recommendations to phase them out and reallocate resources; and provide clear information on availability, quality, and outcomes to support informed student and family choices.

Requires analysis of equity of access across student groups and geographies and recommendations to improve labor-market alignment, quality, access, outcomes, and operational efficiencies across pathways.

Establishes Department standards for high school student professional development programs, including instructor qualifications, training to identify individual student needs, multiple delivery models with remote or in-person access, comprehensive feedback systems, and opportunities to build professional relationships outside school, and requires Department approval of district programs that meet these standards.

Requires Superintendents or authorized teachers to excuse one absence per school year for a supervised professional development day for high school students.

This bill establishes a comprehensive food literacy initiative within Massachusetts education. The bill creates a Food Literacy Trust Fund, to be used by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to advance food literacy programs in school districts, charter schools, and other educational environments. The bill also directs the addition of food literacy into the school curriculum to enhance students' understanding of complex food systems, covering topics such as nutrition, food production, environmental impacts, food justice, and career opportunities related to these fields.

Authorizes school districts to opt out of any state non-income-based free lunch program, including otherwise required programs, and permits them to retain and repurpose the funds that would have been directed to them under such programs.

If a district participates, allows a parent or guardian to opt out an individual student; requires the district to allow the student to purchase lunch at a district-set price; prohibits the district from counting that student for program funding; and allows the district to retain and use for other purposes the funds that would have been attributable to that student.

Establishes a CPR in Schools Fund in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, subject to available appropriations, to provide mini-grants or subsidies to districts that require psychomotor skill-based, hands-only CPR and AED training before graduation, including support for equipment and professional development for student training.

Requires instruction to align with national Guidelines for CPR and ECC and include hands-on practice, and prioritizes awards to high-need districts defined by high free- and reduced-price meal eligibility, participation in the Community Eligibility Provision or Universal Free Meals, or Title I status.

This bill focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia awareness, data collection, and care coordination. The bill directs the Department of Public Health to launch a public awareness campaign focused on brain health and dementia, targeting at-risk and diverse communities to promote early detection and caregiving resources. The legislation establishes a Director of Dementia Care and Coordination within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, responsible for executing the Alzheimer's Disease State Plan and enhancing service access and caregiver training. It requires MassHealth to incorporate Dementia Care Coordination services in Senior Care Options and One Care plans for members diagnosed with dementia.

Under the bill, training programs will be developed for law enforcement, state police, firefighters, and EMS personnel to improve their interactions with individuals living with dementia, with a specific focus on communication, behavioral management, and local caregiving resources. Health care providers will be required to participate in updated dementia training programs that emphasize dementia-focused patient management, supportive environments, and safe discharge protocols.

Requires the Office of the State Treasurer to develop, and periodically review and update, a model curriculum to support seniors' financial literacy and stability, in consultation with the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, the Massachusetts Councils on Aging, and AARP Massachusetts.

This bill establishes a licensing framework for home care agencies in Massachusetts. The license requirements include maintaining accurate service plans, obtaining proper insurance coverage, and complying with health and safety standards. Additionally, agencies must fulfill training and competency requirements, observe labor and wage laws, and safeguard worker safety. The bill also outlines procedures to address abuse and bullying involving home care workers and consumers.Under the bill, a Home Care Worker and Consumer Abuse Stakeholder Advisory Committee is formed, tasked with developing standards to create a safe work environment and protect consumer rights while maintaining privacy considerations. In addition, a Home Care Oversight Advisory Council will offer guidance on the implementation of licensing regulations. The bill also applies anti-discrimination laws to employers of personal care attendants.

Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, within 90 days, to seek federal approval via state plan amendments, options, waivers, or demonstrations to establish an assisted living service allowing Medicaid-eligible individuals at risk of nursing home placement to reside in certified assisted living residences; caps the combined assisted living average daily rate plus Supplemental Security Income (including the state supplement) at no more than 80 percent of the cost of comparable institutional care; and directs MassHealth to implement a rate schedule using disproportionate share payment methodologies to ensure equal economic access relative to institutional services.

Requires, within 120 days, a report on the status and fiscal impact of federal applications, including analysis of using the frail elder waiver, a new 1915(c) waiver, or managed care "in lieu of services" authority to deliver assisted living benefits.

Requires, within 180 days, an analysis of structural, organizational, or cultural barriers to assisted living access for MassHealth members, particularly in qualified census tracts or difficult development areas, compared with access to nursing facility services.

Establishes the Polling Location Accessibility Fund as a separate, nonlapsing account capitalized by appropriations and designated donations, invested by the State Treasurer to earn interest while remaining immediately available, and used only to assist cities and towns with accessibility upgrades to polling places and programs to increase voting by elderly and physically-challenged residents.

Authorizes and directs the State Secretary to administer a competitive grant program-awarding funds at the Secretary's discretion and subject to available appropriations-to pay all or part of costs for local initiatives, including substantial alteration and remodeling of polling locations, and for efforts to increase the number or overall percentage of elderly and physically-challenged voters casting ballots in state or federal elections.

Establishes a Local Election Early Voting Fund, financed by a voluntary $1 income-tax checkoff credited against liability, to provide annual grants to municipalities for election costs based on each community's share of registered voters, capped at 3 percent, with disbursements by July 31; transfers remaining balances from the State Election Campaign Fund to the new fund; offsets grants against reimbursements under the Local Mandate Law; and repeals related provisions.

Raises multiple contribution limits, including the individual limit to $1,500; updates numerous $50 thresholds to $100; treats up to $7,500 per individual each year in small-dollar purchases from party fundraisers as non-contributions; and biennially indexes contribution and aggregate limits for inflation.

Authorizes the Director of Campaign and Political Finance to resolve violations by order, imposing administrative fines and disgorgement after notice and hearing with judicial review; makes audit and investigative materials nonpublic while in agency custody; bars transfers from federal political committees to candidates; and imposes up to a 10-year ballot exclusion, including as a write-in or sticker, for candidates who fail to file required reports after civil proceedings unless timely cured.

Modernizes reporting by defining and requiring disclosure of in-kind contributions and new liabilities; expanding independent-expenditure PAC registration and filing schedules and extending 10-day pre-election reporting through election day; moving year-end deadlines to January 31; allowing business or residential addresses while suppressing street-level donor addresses online; and permitting electronic payments and reimbursements up to $1,000 subject to specified safeguards.

Restructures municipal ward and precinct approval around the decennial redistricting by prohibiting the Local Election Districts Review Commission from approving plans until the Governor issues the final decennial division, and locks precinct boundaries-particularly in towns split among multiple higher-level districts-for electing congressional, councillor, senatorial, and representative officers until the next decennial division. Tightens precinct management by minimizing sub-precincts and applying population-deviation rules only as needed to meet a ±10% standard for municipal representative districts.

Requires standardized electronic deliverables (GIS shapefiles and narrative descriptions) for approved districts and precinct changes, directs the State Secretary to establish an internet portal for commission records and redistricting data, and shifts municipal submission deadlines to 30 days after the Governor's final approval, with new precincts effective 14 days before the state primary preceding the next biennial election. Defines "decennial division," requires the State Secretary to assist towns by producing draft precincts compiled into a unified dataset, and conditions certain precinct formations on whether a town spans multiple districts.

Requires registrars to provide the State Secretary copies of local voting lists, absentee voting lists, and specially qualified voter lists, and permits the statewide electronic registration system to satisfy this submission requirement.

Designates these lists as public records in the custody of the State Secretary, and directs the State Secretary to provide regional or statewide versions on request, with inspection and copying governed by public records requirements.

Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, to establish an instructional awareness program providing students and faculty with at least one hour each school year of education on emergency preparedness, planning, and incident management for weather events, natural disasters, viruses, and human-made disasters.

Creates an Ocean Acidification Council, chaired by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to coordinate and accelerate monitoring and response to ocean and coastal acidification by engaging public and private efforts, harmonizing data, providing hardware and training, and implementing within three years a coastal monitoring system guided by a one-year gap analysis and public workshops.

Authorizes the Council to commission studies on ecological and economic impacts; causal links among nutrient pollution, eutrophication, and acidification; cost-benefit analyses of interventions; and adaptive practices for aquaculture, and empowers it to recommend mitigative interventions that prioritize nature-based solutions and to deploy a non-lapsing Ocean Acidification Fund to restore and buffer marine habitats and finance nutrient-reduction infrastructure, including treatment works upgrades, septic system replacements or nitrogen-reducing upgrades, permeable reactive barriers, and salt marsh restoration.

Amends climate planning and environmental review to explicitly address ocean and coastal acidification, adds related definitions, requires standardized public access to monitoring data, and requires the Governor to proclaim the third full week in August as Ocean Acidification Awareness Week to promote citizen science and public action.

This bill creates a Nature for All Fund administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and a 15-member board. The fund is dedicated to developing parks and outdoor spaces, especially in underserved areas, conserving land to safeguard water resources and enhance climate resilience, and achieving environmental justice objectives. The fund may also be used for conserving indigenous cultural lands and ensuring community stewardship. Funds may go to municipalities, regional partnerships, planning entities, watershed associations, land trusts, conservation groups, state agencies, tribal authorities, and other non-profit organizations. The fund will be financed by sales tax revenue from all sales classified as sporting goods, recreational vehicles, and golf courses. The bill allows for the issuance of bonds backed by the Nature for All Trust Fund to finance its initiatives without making them general obligations of the Commonwealth.

Creates two separate, non-budgeted special revenue funds-the MassWildlife Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Mitigation and Enhancement Fund and the Natural Heritage Mitigation Fund-administered by the Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the latter acting through the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, and authorizes expenditure without further appropriation to protect, mitigate damages to, study, and enhance inland fish and wildlife resources and to mitigate adverse impacts to endangered, threatened, and special concern species, including habitat management, research, and land protection, consistent with the terms of the certifications, permits, licenses, authorizations, approvals, judgments, or agreements that generated the monies.

Specifies revenue from designated appropriations; payments required by conservation and management permits; monies from related certifications, permits, licenses, authorizations, approvals, judgments, and agreements; gifts, grants, donations, rebates, settlements; investment income; and loan repayments. Carries forward balances, credits interest, prohibits transfers to the General Fund and deficit spending, requires safe, liquid deposits, bars use of the Natural Heritage Mitigation Fund for program operations, and directs any remaining balance upon its dissolution to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund for the same purposes.

Establishes a special activity license program for oceanic scientific research-including aquaculture or mariculture, scientific collection and study, assessment or experimentation, and collection and possession for education-and defines "attract(ion)" and "harvest." Requires research results detailed enough for replication, monitoring analyses that detect change over time, and restoration or mitigation that repairs damaged species such as oysters, corals, sponges, sea fans, and sea whips and is evaluated by subsequent monitoring.

Authorizes the Director to grant or deny licenses, including use of external expert reviewers, based on applicant eligibility and prior compliance; completeness and consistency of proposals; gear impacts; species' biological status-with a risk-averse approach when stock assessments are lacking-life-history and genetic considerations; deviations from regulations; quotas and total commercial and recreational attraction/harvest; locations and intensity; project specifications; monitoring strategies; and documented restoration experience.

Limits eligibility to principal investigators and scientific or technical staff affiliated with educational institutions, research institutes or laboratories, corporations or organizations, government agencies, or certified aquaculture facilities; sets a non-refundable processing fee determined annually by the Secretary of Administration and Finance; and requires license holders to submit activity reports on permanently retained organisms-including species, numbers, sizes, locations, disposition, and, for prohibited species, gear used and any mortality with cause if known-along with copies of resulting publications and technical, monitoring, or final reports.

Establishes two competitive grant programs to advance circular-economy business practices and the ocean-based blue economy, and creates a dedicated education fund. Requires the Department of Environmental Protection to administer a competitive grant program for small businesses transitioning to a circular economy, with awards expected to deliver measurable economic benefit and prioritized for certified minority- and women-owned business enterprises and applicants located in or benefiting environmental justice populations. Creates a grant program under the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs to support scientific studies; research and development of new technology; investment in and expansion of existing beneficial technology; and research into economic and industry impacts, favoring projects with measurable benefits to the ocean environment, marine species, or coastal communities that use best-available prototypes, promote equity and inclusivity, and leverage time-series data.

Establishes within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a Blue Economy Education Fund to support high schools in expanding education, workforce training, and job placement in blue-STEAM industries, with priority for schools in or serving environmental justice communities.

Creates an 11-member Ocean Acidification Council, chaired by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to coordinate public and private monitoring, harmonize data, provide equipment and training, maintain a central data repository, and recommend mitigation and adaptive technologies. Establishes a non-lapsing Ocean Acidification Fund the Council administers to restore and buffer marine habitats and finance nutrient-reduction infrastructure-including wastewater upgrades, septic replacements or nitrogen-reducing upgrades, permeable reactive barriers, and salt marsh restoration-when eutrophication materially contributes to coastal acidification.

Requires a gap analysis within one year and implementation within three years of a coastal monitoring system capable of modeling long-term pH and short-term aragonite saturation with standardized public data; authorizes independent studies on trends, stressor causality, economic impacts, total maximum daily loads sufficiency, cost-benefit of interventions, species impacts (including lobster, oysters, sea scallops, quahogs, and fin fish), and development of best practices for the shellfishing industry.

Adds ocean and coastal acidification to climate adaptation planning and mandatory environmental review, defines coastal and ocean acidification and related terms, and directs the Governor to proclaim the third full week of August as Ocean Acidification Awareness Week to promote citizen science and public action.

This bill creates a detailed system for the recycling of electronic waste in Massachusetts. It requires entities wishing to operate as producers, collectors, or processors of electronic waste to register with the Department of Environmental Protection. Producers will be financially accountable for managing the collection, transportation, reuse, or recycling of their electronic products. They may create independent recycling programs, either on their own or in association with others, to gather discarded electronics. The bill details the processes for collecting, processing, and financial reimbursement of products. It bans several practices, such as imposing fees for the collection or recycling of designated products. 

Establishes a statewide invasive species governance framework by creating an invasive species office within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, a full-time Statewide Invasive Species Coordinator, and an Invasive Species Advisory Committee empowered to maintain species lists and a statewide database, issue public advisories, promulgate regulations and rules for potentially invasive species, restrict sale, purchase, possession, propagation, introduction, importation, transport, and disposal, and review and establish fines and penalties. Creates a nonlapsing Invasive Species Trust Fund, credited with appropriations, gifts and grants, investment income, and voluntary contributions from sporting, hunting, fishing, and trapping license applicants; requires the Coordinator to administer the fund to support the office and committee, develop and implement the statewide strategic management plan, finance research and pilot control technologies, and award grants.

Requires the Executive Office to maintain the office, conduct monitoring and citizen science partnerships, coordinate with municipalities, and appoint the Coordinator to develop and update at least every five years a statewide strategic management plan covering prevention, early detection and rapid response, control, enforcement, public education, interagency and local coordination, research priorities, information-sharing, preparedness and ecosystem resilience, program evaluation, and permitting guidance, and incorporating the approved Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan. Establishes a competitive grant program for municipalities, cooperative invasive species management areas, nonprofits, and state agencies to implement projects aligned with the plan; mandates applicant management plans; prioritizes eradicating incipient infestations and preventing spread over recurring maintenance; and authorizes maintenance grants covering up to 75 percent of annual costs for up to five years.

Establishes the Quabbin Host Community Trust Fund, administered by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, funded by an annual Massachusetts Water Resources Authority deposit of $35,000,000 indexed to inflation, and requires at least 90% of the fund be spent each year, including no less than 70% for municipal operations and capital improvements (including debt service) in watershed communities, no more than 25% for non-profit and cultural organizations serving those communities and the Connecticut and Chicopee River Basin communities, and no more than 5% for projects related to conduits, pipes, and hydrants.

Amends payments in lieu of taxes to base payments on total acreage with a minimum of $50,000 annually and a floor not below the prior fiscal year's Metropolitan District Commission payment. Revises Massachusetts Water Resources Authority board composition to require three members from Quabbin Reservoir watershed communities-one each from Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcester counties-representing land and water resources protection and host community interests, and imposes a 12-year term limit on board service, except for the Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Requires the Authority to complete a Water System Expansion Evaluation for the Westfield, Chicopee, Connecticut, and Millers River Basin communities by December 31, 20256, and bars approval of any interbasin transfer of water from the Quabbin Reservoir until completion; Section 1 takes effect January 1, 2026.

Establishes a licensing and oversight regime for shared equity investors-entities that provide non-recourse cash in exchange for an equity interest or future payment-requiring licensure by the Commissioner with background checks and annual renewal, empowering the Commissioner to deny, suspend, revoke, or issue cease-and-desist orders, permitting participation in a multi-state licensing system, and exempting small-volume providers, certain financial institutions and instrumentalities, and certain real estate brokers.

Imposes consumer protections including a three-business-day rescission right; a minimum 10 percent beginning home equity for non-purchase transactions; independent third-party valuations with copies to the homeowner and written consent for affiliated or alternative valuations; a 20 percent cap on annualized cost; and extensive pre-contract disclosures covering lien risk and attorney advice, itemized charges and net proceeds, term and settlement mechanics, valuation methods and adjustments, maximum investor equity interest, and settlement examples across multiple time horizons and property value scenarios with APR equivalents.

Prohibits prepayment penalties, limits property-use restrictions, bars mandatory use of affiliated appraisers without consent, conditions deviations from third-party valuations, prevents bans on refinancing a primary residence while allowing non-subordination and requiring settlement from cash-out proceeds, and caps settlement amounts at the cost limit plus specified reimbursements and fees. Requires annual reports, recordkeeping, and examinations that assign descriptive performance ratings after reviews of anti-discrimination and UDAAP compliance, origination practices, workout efforts, and homeowner disclosure and education, and authorizes civil and criminal penalties, prohibition orders against individuals, and rulemaking.

This bill creates the Massachusetts Public Bank, a state-owned financial institution designed to support the economic development of the Commonwealth. Its main functions include serving as a secure depository for public funds and offering cost-effective financing options to drive economic growth and job creation, with a focus on assisting small to medium-sized businesses in underserved areas, particularly those owned by minorities and women. The Bank will also fund initiatives in affordable housing, sustainable agriculture, climate change mitigation, cooperative business models, and community development. It aims to collaborate with state-chartered private banks through participatory loan programs. The Bank will start with an initial capitalization of $200 million invested by the state, distributed over four years and will accept deposits from state, municipal, and quasi-public bodies. The Commonwealth guarantees all of the Bank's liabilities.

This bill concerns midwifery services and proposes a number of measures. It requires that certified nurse-midwives, certified professional midwives, and licensed freestanding birth centers receive payment rates on par with those of physicians and hospitals from insurance companies and health plans for equivalent services. Birth centers are also entitled to a facility fee determined through stakeholder consultations. The bill directs the Department of Public Health to set licensing requirements for birth centers, offer fee waivers for financially struggling centers, and contribute to a community birth data registry for quality improvement and research. The bill also creates the Midwifery Workforce Development Fund, to aid the education, training, and retention of certified professional midwives and nurse midwives. This fund will help cover student education and training costs, provide loan forgiveness for midwives in underserved areas, and support local programs that advance midwifery education. 

The bill establishes a regulatory framework for earned wage access services, which allow workers to get a portion of their earned salary before payday. The bill requires these providers to obtain a license from the Commissioner of Banks, with exceptions for banks and credit unions. The licensing process requires applicants to submit business information and undergo background checks for principals. Licensed providers must offer at least one free wage access method, ensure transparency about fees and consumer rights, and permit service cancellation without penalties. The bill prohibits the use of consumer credit reports for eligibility and sharing fees with employers.

The Commissioner is empowered to suspend or revoke licenses for non-compliance and can issue cease and desist orders. It distinguishes earned wage access services from traditional credit or loan services, stipulating that associated fees will not be recognized as interest or finance charges under state law. The bill provides for a transitional period for current providers to meet the new licensing standards.

The "Massachusetts Secure Choice Savings Program Act" establishes an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA program for retirement savings among private-sector employees. It requires employers with five or more employees, who haven't offered a qualified retirement plan in the last two years, to auto-enroll their employees into the program, with an opt-out option for employees. Managed by a newly created Massachusetts Secure Choice Savings Board, the program provides for contributions through payroll deductions into individual IRAs. A Massachusetts Secure Choice Savings Board oversees the program, creating investment options, ensuring IRS compliance, and managing risks.

The bill establishes two funds: the Massachusetts Secure Choice Savings Program Fund for retirement savings and the Massachusetts Secure Choice Administrative Fund for handling administrative costs.

Establishes a Resolution Trust Fund, administered by the Treasurer, to accept and service residential mortgage loans and payments when no identifiable mortgagee or note owner exists, including transfers by operation of law, and to modify any predatory loans to traditional prime lending characteristics set annually by the Division of Banks; requires prompt recording of transfers and mortgagor notice of modified terms; authorizes escrow of taxes and costs, retention of up to 15% of transferred payments for administration and prudent investment of surplus, judicial foreclosure upon continued default with sale proceeds credited to the fund, and timely mortgage discharges with return of paid-in-full notes.

Allocates non-attributable monies and investment earnings among counties annually based on their share of Eaton affidavits filed over the prior five years, and-once payments and allocations reach $300,000 per county or $100,000 for a city or a cluster of up to five towns-requires community hearings and a point-based, competitive process to fund projects, including affordable housing, with preference to neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of such affidavits, accompanied by annual accounting and reporting.

Establishes the Commonwealth Dental Access Program, administered by the Board and operating independently of the Connector, to provide access to stand-alone dental insurance plans for residents who are not qualified individuals under federal law.

Exempts insureds' information from public records and bars disclosure by the Connector except as required by federal law or authorized by regulations promulgated by the Attorney General, and requires the Connector to adopt regulations to implement the program.

Directs the Secretary of Administration to set investigation and license fees annually and requires each license application to include an investigation fee, with minimum total annual fees of $500 for licensees of nonresident corporations and $300 for licensees of corporations headquartered in-state; exempts community development corporations from these fees.

Provides that a mortgage loan originator's license expires annually and requires each licensee to submit a renewal application by a date set by the Commissioner on a prescribed form, signed under the pains and penalties of perjury and containing any information the Commissioner requires.

Designates as confidential, and not public records, the identities of persons examined and any records disclosed to the Treasurer during examinations, prohibiting their public disclosure.

Takes effect immediately upon the Governor's signature and applies to taxpayer information on or after that date.

Requires carriers and pharmacy benefit managers to apply at least 80% of estimated prescription drug rebates at the point of sale to reduce insureds' defined cost-sharing, mandates annual compliance reporting, sets penalties up to $5,000 per day for noncompliance, and protects rebate information as trade secrets.

Prohibits spread pricing and point-of-sale or retroactive fees, and for violations imposes a surcharge equal to 10% of the prior year's aggregate pharmacy reimbursements, with carriers jointly liable when their contracts permit the conduct, and affords a right to an adjudicatory hearing.

Establishes duties of care, skill, prudence, diligence, professionalism, and good faith for pharmacy benefit managers toward insureds and health plans; requires an adequate, accessible network and nondiscriminatory access to preferred status while excluding mail-order pharmacies from adequacy calculations; and bars post-adjudication payment reductions on clean claims, charging insureds cost-sharing above the pharmacy's total contracted amount, and recoupment of adjudicated costs.

Regulates maximum allowable cost lists, including eligibility criteria, weekly updates, access and notice, and a grievance process that can require NDC disclosure, claim reprocessing, reimbursement at or above pharmacy acquisition cost, or MAC adjustments; prohibits paying affiliated pharmacies more than others and deems violations unfair or deceptive; requires cost-sharing accumulators to count third-party payments subject to health savings account rules; bars plan terms tied to manufacturer assistance; authorizes carrier audits of pharmacy benefit managers; and prohibits gag clauses and claim-adjudication fees unless set out in contract.

This bill restructures the current process for evaluating mandated health benefit bills being considered by the state legislature. These are bills that require insurers to cover treatments by a particular provider, to cover the diagnosis or treatment of a specific disease or condition, or to cover a particular type of service, drug or medical device. Under the bill, the House or Senate Committees on Ways and Means may request the Center for Health Information and Analysis to conduct a comprehensive reviews of a mandated benefit bill. These evaluations must encompass an analysis of public health effects, including community health impacts and disparities in health outcomes, alongside medical and financial implications. The analysis should examine economic impacts such as potential cost changes for various stakeholders, including employers, consumers, and insurance programs like MassHealth. The assessments must also evaluate how recognized and utilized the mandated benefits are within the medical community and their contribution to public health, alongside financial effects including shifts in costs and health care accessibility. Certified actuaries or experts should be engaged to evaluate financial impacts.The reviews must be included whenever such bills are positively reported by the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means.

Furthermore, the bill requires the Center to produce a report every five years on the cost and public health impact of all existing mandated benefits, in collaboration with the Department of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This report should ensure that existing benefits align with up-to-date clinical and evidence-based standards. The Center is also given the authority under the bill to propose legislative amendments or repeals of benefits that no longer meet these standards.

This bill separates out a new Division of Health Insurance from the more general Division of Insurance. The new agency will oversee the health insurance market, regulating entities providing health-related insurance services, including accident and sickness insurance, health maintenance organizations, and non-profit hospital service corporations. The division's mandate includes promoting equity, access, quality, and affordability in the healthcare system, ensuring that health insurers remain financially solvent. The bill establishes a health insurance access bureau within the division. This bureau will conduct rate reviews to ensure health benefit plans remain affordable and protect consumer interests. It will develop affordability standards considering the cost implications for consumers and purchasers and the broader impact on state healthcare performance goals. To fund the Division, the bill provides for an assessment on commercial health insurers set to bring in $2,000,000 annually and the cost of indirect and fringe benefit costs of the agency's staff. 

This bill sets a regulatory framework for virtual currency kiosks, electronic terminals for exchange of crypto and other virtual currency. The bill mandates that kiosk operators be licensed as money transmitters and obtain approval from the Commissioner of Banks. The bill imposes a $1,000 daily transaction limit and caps transaction fees at either $5.00 or three percent. Operators are required to display a warning about the irreversibility and potential fraudulent nature of virtual currency transactions and must provide live customer service during specified hours. 

Additionally, the bill directs the state treasurer to create educational resources about virtual currencies, focusing on fraud prevention, especially for older adults. It also establishes a 25-member special commission tol assess the feasibility of blockchain in government and business, its revenue implications, consumer protection, and energy use. 

This bill concerns the regulation and oversight of financial services by revising statutes related to debt collection, small loans, sales and premium finance, and check cashing. The bill includes provisions empowering the Commissioner of Banks to summon and examine licensees, impose fines up to $5,000 per violation, and forbid licensees involved in violations from participating in certain financial activities. Investigation records are deemed confidential, with stipulations for sharing with regulatory or law enforcement agencies under specific conditions. Additionally, the commissioner is authorized to issue cease and desist orders and take necessary regulatory actions to safeguard public interest and ensure corrective measures are conducted promptly. These provisions apply to check cashers,  money order agents, institutions engaging in foreign deposit transmissions, insurance premium finance agencies, mortgage lenders, institutions engaging in motor vehicle installment sales or retail installment sales and services, institutions engaging in small loans business, and third party loan servicers.

This bill proposes comprehensive legal reforms for application-based delivery workers and Delivery Network Companies (DNCs). Under the bill, delivery workers will be considered to be employees of DNCs, entitling them to protections such as minimum wage guarantees and accurate payroll records. The bill declares that state policy will support collective bargaining between DNCs and their employees. Delivery workers must be compensated at 150% of the minimum wage for assigned time if they can freely log on and off the platform; otherwise, they are guaranteed the basic minimum wage for all working hours, including standby time. Additionally, DNCs must secure insurance coverage for their workers during working hours and are forbidden from retaliating against workers who exercise their rights.

This bill focuses on health care coverage and educational initiatives for sickle cell disease (SCD) and fertility preservation services. The bill requires public and private health insurers to cover fertility preservation procedures for individuals when when a necessary medical treatment could potentially impair fertility. MassHealth is also directed to create comprehensive management and quality strategies, providing training for healthcare providers, developing performance metrics, and establishing transition plans for young adults with SCD moving from pediatric to adult care systems. 

Additionally, the bill establishes a Statewide Steering Committee on Sickle Cell Disease. This committee coordinates educational, resource allocation, and health care service efforts, and develops partnerships, oversees the creation of educational materials, and identifies potential funding sources. The committee will establish a statewide network of culturally competent stakeholders and set multidisciplinary care standards for individuals with SCD. The bill also sets up a Sickle Cell Disease Detection and Education Program within the Department of Public Health, to improve screening processes, public engagement, and educational outreach for SCD, with a focus on reaching underserved communities. Grants will be provided to organizations that offer detection and counseling services. The bill mandates comprehensive data collection and analysis systems, including the establishment of an SCD registry to monitor and improve of treatment access and quality of care.

This bill focuses on health care coverage and educational initiatives for sickle cell disease (SCD) and fertility preservation services. The bill directs MassHealth to cover standard fertility preservation procedures for individuals whose medical or genetic conditions could potentially impair fertility. MassHealth is also directed to create comprehensive management and quality strategies, providing training for healthcare providers, developing performance metrics, and establishing transition plans for young adults with SCD moving from pediatric to adult care systems. 

Additionally, the bill establishes a Statewide Steering Committee on Sickle Cell Disease. This committee coordinates educational, resource allocation, and health care service efforts, and develops partnerships, oversees the creation of educational materials, and identifies potential funding sources. The committee will establish a statewide network of culturally competent stakeholders and set multidisciplinary care standards for individuals with SCD. The bill also sets up a Sickle Cell Disease Detection and Education Program within the Department of Public Health, to improve screening processes, public engagement, and educational outreach for SCD, with a focus on reaching underserved communities. Grants will be provided to organizations that offer detection and counseling services. The bill mandates comprehensive data collection and analysis systems, including the establishment of an SCD registry to monitor and improve of treatment access and quality of care.

This bill concerns regulation and oversight of health care entities by the Health Policy Commission (HPC). Among its many provisions, the bill directs the Commission to annually look back at material changes in health care entities, which is expanded to include health systems, to assess their impact on costs, integration, and quality of care. Under the bill, new triggers are established for requiring a health care entity to complete a performance improvement plan, incuding a relative price that exceeds 1.3, or total medical expenses above the statewide average physician group health status adjusted total medical expenses.  

The bill also mandates that the HPC market review process look at the methods used by the provider to direct patient care to the appropriate and lowest-cost setting within its system and to eliminate unnecessary duplication of health care services. The Determination of Need process for approving expansions or new facilites is also expanded, including allowing HPC to deny the application if it finds that the transaction may lead to unfair or anticompetitive conditions or if the transaction will not increase efficiencies, improve quality of care and lower costs. Under the bill, secondary facilities associated with an existing facility must negotiate independently with insurers, and contract provisions with one can't be tied to the other facilitity's contract terms. The bill also establishes a framework for imposing penalties if material changes fail to meet performance expectations or if health care cost benchmarks are exceeded.

This bill is intended to ensure that consumers benefit from prescription drug rebates negotiated by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). In addition, establishes and regulates a study on cell and gene therapy access in the Commonwealth, to be conducted by the Health Policy Commission together with EOHHS.

Establishes a statewide strategy to expand and diversify the healthcare workforce, sourced from endowment taxes on private educational institutions and deposited into a new fund. Requires robust oversight, inter-agency coordination, and regular public reporting.

Requires all health care entities to participate in a statewide Health Information Exchange and directs the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to establish, operate, or fund it, set minimum standardized data requirements, and mandate fully interoperable electronic health record systems capable of transmitting complete patient records; authorizes procurements and technology development, adoption of ONC-aligned policies, issuance of regulations, and advancement of interoperability beyond federal standards while requiring compliance with state and federal privacy laws.

Guarantees every patient secure electronic access to their electronic health records with each provider and allows patients to opt out of disclosure of their data for state-run or contracted exchange activities; prescribes penalties for noncompliance and for unauthorized access or disclosure of identifiable health information, requires incident reporting and notice to affected individuals within 10 business days, permits participant fees for exchange services with fee and penalty revenues deposited into the Health Information Technology Trust Fund, exempts cybersecurity documentation submitted to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services from public disclosure, and establishes a 21-member Health Information Technology Council within the Executive Office to advise on the exchange's design, implementation, operation, and use.

The bill establishes the Massachusetts Health Care Trust, a state-managed single-payer system designed to ensure all residents have equitable access to health care services without any direct costs such as co-insurance, co-payments, or deductibles. The Trust will manage the collection and distribution of health care funds, providing universal access to a wide range of services regardless of financial, employment, or demographic factors.

A Board of Trustees, comprised of representatives from various sectors, will govern the Trust to ensure comprehensive oversight and policy determination concerning medical issues, research, and service standards. Funding for the Trust will come from dedicated health care taxes on employers, employees, and self-employed individuals, alongside existing public health funds redirected to a centralized, state-managed system. Budgets for health care providers will be allocated through the Trust Fund, focusing on high-quality care and addressing Massachusetts residents' diverse health needs. Emphasis will be placed on preventive care, cost control, and eradicating care delivery inequities.

Establishes the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction as a clearinghouse to develop, evaluate, and disseminate best practices, sponsor training and education, coordinate state agencies and licensed providers, and convene consumers and experts to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan to improve safety for patients and the health care workforce across the continuum of care.

Requires the Lehman Center to coordinate participation in state and federal reporting and data collection, analyze available data, research, and reports to strengthen patient-safety education and training, and evaluate approaches to monitor and improve health care system performance through enhanced patient-safety data resources.

Authorizes the Lehman Center to establish a trust fund to receive, maintain, and expend federal and foundation grants in furtherance of its responsibilities, and grants the Director of the Lehman Center authority to manage those funds.

This bill establishes a grant program aimed for the primary care workforce and offering loan forgiveness to health professionals at community health centers. The program is available to primary care physicians and bachelor's degree-level mental health and primary care clinicians, with a goal of fostering a diverse workforce that reflects various cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. To qualify for loan repayment assistance, eligible individuals must work at a community health center, hold existing educational debt, not be part of any other loan repayment programs, and agree to a minimum four-year service contract with the Commonwealth. Those working part-time are eligible for prorated benefits. Funding for the program will be sourced from the Behavioral Health and Community-Based Primary Care Reserve.

This bill concerns advancing health equity across government and public policy. The bill creates of an Executive Office of Equity, led by a governor-appointed secretary, which will focus on ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion within state operations. The office will develop strategic plans, standardize data collection, and conduct equity impact analyses, targeting the reduction of health disparities. The Office will create a dashboard with data on equity progress. Furthermore, all other secretariats must appoint an undersecretary of equity to embed equity considerations into their decision-making processes.

The bill mandates that health equity be integrated into existing health care laws. It requires representation from Black, Indigenous, and people of color with health equity expertise on key health policy boards and commissions. Under the bill, the Determination of Need process that authorizes new health care expenditures will include a health equity assessment.

A Health Equity Zone Trust Fund, advised by a Health Equity Zone Advisory Board, finances targeted interventions to address health disparities in specific areas. The bill creates a Special Commission to establish measurable health equity benchmarks to measure statewide improvement and make recommendations. Additional measures include the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, healthcare coverage for children and young adults affected by immigration status, and mandatory health equity training for healthcare professionals.

This bill concerns advancing health equity across government and public policy. The bill creates an Executive Office of Equity, led by a governor-appointed secretary, which will focus on ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion within state operations. The office will develop strategic plans, standardize data collection, and conduct equity impact analyses, targeting the reduction of health disparities. The Office will create a dashboard with data on equity progress. Furthermore, all other secretariats must appoint an undersecretary of equity to embed equity considerations into their decision-making processes.

The bill mandates that health equity be integrated into existing health care laws. It requires representation from Black, Indigenous, and people of color with health equity expertise on key health policy boards and commissions. Under the bill, the Determination of Need process that authorizes new health care expenditures will include a health equity assessment.

A Health Equity Zone Trust Fund, advised by a Health Equity Zone Advisory Board, finances targeted interventions to address health disparities in specific areas. The bill creates a Special Commission to establish measurable health equity benchmarks to measure statewide improvement and make recommendations. Additional measures include the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, healthcare coverage for children and young adults affected by immigration status, and mandatory health equity training for healthcare professionals.

Prohibits institutions of higher education from considering legacy status or donor relationships in admissions or using early decision unless they pay a public service fee. Sets the fee at 0.01%-0.2% of endowment based on endowment-per-student thresholds, with minimum payments of $1 million for endowments over $1.5 billion and $2 million for endowments over $2 billion, and applies university-level endowment calculations to constituent campuses.

Creates the Higher Education Opportunity Trust Fund, administered by the Executive Office of Education through a Board of Trustees, to support certificate and degree attainment at public community colleges and state universities.

Requires annual public reporting by all four-year, degree-granting institutions on whether they use legacy, donor, early decision, or early action preferences and on disaggregated first-year admissions and enrollment metrics, including legacy and early pools by race and Pell status. Authorizes the Attorney General to promulgate regulations, investigate compliance, and assess fees for violations or reporting failures. Takes effect July 1, 2026.

Creates the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund, administered by the Commissioner of Higher Education, to support development and distribution of open educational resources for university and early college textbooks and ancillary materials; credits the fund with appropriations, private gifts and grants, and interest; makes it non-lapsing and available without further appropriation; and requires review and approval of private contributions to prevent conditions detrimental to the fund's equitable, cost-saving mission. Establishes a competitive grant program for public higher education institutions and early college programs, with proposals reviewed by Department of Higher Education staff and final awards made by the Commissioner; authorizes the Commissioner to convene the Statewide OER Advisory Council to recommend grant prioritization; authorizes expenditures for professional development, training, technical assistance, and staffing; requires public institutions to inform students of OER courses supported by the fund; and requires recipients to complete OER Key Performance Indicator reporting.

Requires the Commissioner of Higher Education to file an annual report on the fund's activities, including sources and uses of funds, recipient institutions, projected student beneficiaries and estimated savings, anticipated remaining revenue, and counts of schools and districts funded or denied; and defines "open educational resources."

Requires institutions of higher education to place prominent transcript notations for sexual-misconduct matters: a temporary notation upon commencement of disciplinary proceedings alleging a crime of violence stating the specific sexual-misconduct code violation alleged and that resolution is pending, and a permanent notation upon final resolution identifying the violation-or the allegation if the student withdrew while under investigation-and the outcome (suspension, expulsion, permanent dismissal, or withdrawal under investigation), with removal if the student is later found not to have violated the policy; applies to conduct on campus, off campus, and while studying abroad.

Mandates institutions adopt, publish, and annually update policies and appeals procedures for such notations in coordination with the Title IX Coordinator and reasonably notify students that suspensions, expulsions, dismissals, or withdrawals related to a crime of violence will be recorded; defines consent as affirmative, conscious, and voluntary, requiring ongoing agreement that can be revoked at any time and clarifying that lack of protest or prior relationships do not constitute consent; and requires annual institutional reporting on the number of temporary and permanent notations and an aggregate statewide report on their frequency and nature.

Authorizes public secondary students with severe intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and other developmental disabilities to enroll, with necessary supports from their school committees, in credit and noncredit courses at public higher education institutions alongside nondisabled peers, including auditing credit-bearing courses when prerequisites are unmet, and to participate fully in extracurriculars, internships, work experiences, and other aspects of regular postsecondary programs without entrance exams, diplomas, minimum course, GPA, or statewide assessment requirements. Requires tuition and fee waivers for such participation, with costs paid by the state rather than institutions.

Directs the Board of Higher Education, in consultation with education and health agencies, to take steps to enable inclusive residence life at all public institutions with appropriate accommodations, supports, and services, and amends higher education policy to prioritize inclusive opportunities and improve access for these students, inserting them into relevant student-focused provisions. Updates special education law to specify that for students ages 18-22, transition options include continuing education, inclusive higher education coursework, independent living, job-seeking and retention skills, access to community services, and self-management of medical needs, and requires the Executive Office of Education to promulgate guidelines by January 1, 2027.

Exempts public colleges and universities from any requirement to produce education records as defined by FERPA, including records designated as directory information.

Prohibits public higher education institutions and all degree-granting institutions authorized by the Board of Higher Education from considering an applicant's familial relationship to a graduate when making admissions decisions, and bars admissions documents from including information that discloses the name of any college or university attended by an applicant's relatives.

Applies to admissions decisions leading to initial enrollment beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

This bill concerns providing higher education for high school students in Massachusetts by incorporating college-level coursework into their curriculum. The bill requires public higher education institutions to establish clear policies for awarding college credits through Advanced Placement exams, high school college courses, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and dual enrollment courses. These policies must detail the conditions under which credits are awarded, their applicability towards degree requirements, and their transferability between institutions. Institutions must inform applicants about potential credits and publish these policies online, with the Board of Higher Education conducting annual reviews and reports.

The bill establishes the Massachusetts College in High School Trust Fund and the Massachusetts Office of College in High School. This office will oversee programs that provide college credits to high school students, such as dual enrollment and advanced placement, focusing on enhancing access and monitoring performance for historically underserved populations. Public high schools are required to offer affordable college in high school programs. Additionally, a College in High School Joint Committee will oversee and assess the programs' impact. 

Requires public colleges, universities, community colleges, and junior colleges to identify and prioritize resident students for admissions decisions, scholarships, and grants.

Eligibility applies to students whose biological parents are deceased or had their parental rights terminated due to abuse or neglect, and who were either legally adopted by a blood relative within the third level of consanguinity or assigned a permanent legal guardian by a court.

Requires high school students to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid before graduation, while allowing opt-outs via a simple, translated form signed by a parent or guardian or by a student who is 18 or legally emancipated, or via a school-filed waiver for minors after good-faith outreach that includes at least three personalized communications in the family's preferred language. Directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and school districts to provide necessary support, adopt standardized forms that collect only names and signatures and exclude citizenship information, ensure each student complies with the requirement or an exemption, and submit annual reports on FAFSA completions and exemptions with demographic and geographic breakdowns; the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall issue implementation guidance and required communications.

Establishes a FAFSA Trust Fund, administered by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education and funded by appropriations, interest, and public and private contributions, available without further appropriation to support implementation, training, workshops, and community partnerships, prioritizing underserved communities; private donations are subject to review to bar harmful conditions, with an annual report on fund activity. Makes the fund effective October 1, 2025, and the FAFSA requirement effective October 1, 2026.

Requires the Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to promulgate regulations authorizing municipalities with populations greater than 65,000 and less than 150,000 to prioritize up to 70 percent of affordable housing vacancies for eligible residents who currently reside within their boundaries, with the regulations taking effect within 60 days of passage.

Applies the preference for a period of at least 30 years from the date the tenancy is created and extends it to all privately assisted housing and to housing subject to inclusionary zoning listed on a municipality's subsidized housing inventory.

The bill creates the Housing First and Housing for All Fund, aiming to combat homelessness and enhance affordable housing in Massachusetts. This Fund will be financed by a newly established gross receipts tax of 0.25% on the annual gross receipts of business entities exceeding $50 million. The Fund's resources are dedicated to various objectives, including tax administration, rental subsidies, and the construction and maintenance of diverse housing units. Additionally, the Fund will support services for formerly homeless individuals and promote partnerships for affordable housing development.

Key initiatives funded include programs for individuals and families to transition from homelessness to permanent housing, particularly supporting those facing mental health or substance use issues. Resources are allocated to rental support, both emergency and permanent housing development, and provision of onsite services. The bill also calls for public investments in community land trusts and various affordable housing forms, alongside assistance for first-time and first-generation homebuyers to rectify historical homeownership inequalities.

This legislative bill places the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program in Massachusetts General Laws. The bill directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to assist households earning up to the area median income who face risks such as homelessness, eviction, foreclosure, or utility shut-offs. The program will provide financial support without necessitating a formal eviction notice, extending aid to families with children, elderly individuals, persons with disabilities, and unaccompanied youth. The bill provides that at least 50% of allocated funds should benefit households earning no more than 30% of the area median income. This assistance can address back payments or cover future rent and utilities for up to 12 months. The bill mandates the department to work with the Department of Transitional Assistance and related entities to streamline the application process and enhance support services.

The bill also provides that rental assistance documents will be public records. This provision allows access to information such as landlord identities and assistance specifics, but excludes names of renters and other occupants from public disclosure.

Establishes a 17-member special legislative commission, co-chaired by the Joint Committee on Housing chairs and including appointees of legislative leaders, the Governor and the Attorney General or their designees, and representatives of disability, civil rights, law enforcement training, housing, tenant, and service dog organizations, to study the use and training of service animals versus emotional support animals and the impacts on tenants and property owners.

Requires reviews of existing federal, state, and local laws and procedures; examination of benefits for individuals with disabilities; investigation of fraud, misrepresentation, and misuse, including online, for-profit verification sources; research of other jurisdictions' deterrence practices; and identification of training and educational opportunities for officials, law enforcement, businesses, and the public.

Directs a report by April 1, 2027 recommending any changes to laws governing emotional support animals, including a possible definition and alterations to verification, approval, and training methods, and assessing the feasibility of certifying, registering, or licensing such animals.

This bill outlines procedures and requirements for Housing Authorities when securing construction contracts for renovations or repairs funded by the $2 billion authorization in the Affordable Homes Act of 2024. The bill mandates compliance with prevailing wage laws and the application of sound business practices for projects under $10,000. For projects over this amount, contracts can be awarded through the lowest bid or via competitive sealed proposals. When using competitive proposals, a detailed request for proposals must be developed, including scope of work, evaluation criteria, and other contractual terms. The bill prohibits sub-bid requirements and defines a public notification process involving online postings, registry publication, and local dissemination. During evaluations, proposal confidentiality is required, with a focus solely on non-price criteria, rating submissions from highly advantageous to unacceptable.

Establishes a Reentry and Formerly Incarcerated Persons Program within the Department as the central coordinator-working with the Department of Correction, the Office of Probation, and the Parole Board-to educate people in custody on housing options, connect them to short-term and permanent housing and state financial supports, partner with community-based organizations, and provide and oversee supportive housing using outcome-based metrics.

Mandates a priority and preference for incarcerated persons about to be released and formerly incarcerated persons across state-assisted housing projects and units, community development corporation initiatives, smart growth zoning developments, community preservation-funded community housing, and tenant selection plans; adds a public housing preference for people released within the past two years; and updates regional housing need to include reentry housing for low- and moderate-income households.

Embeds this priority in state financing and tax credit programs by authorizing assistance for reentry housing and requiring Qualified Allocation Plans for housing tax credits to include a priority category for such applications, and directs the Department, as a public housing agency, to prioritize Emergency Housing Vouchers for these populations. Requires the Department to annually review implementation and spending of affordable housing funds it or other state entities administer, tracking demographics served, compliance with preference requirements, opportunities for improvement based on data and feedback, and reporting on impacts and outcomes.

This legislative bill places the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program in Massachusetts General Laws. The bill directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to assist households earning up to the area median income who face risks such as homelessness, eviction, foreclosure, or utility shut-offs. The program aims to provide financial support without necessitating a formal eviction notice, extending aid to families with children, elderly individuals, persons with disabilities, and unaccompanied youth. The bill provides that at least 50% of allocated funds should benefit households earning no more than 30% of the area median income. This assistance can address back payments or cover future rent and utilities for up to 12 months. The bill mandates the department to work with the Department of Transitional Assistance and related entities to streamline the application process and enhance support services.

The bill also provides that rental assistance documents will be public records. This provision allows access to information such as landlord identities and assistance specifics, but excludes names of renters and other occupants from public disclosure.

Requires every senior housing facility-housing authority developments or publicly assisted housing primarily for persons 55 or older or persons with disabilities-to provide security services at all times to ensure resident safety and security. Defines security services as a watch, guard, or patrol agency or certain facility employees who observe and report unlawful activity, prevent or detect theft, protect individuals or property, and control access, and excludes services provided by law enforcement officers.

Mandates safety and security protocol training for all facility employees and other personnel as determined by the Secretary of Public Safety and Security, and authorizes the Secretary to promulgate implementing regulations in consultation with the Secretary of Elder Affairs, the Director of Housing and Community Development, the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the State 911 Department, the Colonel of the State Police, specified law enforcement associations, and housing authorities.

This bill amends Massachusetts state laws regarding local zoning to impact housing development and housing shortages. The bill prohibits zoning ordinances from banning duplexes or multi-family housing with up to five units in areas with municipal utilities, though reasonable regulations on aspects like building height and bulk are permissible. The bill would increase permissible housing density by eliminating minimum parking requirements for new residential projects and limiting minimum lot size requirements. It supports the establishment of "Missing-Middle Housing Subdivisions," small-scale residential construction under specific conditions without the need for public hearings.

Additionally, the bill mandates zoning regulations to allow mixed-use developments with specified minimum density near public transit hubs, with a requirement for a portion of units to be affordable. It calls for state officials to identify 'greyfields' for potential redevelopment into housing or other uses and stipulates that surplus publicly owned land be prioritized for low or moderate-income housing. Furthermore, the bill restricts local health boards from enforcing more stringent sewage disposal regulations without state consent, streamlining development processes.

Prohibits state and local governmental entities and law enforcement agencies from entering into, extending, or renewing immigration collaboration agreements that grant federal immigration enforcement authority (including 287(g) arrangements) and immigration detention agreements to arrest, detain, or house individuals for civil immigration detention. Requires termination of existing agreements-collaboration agreements within 30 days and detention agreements within 90 days of the Act's effective date.

Authorizes the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief in Superior Court to restrain violations and preserves private actions to the extent otherwise permitted by law.

Expands sex offender registration and notification to include online identities; requires registrants to report all electronic aliases, addresses, and domains and to provide notice of any change or addition, and makes failure to provide such notice an offense.

Incorporates these electronic identifiers into registry records, registration and verification forms, and information disseminated to the community, and permits information requests by electronic alias, address, or domain in addition to name; defines "electronic alias, address and domain" to include electronic mail, website registrations, messaging and chat service aliases, and websites or domains personally or third-party owned used for online communications.

Prohibits any law enforcement officer, agency, or department from purchasing, obtaining, using, or permitting the use on any person of chemical agents that rapidly cause sensory irritation or disabling physical effects, including tear gas and CS gas.

Imposes a $5,000 criminal fine for violations.

This bill restricts the sharing of data and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement by state and local entities. It prohibits the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles from sharing files or data with federal agencies for civil immigration enforcement unless there is a probable cause warrant signed by a judge. It also limits access to criminal offender record information strictly to non-criminal justice purposes. The bill outlines conditions for transporting federal detainees under state court writs of habeas corpus and sets guidelines for interviews related to immigration investigations. It requires written informed consent from individuals in custody, mandates the availability of legal representation, and ensures consent forms are available in multiple languages. The bill also restricts law enforcement and court personnel from sharing information with federal agencies concerning individuals involved in court matters, allowing only public record disclosures. It prohibits unnecessary inquiries into the immigration status of victims, family members, and witnesses unless legally required. 

Establishes uniform, cross-agency criminal justice data standards and a cross-tracking system that assigns each person a unique statewide identifier; mandates collection of specified data elements-including recorded charges and convictions; incarcerating offense; date, time, and location of the offense; race, ethnicity, gender, age, primary caretaker status, and reproductive health needs; risk/needs scores; participation in evidence-based programs; and custody entry/exit and release dates-and makes anonymized cross-agency records publicly accessible via an API.

Requires standardized recidivism reporting for rearraignment, reconviction, and reincarceration, tracked over 1-, 2-, and 3-year periods and disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and age, and standardizes methods for reporting race and ethnicity across agencies.

Directs a board to meet quarterly to review compliance by the Trial Court and criminal justice agencies with these data obligations, the public availability of non-PII data, and policies ensuring accurate race, ethnicity, and gender data-including whether methods appropriately screen for gender-specific risks or needs-and mandates an annual report on data collection and justice reinvestment compliance.

Classifies 911 call audio recordings as private data regarding the caller, restricts public access to the recordings, and makes written transcripts public; requires preparation of a transcript upon request at the requester's actual transcription cost plus any other applicable preparation costs.

Authorizes dissemination of recordings to law enforcement for investigative purposes and for public safety and emergency medical services training, and otherwise prohibits release of 911 audio without the caller's express written consent unless a court finds the public's right to disclosure outweighs privacy interests, with an exemption for law enforcement personnel when the call is or may be relevant to an investigation.

Amends two existing fiscal provisions to include all public and private gifts, grants, and donations among the revenues they cover.

Broadens revenue definitions to ensure these funds are captured within the affected provisions.

This bill revises aspects of criminal record expungements. The bill reduces from 20 to three the categories of crimes where expungment is not available, includng crimes resulting in serious bodily harm, serious particular sex offenses and violations of restraining orders. It also eliminates the current cap of two records eligible for expungement. Offenses that could no longer be prosecuted due to age of a child would also be eligible for expungement. Furthermore, the bill prohibits the transmission of juvenile fingerprints and records to the FBI after an arrest, except in cases requesting that the FBI or the Department of Justice seal or expunge its records.  Under the bill, the Office of the Commissioner of Probation collects and reports data on the number of expungement and sealing petitions submitted, approved, and denied.

Eliminates all fines and fees arising from offenses committed before the age of criminal majority for both youth and their parents or guardians; renders outstanding juvenile fines and costs unenforceable and uncollectible; and bars issuance of warrants, probation sanctions, or commitment to custody based solely on nonpayment. Overhauls restitution in youth cases by making it discretionary, requiring a hearing and an ability-to-pay finding with a rebuttable presumption of inability to pay based on specified criteria, prohibiting the use of repayment time to lengthen probation, authorizing modification of orders, and eliminating fines as a juvenile disposition.

Removes statutory assessments tied to juvenile adjudications and limits certain court and probation costs to people over the age of criminal majority; prohibits appointment-of-counsel fees in cases arising from offenses committed before criminal majority; exempts those whose offense occurred before criminal majority from fee obligations imposed on sex offenders; and strikes a fine for parents who fail to appear in specified delinquency matters. Expands crime victim compensation to cover financial losses resulting from offenses committed by persons under the age of criminal majority and aligns cooperation requirements accordingly.

Creates a new criminal framework recognizing an unborn child from conception as a victim, establishing first- and second-degree murder of an unborn child (punishable by life imprisonment, without parole for first degree except juveniles), as well as voluntary and involuntary manslaughter and multiple assault and battery offenses, with penalties ranging up to 15 years or life depending on the offense.

Defines bodily injury and serious bodily injury-the latter including preterm birth before 37 weeks when the child weighs 2,500 grams or less-clarifies that "any person" does not include the pregnant woman, and specifies that certain offenses require knowledge or reason to know of the pregnancy and, for specified assaultive conduct, that the child is subsequently born alive. Exempts consensual legal abortions and acts consistent with usual medical practice, and permits prosecution for additional crimes arising from the same conduct.

Requires Police Departments, District Attorneys, and other legal bodies to respond to public records requests for statistical data on reports of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault (including attempts), and on abuse by family or household members, with personal information redacted consistent with public records requirements.

Eliminates the offenses of common night walking and common street walking and mandates expungement of all criminal and juvenile records for those charges; replaces "prostitute" with "prostituted person" across related statutes and defines that term to include trafficking victims, individuals who exchanged sex for a fee or basic necessities, minors induced into prostitution, and those formerly charged under the repealed offenses. Strengthens post-conviction relief for trafficking survivors by allowing sworn affidavits that create a rebuttable presumption when prosecutors assent or fail to respond within 45 days, permitting consideration of official documentation even if hearsay, authorizing any sitting justice to hear the motion, and, upon vacatur, requiring entry of nolle prosequi and expungement.

Expands asset forfeiture to prostitution-related offenses and directs non-restitution proceeds to the Victims of Human Trafficking Trust Fund through the Office for Victim Assistance. Establishes a 21-member special commission to review current services and recommend expanded assistance for prostituted persons, a statewide prevention and awareness campaign for youth, and growth of survivor-led exit programming, with findings due within 18 months.

Requires courts to transmit commitment-related information to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services for use by Licensing Authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in firearms background checks, and to provide law enforcement notice of relevant commitment proceedings, dates, and whether an order issued to help assess suicide risk in custody. Bars transmission based solely on voluntary treatment or hospitalization for evaluation, and mandates automatic dissemination through the Criminal Justice Information System to the relevant Licensing Authority when the person currently holds a firearms license, card, or permit.

Makes examination reports, petitions, orders, and other commitment papers private except at the court's discretion; requires courts to maintain a private docket for individuals believed to be mentally ill; and preserves public access to criminal complaints or indictments and notation of related commitment proceedings in criminal dockets. Allows the subject and counsel to inspect filings in a pending proceeding and permits prosecutors in a pending criminal case to inspect commitment records, and specifies that transmitted information is not a public record.

This bill creates a special legislative commission tasked with analyzing and reporting on the use of service animals within Massachusetts. This 15-member commission will include legislative leaders, the Attorney General, and experts from the fields of disability, animal advocacy, law enforcement, and business. Its primary goals are to comprehensively review the current federal, state, and local laws and procedures regarding service animals, assess their benefits for individuals with disabilities, and address issues related to fraud and misuse. The commission will also study effective laws and practices from other jurisdictions aimed at preventing misuse of service animals, and seek ways to enhance public understanding through education and training efforts directed at public officials, law enforcement, business owners, and the public. The commission will make recommendations on legislation, and the possibility of certification, registration, or licensing systems for service animals in the state. 

Directs new and expanded revenue to the Head Injury Treatment Services (HITS) Trust Fund by imposing a $250 assessment on all operating-under-the-influence dispositions, depositing 100 percent of that assessment and 75 percent of related fines into the fund, and allocating $50 from each fine for an additional motor vehicle offense to the fund while updating the fund's authorizing language to include that source.

Raises certain fines currently set at $50, increasing them to $100 in one provision and to $75 in another.

Expands the Child Advocate's access by authorizing entry at reasonable times to any facility, residence, or program operated, licensed, or funded by an Executive Agency; granting unrestricted access to electronic information systems, records, reports, materials, and employees; and permitting the Child Advocate to obtain data on adult and juvenile arrests and on court proceedings as necessary.

Requires access to all court records the Child Advocate deems relevant, including Juvenile Court and Probate and Family Court records, records held by the Massachusetts Probation Service, and adult and juvenile records in electronic systems maintained by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, including personally identifiable information, with the right to inspect and copy at no cost, subject to existing legal limits on use or release.

Authorizes examination of systemwide services for children-covering responses to child abuse and neglect, related behavioral health and domestic violence issues, education, interagency coordination, data availability and effectiveness, juvenile contact with criminal justice systems, contracted services, and specified issues such as racial disparities, truancy, mandated reporting, workforce qualifications and caseloads, law enforcement involvement, criminal and court record reviews, administrative and cost requirements, federal child welfare funding, and the effectiveness of child abuse laws-with findings reported annually and in additional reports.

Prohibits Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders from establishing a home address, intended home address, or any other living accommodation within 500 feet of the property of any public or private school, licensed day care center, or other child care facility. Bars such offenders from accepting employment within 500 feet of those properties.

This bill concerns the medical peer review processes, malpractice litigation, and insurance reporting related to medical services. The bill provides that offering expert testimony in malpractice cases is regarded as practicing medicine, and requires that expert witnesses possess board certification in the same specialty as the defendant. The bill also mandates that insurance companies submit annual reports to the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction, detailing the predominant categories of losses from malpractice claims. It also introduces a provision for damage awards in malpractice cases, where amounts exceeding $50,000 can be paid periodically instead of as lump sums. Moreover, interest rates on damages in malpractice and similar actions are to be adjusted in line with federal Treasury yields, ensuring they do not surpass the current statutory limits. 

Creates new crimes for rideshare operators who commit indecent assault and battery or rape against passengers during a ride; defines "rideshare operator," "transportation network company," and "ride"; deems a passenger incapable of consenting when consent is procured during the ride; and sets penalties of up to 5 years in state prison or 2½ years in a house of correction for indecent assault and battery and up to 20 years for rape.

Expands the offenses that trigger sex offender registration, qualify for sexually dangerous person proceedings, and apply in related parole provisions to include indecent assault and battery by law enforcement on vulnerable persons in custody, by health care providers on patients or clients, and by rideshare operators on passengers, as well as rape by health care providers of patients or clients and by rideshare operators of passengers, and amends statute of limitations provisions to incorporate these offenses.

Requires wireless carriers and in-vehicle security and communications service providers to immediately provide device location information to law enforcement upon request to respond to an emergency call from the device, assist a missing person investigation, or address an emergency involving risk of death or serious physical harm, and permits carriers to adopt voluntary disclosure protocols.

Mandates these providers submit emergency contact information annually by June 15 or upon changes to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security; directs the Executive Office to maintain a database and make it immediately available to public safety answer points; requires implementing regulations by December 31, 2023; and grants good-faith immunity from civil actions to providers and their personnel furnishing location information in accordance with this section.

This bill creates a permanent commission in Massachusetts to examine the legacy of slavery and its impacts on residents of African descent, with the goal of recommending reparative actions. The commission will include experts in reparatory justice, economics, social sciences, and other relevant fields. Its primary tasks include studying the historical and ongoing effects of slavery on economic, political, educational, and social life, as well as addressing ongoing discrimination against African-descended residents. To fulfill its duties, the commission is authorized to collect evidence, conduct hearings, and collaborate with state agencies.

The commission is responsible for making recommendations about its findings and suggesting reparative measures, such as compensation strategies and policy changes to rectify historical injustices and discrimination. It will also consider how these proposed measures align with international standards for state-caused injustice and explore ways for Massachusetts to formally apologize for historical wrongs. 

Requires the Board, upon request from a victim enrolled in its victim services unit, to inform the victim of a sex offender's final classification and the offender's home, secondary, and work addresses, as well as the school the offender attends.

Eliminates the right to appointed counsel for indigent sex offenders in classification hearings and related court proceedings, preserving only a right to retain counsel.

Repeals authority to pay expert witness fees for indigent offenders when an expert's testimony or report is used in a classification proceeding, and strikes requirements that offenders be informed of any right to appointed counsel at such hearings.

Amends criminal record access provisions to prohibit charging a fee for requests by a parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian seeking the criminal record information of a childcare provider who has or may have direct contact with their child or a child under their care.

Requires that, on offender-initiated motions for reclassification, a sex offender bears the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that their risk of re-offense and degree of dangerousness have decreased since final classification.

Permits the board to consider information used in prior classification decisions when ruling on such motions.

This bill introduces a system for the automated and expedited sealing of criminal records in Massachusetts. Under the bill, individuals no longer need to petition for the sealing of eligible criminal records after completing a designated waiting period. An automated mechanism will seal records within 30 days of eligibility, with waiting periods set at 3 years for misdemeanors and 7 years for felonies, provided there are no new offenses. However, certain firearm and government-related offenses are excluded from sealing, with exceptions for resisting arrest and decriminalized marijuana possession, which can be sealed upon request. For juvenile records, the bill introduces an automatic sealing process occurring 3 years post-offense or adjudication, absent any new offenses.

The bill directs the Commissioner of Probation and the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services to maintain records to include these release dates. The legislation also requires the commissioner to inform individuals at conviction or adjudication about the possibility of future record sealing.

The Comprehensive Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 2025 sets measures to prevent child sexual abuse within educational and youth-serving settings. This bill requires all schools, state-run or licensed programs, and youth-serving organizations to provide annual training for employees, contractors, and volunteers on preventing, identifying, and reporting child sexual abuse. The training must cover recognizing abusive behaviors in both adults and children, establishing protective policies, and supporting disclosures of abuse, utilizing research-based materials and maintaining records of training completion.

Additionally, the bill establishes hiring protocols for positions involving direct contact with children, including background checks and disclosure of any past investigations or allegations of abuse. It prohibits educational entities from making agreements to conceal abuse allegations. The bill also expands those subject to reporting obligations as mandated reporters to include domestic violence workers, volunteer and professional athletic coaches, professional tutors, film or photo processors and information technology repair or service personnel.

Overhauls impaired-driving laws by defining "under the influence" to include a per se blood alcohol content of 0.08 and drug impairment; establishing tiered penalties with mandatory minimums and extended license suspensions; tightening implied consent with immediate administrative suspensions for chemical-test refusals or results, youth-specific 0.02 consequences, and formal hearing and appeal processes; and mandating ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders with new crimes for operating without or tampering, consecutive sentences for operating under the influence while suspended, and added penalties for child endangerment and serious bodily injury.

Establishes motor vehicle homicide and manslaughter-by-motor-vehicle offenses carrying mandatory minimum imprisonment and 15-year-to-lifetime license revocations; authorizes forfeiture of vehicles owned by individuals with three or more prior operating-under-the-influence offenses with proceeds allocated to law enforcement and the Victims of Drunk Driving Trust Fund; creates an Operating Under the Influence Deterrent Trust Fund for prosecutors; and adds a boating analogue for manslaughter while under the influence with parallel license consequences.

Creates handheld-device texting offenses that, when negligent operation proximately causes injury to persons or property, carry criminal penalties, license suspensions, and Head Injury Treatment Services Trust Fund assessments, with heightened rules and limited defenses for public transportation operators and drivers under 18; and codifies an open-container ban in the passenger area while forbidding any driver possession.

Rewrites penalties for operating after suspension, including habitual traffic offender and operating-under-the-influence-based suspensions; strengthens evidentiary and administrative tools for license and registration actions; updates negligent or reckless operation and leaving-the-scene crimes; relocates and maintains penalties for racing on a public way; sets penalties and adds civil liability for using a motor vehicle without authority; and criminalizes unauthorized removal or crushing of abandoned or stolen vehicles while imposing licensing and reporting requirements on towing and salvage operations.

Strengthens preservation and victim-notification rules for sexual-assault forensic evidence by prohibiting destruction or disposal of sexual assault evidence collection kits and related forensic evidence for less than 15 years, allowing disposal only after limited events; requires hospitals to give victims written notice of the 15-year retention and 60-day notice before intended destruction with a 12-month extension on request; and directs the Director of the Crime Laboratory within the Department of State Police and the Forensic Sciences Advisory Board to promulgate preservation regulations, including chain-of-custody standards, guidance on early evidence kits, and consumer education in consultation with the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General.

Requires the State Police Crime Laboratory and municipal crime laboratories in municipalities over 150,000 population to test sexual assault evidence kits within 30 days of receipt; permits smaller municipal labs to accept self-administered kits and, if accepted, test within 30 days; mandates entry of qualifying DNA profiles into CODIS and the State DNA Database; and requires every kit to be entered into the statewide tracking system. Defines sexual assault evidence collection kits and early evidence kits, permits transfer to law enforcement generally within 30 days, requires law enforcement to label kits to distinguish those collected by SANEs from those collected by alleged victims, and authorizes analysis of early evidence kits unless specified disqualifying conditions apply, with authority to halt testing if a disqualifier later emerges. Enhances victim communications and rights by requiring providers and agencies to furnish investigator contact information, written explanations of testing, preservation, and disposal policies, available results that do not compromise investigations, and status updates within 30 days upon request, while affirming a victim's right to remain anonymous and not file a criminal complaint and preserving the option to file later.

This bill amends the framework for community corrections programs regarding alternatives to incarceration and pretrial detention. It creates an Office of Community Justice Programs within the Office of the Commissioner of Probation. The programs focus on intensive supervision with treatment, pretrial services, and reentry services, all designed to reduce recidivism. Courts are authorized to sentence eligible individuals to intensive supervision with treatment as a probation condition, unless a mandatory minimum incarceration term applies. Additionally, individuals in pretrial detention can participate in pretrial services programs as a release condition.

The bill also requires victim notification regarding placements in pretrial services programs and promotes the use of these programs in facilitating reentry services. The Office will create community justice plans based on evidence-based standards, selecting and funding programs, monitoring compliance, and training service providers.

Authorizes combining two or more violations within a 180-day period into a single count for specified property offenses and bases misdemeanor or felony classification on the aggregated value of property, money, goods, or services obtained.

For larceny, permits aggregation across violations of that provision and a related provision.

This bill amends animal cruelty regulations by expanding funding for animal welfare and instituting stricter penalties for offenders. The bill establishes a new penalty for violation of animal protection laws, prohibiting an offender from owning or accessing animals in any way. The penalty extends for a minimum of five years for a first offense and fifteen years for subsequent offenses, with the possibility of extension at the court's discretion. Offenders can petition annually for a reduction in their bans, provided they meet specific conditions. Violators of these bans may have their animals forfeited, and fines, potentially up to $1,000 per animal, will be directed to the Homeless Animal Prevention and Care Fund.

The bill also directs fines collected under state livestock protection laws into the Homeless Animal Prevention and Care Fund and expands the use of the Fund to include support for writing citiations for violations of the prohibition on excessive confinement or tethering of a dog.

Requires professional investors-including venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, and investment banks-to comply with Attorney General-issued fair investment compliance guidelines as a condition of conducting investment activities, including adopting a written policy in their organizational charter, establishing clear procedures, and completing a publicly available self-evaluation at least every three years assessing reasonable progress toward directing a greater share of funding to historically disadvantaged members of protected classes and to ventures they direct, own, or manage.

Authorizes the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commission and the Secretary of State, to promulgate and update at least every three years rules and model templates, and to enforce violations as unfair or deceptive trade practices with authority to seek compensatory, incidental, consequential, and punitive damages, as well as injunctive and other equitable relief.

Directs the Attorney General to publish the initial compliance guidelines within one year.

This bill proposes phased-in increases in the age of criminal majority in Massachusetts, moving it from 18 to 19, then to 20, and finally to age 21. The adjustments reach age 21 in 2030. The changes extend the jurisdiction of juvenile courts and modify eligibility for juvenile justice processes, including affecting sentencing, probation, and detention rules for individuals who are under the age of criminal majority at that time.

This bill amends the legal standards for biometric surveillance technology, particularly facial recognition, by law enforcement and public agencies. Under the bill, the acquisition, possession, or use of biometric surveillance technologies by law enforcement is prohibited unless explicitly permitted by law. Any information obtained unlawfully via these technologies is inadmissible in court proceedings. An exemption allows the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to use facial recognition for identity verification related to licenses and permits. The State Police are also permitted to conduct facial recognition searches, limited to specific scenarios such as executing warrants, identifying deceased individuals, or addressing emergencies that involve immediate danger.

The bill mandates documentation and reporting requirements for facial recognition search activities. Additionally, the legislation prohibits the use of biometric surveillance systems to deduce emotions or conduct real-time or archived video analysis. However, facial recognition can be used on still images taken from videos as permitted. Law enforcement is allowed to use facial recognition for device user authentication.

Establishes a Division of Erroneous Felony Convictions Compensation within the Attorney General to administer an administrative claims process for compensation and services, awarding $115,000 per year of incarceration and not less than $57,500 per year spent on parole, probation, or sex-offender registration-prorated and annually adjusted by the Consumer Price Index-and providing tuition and fee waivers at state and community colleges, MassHealth coverage, and reentry, transitional, and housing assistance, with de novo appeals to the Division of Administrative Law Appeals. Defines eligibility to persons convicted of a felony who did not plead guilty (unless withdrawn or vacated), served at least one year, and later received a pardon stating a reasonable possibility of innocence or case-specific judicial relief that vacated or reversed the conviction followed by dismissal or acquittal after a 60-day period with no new associated felony charges; imposes a three-year filing deadline tolled during state appeals; and directs the Committee for Public Counsel Services to appoint counsel for indigent applicants.

Requires the Trial Court, within 30 days of release and upon a showing of eligibility, to order $15,000 in transitional financial assistance and to authorize a funded social service advocate for indigent persons whose felony conviction is vacated, reversed, or pardoned; directs the Committee for Public Counsel Services to establish and maintain a system to assign such advocates and provide post-release referrals; prohibits repayment or offsets; and permits a one-year transition for pending claims to move to the new process.

This bill criminalizes sexual intercourse or indecent assault and battery perpetrated by mandated reporters and those in positions of supervisory authority, against vulnerable adults. Vulnerable adults are defined as persons aged 14 or older who are either admitted to or receiving services from mental health or rehabilitation facilities, or who reside in long-term care facilities. The bill imposes penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment on offenders, with harsher sentences for repeat offenders. The bill provides that a vulnerable adult's consent is not a valid defense against these charges. The bill also defines sexual assault of vulnerable adults as offenses requiring sex offender registration.

Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with a Permanent Commission on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Service Providers, to promulgate uniform minimum service standards for providers, including initial and annual training, minimum policies and procedures, and continuous quality improvement. Conditions eligibility for state funds on compliance-allowing continued eligibility while completing approved program improvement or corrective action plans-bars funding to providers that discriminate based on race, religion, color, age, disability, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry, and institutes annual compliance reporting with mandated remedial plans following violations.

Establishes a 19-member Commission, chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and including legislators, the Attorney General, survivors, and executive directors of specified victim service organizations, to study existing practices, recommend uniform standards, and conduct ongoing review. Authorizes the Commission to hold public meetings and hearings, request information, accept funds, and hire staff subject to appropriation, and requires initial recommendations within 180 days with biennial reassessment.

Prohibits settlement agreements and court orders from restricting disclosure of information related to civil or administrative claims alleging sex offenses, sexual harassment, discrimination based on sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, or related retaliation, and renders any such nondisclosure provisions entered after enactment void, while allowing a claimant, upon written informed request, to shield their identity and identifying facts.

Preserves a claimant's consideration under prior agreements despite protected disclosures, authorizes courts to rely on pleadings and other record materials to determine the factual foundation of damages claims, guarantees a jury trial, awards reasonable attorney's fees and costs to prevailing claimants and imposes fee liability on anyone who enforces or attempts to enforce a void provision, bars use of public funds to settle such claims against public employees, and subjects attorneys who demand or recommend prohibited nondisclosure terms to professional discipline.

This bill restricts name changes for individuals registered as sex offenders in several sections of state law. Under the bill, registered sex offenders are prohibited from using any name other than the one under which they are registered. Additionally, registered sex offenders cannot adopt or use a surname through a marriage other than the one used for registration purposes, and registered sex offenders may not be granted a legal name change.

Requires courts to issue abuse prevention orders, including orders to refrain from abuse or contact, for a fixed term of 1 year and to authorize both in-hand service and service at the defendant's last and usual address. Requires law enforcement to notify victims and, where appropriate, their family members when a temporary restraining order or other abuse prevention order is served, not served (with the effect of non-service), or has expired or become ineffective; mandates transmission of defendant information and notice materials to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services for entry into the public safety information system, and requires any officer who learns through that system of an unserved order to forthwith effect service. Adds a right for victims, family members, and witnesses to receive the service and expiration notifications.

Directs the Victim and Witness Assistance Board to survey victim and witness assistance services in local law enforcement agencies, courthouses, and District Attorney's Offices, assess effectiveness, identify improvements, and report within 1 year; designates the act "Kianna's Law."

Creates an ESOL for Economic Mobility Coordinator within the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to lead a statewide, actionable strategy-through the Workforce Skills Cabinet, in concert with the Executive Office of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and in collaboration with the Executive Office of Economic Development to measure employer alignment-to prepare newly arrived and other limited-English-proficient workers for in-demand jobs.

Directs the Coordinator to expand ESOL capacity to match population growth; shift workforce ESOL funding toward vocational programs as resources increase; leverage community colleges to draw federal funds; promote regional collaboration and remove coordination barriers; build the ESOL educator workforce; and strengthen data, research, and evaluation.

Launches a pilot within 90 days to rapidly expand ESOL for economic mobility to meet immediate employer demand and connect newly arrived, long-time unemployed, and underemployed limited-English-proficient workers with jobs; requires a comprehensive strategic plan within one year with annual outcome reporting on specified metrics; and appropriates $13,000,000 to fund the Coordinator and programs.

Amends two related provisions to state that specified authorities are subject to collective bargaining and narrows a key provision by deleting the phrase "contracts, collective bargaining agreements or."

Strikes multiple clauses and entire subsections, and removes the words "of practices" and "or practices" throughout, eliminating references to "practices" in those provisions.

Establishes a statewide planning and financing framework to expand behavioral health inpatient capacity, requiring the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to coordinate an interagency annual study of inpatient psychiatric units and Department of Mental Health beds by region and special population, with cost estimates and recommendations to reduce emergency department boarding; convenes a special commission to expand access to specialty beds, address funding, recommend a potential multi-payer rate structure, and evaluate alternative payment models for high-intensity care.

Strengthens facility standards by directing the Department of Mental Health to set clinical competencies and operational requirements for licensed psychiatric facilities, mandate clinical affiliations for free-standing units, require 24/7 admissions and discharges, impose quality and outcomes reporting, and enforce compliance through remediation plans or financial penalties up to $500,000 annually; prohibits admission denials for patients who meet criteria when capacity exists, with documented justification and monthly reporting of any denials.

Requires acute-care hospitals and satellite emergency facilities to apply policies and protocols on a nondiscriminatory basis to mental health and substance use conditions, conduct annual reviews with Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer certification, and comply with a complaint and reporting process established by the Department of Public Health in conjunction with the Department of Mental Health. Amends Accountable Care Organization certification standards to deepen behavioral health integration by mandating evidence-based behavioral health service guidelines with 24/7 access and discharge processes, interoperable health IT, price transparency capabilities, reporting of behavioral health spending, risk certification, and shared decision-making; directs the Health Policy Commission to study practice variation and recommend improvements in behavioral health data collection and outcome measurement, and requires Determination of Need reviews to consider the statewide planning report.

This bill designates the Secretary of Health and Human Services as the lead coordinator of behavioral health services in Massachusetts. The Secretary is responsible for implementing a comprehensive roadmap for behavioral health reform, focusing on integrating health equity principles. Key responsibilities include developing biennial strategic plans to improve staffing, financing, cultural competency, and service capacity. The plans will streamline processes such as licensing, credentialing, and payment across multiple agencies, facilitating services like mobile crisis intervention and community crisis stabilization for both youth and adults.

The bill also mandates the creation of a centralized data dashboard, updated quarterly, to monitor service utilization, disparities in access, and patient outcomes. Additionally, the bill requires a triennial analysis of the community behavioral health crisis system's financial expenditures and service utilization.

The bill requires public and private health insurance plans to cover all mental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, replacing the named list of diagnoses in current law. Additionally, the bill requires health and disability insurers to provide nondiscriminatory coverage of mental health benefits. The bill also requires MassHealth to pay full compensation for behavioral health services at negotiated rates when appropriate alternative placements are unavailable, contingent upon the hospitals' demonstration of good faith efforts to find such alternatives.

This bill creates a Perinatal Behavioral Health Care Workforce Trust Fund, overseen by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Fund will provide grants to establish or expand training and educational programs, aimed at growing and diversifying the workforce in perinatal mental and behavioral health care. Priority will be given to programs that target areas experiencing significant racial, ethnic, or geographic disparities in perinatal health outcomes.

Establishes a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Commission within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, chaired by the Secretary and including the Commissioner of Mental Health and 17 appointees representing major hospitals and research institutions, veterans' groups and the Federal Veterans Administration, child welfare and domestic-violence advocates, police, firefighters, EMS, nurses, immigrant and refugee communities, and PTSD research advocacy or support organizations.

Requires the Commission to develop and annually update summaries of advances in PTSD research, diagnosis, treatment, and access to care; monitor and coordinate statewide PTSD research, services, and support activities; and produce a comprehensive, annually updated strategic plan with recommendations to advance research, improve treatment, raise public awareness and recognition, enhance mental health care delivery, and improve early and accurate diagnosis.

Directs the Commission to investigate PTSD diagnoses and treatment successes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and to issue annual recommendations and progress updates by December 31.

Renames the Alcoholism chapter and related provisions as Alcohol Use Disorder, recasts the Department's duties to coordinate treatment, prevention, intervention, and recovery services, and assures 24-hour withdrawal management, hospital and rehabilitation services (including aftercare), and inpatient psychiatric care for co-occurring disorders, while prohibiting facilities in correctional institutions except at Bridgewater and Framingham if standards are met.

Updates insurance and public coverage by retitling sections to state that preauthorization is not required for substance use or substance use disorder treatment, clarifies coverage for FDA-approved medications for opioid or alcohol use disorder, and confirms that minors with a substance use disorder may consent to care, including methadone treatment for opioid use disorder.

Modernizes terminology across numerous statutes by replacing "substance abuse" and related phrases with "substance use" and "substance use disorder," and updates names of programs, funds, committees, and screening and education policies, including references to inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment programs.

Rewrites the Attorney General's narcotic-drug law enforcement training program to specify curricula covering governing laws, drug identification, interagency cooperation, constitutional search and seizure, physiological and psychological effects, psychological and sociological causes of substance use and substance use disorders, treatment and rehabilitation options, and related education programs, and authorizes necessary staffing.

Requires the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to ensure network hospitals are compensated at their full negotiated rate for behavioral health services provided to MassHealth patients who are also clients of agencies within the Executive Office when no appropriate alternative placement is available, contingent on the hospital documenting good-faith efforts to place the client in an appropriate alternative setting.

Creates a determination-of-need permitting system for recovery housing administered by the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, requiring all residences that provide or advertise alcohol- and drug-free housing to obtain a permit and authorizing permits based on regional need following a statewide survey of capacity, locations, occupancy, and municipal restrictions.

Prohibits siting in designated "impacted communities"-defined by income, minority composition, limited English proficiency, or concentration of accredited or recovery housing-with a resident-petition process for sub-neighborhood designation and Bureau authority to decline designation upon findings of higher income, educational attainment, lack of unfair burden, and access to support services; also requires at least 1,000 feet between a permitted residence and any existing recovery housing or similar facility.

Sets nontransferable, site-specific permit requirements (operator and house manager identification, house rules, intake procedures, relapse policy, disability-only residency affirmation, resident forms, and a fee), allows applications notwithstanding local zoning, provides for revocation with Superior Court appeal and six-month waits after denial or revocation, directs application intake within 120 days with existing operators applying by June 30, 2024 and new operators permitted before opening, mandates regulations within 90 days, and repeals the existing accreditation section effective June 30, 2026.

Establishes the Dukes County Sheriff Regional Lockup Fund, administered by the Dukes County Sheriff's Office, to provide the only state-funded regional lockup service for towns in Dukes County for persons arrested with or without a warrant, taken into protective custody, held on contempt or by court order, or arrested under civil process.

Authorizes police officers to exercise full police authority anywhere in the County while transporting detainees and during transport through any city, town, or county-including to and at hospitals or medical or psychiatric facilities, and on ferries or aircraft-and throughout the arrest, delivery, and booking process; grants the Regional Lockup Facility Superintendent and Deputy Sheriffs the same authority as police to detain, book, hold, and transport pre-arraignment or other detainees.

Allows towns to join the Dukes County Regional Lockup Facility System by written agreement with the Sheriff of Dukes County; waives an otherwise applicable compliance requirement for member municipal police departments; and specifies that Fund revenues from transfers, gifts, grants, or contributions are not subject to further appropriation and do not revert at fiscal year-end.

Establishes an independent Municipal Building Authority to plan, finance, and manage a municipal building assistance program for modern, safe, accessible municipal facilities that relieve overcrowding and support smart growth, governed by the State Treasurer (chair), the Secretary of Administration and Finance, a representative of the Municipal Association, and four Treasurer appointees with expertise in public building construction and municipal management.

Creates the Municipal Building Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund, held in trust by the State Treasurer and disbursed to the Authority without further appropriation, capitalized by dedicated amounts equal to 0.5 percent of receipts from sales and 0.5 percent of the sales price of purchases under the sales and use taxes; authorizes use of the fund for any lawful Authority purpose, including debt service, and permits it to be pledged to secure Authority debt, with annual certification that the Authority's budget and capital plan cover financing obligations.

Imposes a statutory covenant holding pledged sales and use tax revenues in trust for bondholders, prohibiting diversion of pledged sums and reductions to the covered sales and use tax rates while Authority bonds or notes remain outstanding, and allowing transfer of excess fund balances back to the state.

Requires graduation from an accredited optometry doctorate program and passage of applicable licensing examinations; authorizes reciprocal licensure for out-of-state practitioners meeting equivalent standards; and conditions initial and renewal licensure on applying to participate in the medical assistance program for ordering and referring services, deeming full provider participation compliant.

Redefines the practice of optometry to include examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases, injuries, and disorders of the visual system and associated structures, and diagnosis of related systemic conditions; and compels licensees who have not completed prior Board-approved testing to pass examinations to use diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents, including glaucoma and oral medications-by January 1, 2022 for those licensed before 1984 or 1994, and by January 1, 2025 for those licensed before 2021.

Revises practice standards by permitting trade or service names with prominent display of practitioner names and requiring the prescriber's name on prescriptions; regulates eyewear price advertising and permissible titles while banning "free examination" claims and setting penalties; updates disciplinary terminology to "substance misuse"; and reworks annual licensure, continuing-education, certificate recording and display, and purchase-memorandum requirements, with penalties for unauthorized practice.

This bill implements the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact in Massachusetts. The compact allows physicians licensed in a state that has adopted the Compact to practice in other Compact-accepting states. State medical boards retain their regulatory authority, and medical practice to be subject to the laws of the state where the patient resides, permitting state boards to discipline physicians when warranted. The compact provides for all member states adhere to consistent standards concerning expedited licensing, background checks, ongoing professional development, and the sharing of investigatory and disciplinary information.

The proposed legislation aims to enhance awareness and coordination regarding Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in Massachusetts. It mandates the Department of Public Health, in partnership with other state agencies, to launch a comprehensive public awareness campaign focused on brain health, which will emphasize the importance of early detection, diagnosis, and coordinated care for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, targeting healthcare providers and the general public. Particular attention will be given to educating diverse communities at higher risk, emphasizing culturally relevant information and improving health literacy.

The bill also requires the inclusion of data on racial and ethnic disparities in Alzheimer's-related morbidity and mortality in the annual report by the Office of Health Equity. Moreover, it directs the Department of Public Health to include specific modules in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey to gather crucial data on prevalence and trends.

Additionally, the bill proposes the establishment of a Director of Dementia Care and Coordination within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. This director will oversee the implementation of the state's Alzheimer’s Disease Plan, support ongoing council initiatives, and coordinate efforts to increase service access and awareness for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. The director's responsibilities also encompass assessing and ensuring compliance with dementia-related training requirements for healthcare professionals and managing grants to enhance the state's dementia care capabilities.

Establishes within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services a Human Service Transportation Consumer Advisory Board to improve the safety, reliability, and quality of nonemergency transportation to medical, community, and other health and human services for persons with disabilities by identifying challenges, recommending improvements, and proposing guidelines.

Specifies a 13-member body with the Secretary of Health and Human Services as nonvoting convenor and the Director of MassHealth as a nonvoting member, and 11 voting members appointed by the Governor, largely from consumer nominees of specified disability and aging organizations, plus one at the Governor's discretion.

Requires at least six remote, public meetings annually; mandates targeted outreach and two virtual consumer listening sessions each year; and directs the Board to file annual recommendations by December 1 that the Human Services Transportation Office must use to improve broker services and report back, and requires that office to staff the Board and assist with outreach, operations, and scheduling.

This bill authorizes and regulates the practice of dental therapy. Under the bill, dental therapists may provide specified dental services, including oral evaluations, assessments of disease, and dental procedures, under the supervision of a licensed dentist through a collaborative management agreement. They are authorized to administer non-narcotic analgesics, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics. The legislation sets requirements regarding the education, licensing, and practice of dental therapists. Dental therapists are required to serve patients primarily composed of underserved individuals or MassHealth members.

The bill also mandates that public schools inform parents about the importance of oral health screenings.

Prohibits use of school and campus property for new wireless telecommunications infrastructure-including distributed antenna systems, small cell networks, new structures, and collocations-and directs removal of preexisting installations. Requires all public and independent schools and institutions of higher education to minimize emissions from any on-site wireless antennas, prioritize rapid replacement of wireless connectivity with hard-wired access, establish routine monitoring to prevent transmission restarts, educate students and staff on exposure reduction, and maintain ongoing exposure-reduction plans with objectives, deadlines, and public progress records that explain unmet goals; mandates evaluations of good-faith implementation across K-12 and higher education while limiting reporting burdens.

Directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Board of Higher Education, and the Board of Early Education and Care to issue annually updated, precautionary, industry-independent guidance covering broadband, devices, electrical equipment, lighting, and telecommunications; to select low-cost measures for immediate adoption, set deadlines for remaining measures, and allow stricter local standards, prioritizing in early education hard-wired connections, elimination of nearby wireless transmitters, and limits on children's proximity to electrical fields; and amends the education mission to include ensuring the environmental health and safety of public school classrooms.

This bill addresses the contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Massachusetts. Under the bill, the Department of Environmental Protection  (DEP) monitors PFAS levels in groundwater and surface water, enforcing the use of best management practices and treatment processes. The bill also sets forth a timeline for phasing out the disposal of sludge containing PFAS. In addition, the bill prohibits the sale or distribution of food packaging and certain products, including children's items, cookware, and textiles, that contain intentionally added PFAS, by specific deadlines.

The bill sets up a PFAS Remediation Trust Fund, administered by the DEP, to finance PFAS mitigation projects for drinking water, groundwater, and soil. Eligible entities for grants from this fund include municipalities, counties, private well owners, and water systems, with an emphasis on aiding communities with vulnerable populations.

A public awareness campaign focused on PFAS contamination and health impacts will be developed, with particular attention to reaching environmental justice communities. Furthermore, the bill mandates studies on PFAS levels in agricultural and consumer products, conducted by the Department of Public Health in collaboration with other state agencies, with required public reporting of the findings. It also restricts the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS and requires manufacturers of firefighting personal protective equipment to comply with specific notice requirements. In addition, the bill offers tax exemptions for landowners who transition land use from agriculture to other uses due to PFAS-related regulations.

Broadens the definition of "Athletic Trainer" by removing the requirement that practice be limited to schools, teams, or organizations with which the trainer is associated.

Adds licensed athletic trainers who have completed the required annual head injury safety training to head injury safety provisions and clarifies that references to trainers alongside coaches expressly mean athletic trainers.

Requires the Board of Allied Health Professions to review and update its rules and regulations within 180 days.

This bill outlines procedures and requirements for hospitals planning to close or discontinue essential health services. Under the bill, hospitals must provide at least one year's notice to the Department of Public Health before closing or discontinuing a service, and notify patients, staff, labor organizations, local legislators, and relevant state agencies at least 30 days prior. Hospitals must engage with the community and document this engagement. Additionally, they must demonstrate municipal support or non-opposition from affected areas.

The Department of Public Health will assess the necessity of the services proposed for closure and ensure their continued access if needed. Hospitals are required to present a plan to maintain access to health services, including the creation of a community oversight committee. A public hearing must be held before any closure decision is made. The bill also prohibits hospitals from closing beds or facilities during a healthcare-related state of emergency.

Requires every high school that offers interscholastic athletic activities to employ a licensed athletic trainer.

Expands school head injury safety provisions to recognize licensed athletic trainers who complete the annual head injury safety training among covered personnel and updates education provisions to refer specifically to "athletic trainers" rather than "trainers."

Requires the Treasurer to transfer $1,500,000 from the Board of Registration in Medicine Trust Fund to the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction to implement a roadmap to health care safety. Funds support an electronic health record safety event monitoring pilot and a statewide health care safety education program.

Establishes a Board of Registration in Medicine registry for physician practices with more than 10 physicians in wholly owned and controlled group practices, requiring applications to disclose the identities of the practice and its physicians, any substantial equity investors and management services organizations, and organizational documents, with biennial renewal and an initial registration deadline of October 1, 2026.

Requires clinics and registered physician practices to notify the Department at least 180 days before any sale, relocation, or closure; authorizes a public hearing at least 90 days in advance to assess impacts on access, available alternatives over the following 24 months, and mitigation options; and mandates 90 days' written patient notice that includes continued services for 90 days, assistance finding a new provider, and the medical-records custodian's contact information. Requires physicians to give patients 90 days' written notice before terminating an ongoing physician-patient relationship, permits an employing entity to deliver the notice, specifies its contents, and subjects violations to discipline by the Board of Registration in Medicine.

This bill concerns health care practices operated by clinicians with independent practice authority, such as physicians and nurse practitioners. The bill requires that these practices be owned and controlled by clinicians themselves. They may use various organizational structures, like professional corporations or limited liability companies, as long as they do not restrict practitioner liability for negligence. The legislation prohibits non-clinician entities from owning health care practices. Under the bill, clinicians must retain control over clinical decisions. The bill prevents management services organizations from influencing or deciding on the content of medical records, hiring decisions based on clinical abilities, or controlling billing and equipment choices. The bill prohibits external entities from exerting undue pressure or using non-disclosure agreements to interfere with clinicians' professional judgment or clinical decisions regarding patient care. 

Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and its departments to collect voluntary, self-identified sexual orientation and gender identity data from residents age 16 and older when administering federally defined programs and surveys and when providing direct services, and limits use to demographic analysis, care coordination, quality improvement, approved research, reporting, and policy or funding decisions; mandates aggregate, deidentified reporting, public release consistent with law, confidentiality of personal information, and aggregation standards that prevent identification and statistical unreliability.

Directs the Office of Health Equity to develop and disseminate training and guidelines for inviting disclosure and culturally competent engagement with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons, distribute them to the Executive Office of Education and the Department of Transportation, receive annual aggregate data and descriptions of program changes, and compile an annual report.

Extends parallel voluntary collection, privacy safeguards, and annual aggregate reporting to the Secretary of Education in coordination with public school districts and to the Commissioner of Higher Education for students served, and staggers implementation so that health and human services provisions take effect one year after enactment and the education and higher education provisions 18 months after enactment.

Requires the State 911 Department to adopt and enforce comprehensive quality assurance and improvement regulations for all 911 calls involving confirmed cardiac arrest with attempted resuscitation, including 60-day audits of dispatch calls; standardized data collection on time to hands-on-chest, 911-assisted defibrillation, and EMS arrival; individual PSAP reviews and departmental review under AEMPDS standards; remediation and enforcement for non-compliance; annual statewide and PSAP-level public reports; training requirements; and an electronic portal for submissions and feedback. Directs the Department of Public Health to require EMS reporting of all cardiac arrests with specified clinical data, forward reports to the PSAP of jurisdiction, and ensure privacy compliance.

Establishes an AED registry accessible to local 911 telecommunicators, requires registration of public-access defibrillators through the PSAP medical control director, and mandates building signage clearly indicating AED locations; and outlines system-improvement priorities including performance monitoring, dispatcher-assisted and high-performance CPR, care-system strategies, research, and public education. Expands the State 911 Commission from 13 to 15 members by adding an emergency medicine physician and replacing one PSAP representative with two-one from a PSAP serving fewer than 50,000 people and one from a PSAP serving more than 50,000-both nominated by the Massachusetts Communication Supervisors Association; and creates annual State 911 Department awards for up to three PSAP employees and one PSAP for contributions to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival.

Authorizes a law enforcement officer, healthcare provider, firefighter, EMS personnel, or paramedic who, in the course of official duties, is exposed to another person's blood, semen, or other bodily fluid to petition a Justice of the Superior Court for an order compelling that person to undergo HIV antibody or antigen testing.

Limits disclosure of test results to the exposed worker and the worker's medical care provider, and clarifies that testing conducted pursuant to such a court order does not violate existing consent restrictions on HIV testing.

Establishes an Endometriosis Task Force within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, chaired by the Secretary and including the Commissioners of Public Health and Insurance, the Director of Medicaid, and seven appointed members representing the Medical Society Alliance (two), the Association of Health Plans, commercial health insurers or managed care organizations, an individual diagnosed with endometriosis, a pharmaceutical representative involved in endometriosis drugs or devices, and an endometriosis-focused research, advocacy, or support organization.

Requires the Task Force to monitor and coordinate endometriosis research, services, and support; develop and annually update summaries of advances in research, diagnosis, treatment, and access to care; and create and annually refresh a comprehensive strategic plan with recommendations to advance public awareness, improve health care delivery, promote early and accurate diagnosis, and systematically advance the full spectrum of biomedical research. Directs it to issue annual recommendations by December 31, including updates on implementation progress.

This Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Act facilitates cross-border psychological practice. The bill authorizes the Governor to enter a compact with other states, allowing licensed psychologists to provide telepsychology services and temporary in-person psychological care for up to 30 days annually across state lines. The bill establishes the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Commission to oversee the compact's implementation and administration. Psychologists from participating states can practice in other compact states. In Massachusetts, the Board of Registration of Psychologists is responsible for enforcing the compact's stipulations and can impose disciplinary measures in accordance with decisions made by other states within the compact.

This bill establishes the Equitable Approaches to Public Health grant program to foster non-law-enforcement, community-based responses to 911 emergency calls. It aims to create local frameworks that enhance residents' well-being, prevent violence, de-escalate situations, and minimize unnecessary police intervention. The program provides competitive grants to eligible applicants for supporting these initiatives. A decision-making board composed of community-based stakeholders, including members from the National Association of Social Workers and the Department of Mental Health, will supervise grant criteria and allocation. Eligible partnerships primarily between local governments and community-based organizations, with potential involvement from higher education or behavioral health entities, can use funds for project planning, staffing, operations, training, and service evaluations prioritizing human services over law enforcement. Grant funds may not go to law enforcement agencies. 

Establishes a registry of volunteer personnel to provide services, including health and medical care, and authorizes the Department to set membership requirements, verify licensure and training, and credential volunteers, including photographic identification and Criminal Offender Record Information checks.

Authorizes the Commissioner to activate volunteers during a declared public health emergency or state of emergency, in urgent public health incidents, at the request of a local public health authority or healthcare facility when local or regional resources are exhausted, and for approved trainings or exercises; provides that, when activated and absent other protections or benefits, volunteers are deemed state employees for tort liability and for compensation in cases of death, disability, or injury; and directs the Department to promulgate implementing regulations.

Requires high school students to complete hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), aligned with the most current national, evidence-based Emergency Cardiovascular Care guidelines, including psychomotor, hands-on practice and skills testing, as a condition of graduation.

Defines "psychomotor skills," allows licensed teachers to facilitate non-certification CPR/AED instruction without being certified CPR trainers, and requires that any certification-granting course be taught by an authorized CPR/AED instructor.

Authorizes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, subject to appropriation, to award discretionary mini-grants or subsidies for equipment and professional development to support psychomotor skills-based CPR/AED training, prioritizing high-need districts identified by free or reduced-price meal eligibility, participation in the Community Eligibility Provision or Universal Free Meals, or Title I status.

Requires public buildings-including government facilities and buildings regularly used by the general public with a listed occupancy of at least 300-and any building required to house an AED to maintain clearly visible, centrally located trauma kits meeting minimum contents and training standards defined by the American College of Surgeons or an equivalent organization, to have a trained Trauma Kit Designee on staff at all times, and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a capacity-based formula for the number of kits.

Authorizes co-location of trauma kits with AEDs and allows the same individual to serve as both the AED provider and Trauma Kit Designee, and grants Good Samaritan immunity to unpaid bystanders who render bleeding control or other emergency care absent gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

Adds the availability and location of trauma kits and designated personnel to a required listing, and permits municipalities to use Community Preservation Fund funds to procure trauma kits and a Trauma Kit Designee for municipal buildings and public schools.

Expands the Board's jurisdiction and standards to all buildings and facilities-including areas not generally in public use and employee work areas-and requires regulations ensuring multiple dwellings and public buildings and facilities are accessible, functional, and safe for persons with a disability.

Requires adaptable design, regardless of construction date, for all dwelling units in elevator-equipped multiple dwellings, all ground-floor units in walk-ups, and all public and common-use portions; applies these unit standards in pre-1991 buildings only when undergoing gut rehabilitation; and mandates accessibility standards for residential buildings whenever constructed.

Requires lodging or residential facilities with 20 or more units to provide at least 5 percent accessible units with a 5-foot wheelchair turning radius in kitchens and bathrooms, authorizes the Board to adjust that percentage to less than 5 percent or up to 10 percent based on demonstrated local need, and requires off-street parking areas open to the public to reserve and clearly mark accessible spaces for vehicles displaying handicapped plates or placards, consistent with ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Redefines and adds terms-Facility, Areas that are not generally in public use, Employee work area (accessible in new construction or covered renovations, with certain support spaces adaptable when on an employee path of travel), and Gut rehabilitation-revises Public building to include publicly funded buildings open to the public and privately financed buildings open to and used by the public, including places of public accommodation, revises the Board's composition to require two licensed architects, one licensed building inspector, and three members selected after consultation with advocacy groups on behalf of persons with disabilities, and updates terminology to persons with a disability.

The bill proposes the establishment of the Massachusetts Municipal and Public Safety Building Authority, which provides funds for projects to modernize and construct new municipal and public safety facilities throughout Massachusetts. Under the bill, a dedicated trust fund—the Municipal and Public Safety Building Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund—will be created, receiving 33% of excise tax revenues from marijuana sales. These funds will assist municipalities in building or renovating essential facilities, such as police and fire stations, city and town halls, and public works buildings.

The Authority is chaired by the state Treasurer and operates with the goal of regional equity, prioritizing support for financially disadvantaged municipalities, and emphasizing environmentally sustainable and community-focused development. The Authority will manage the funds, finance debt, and oversee project approvals, ensuring that all undertakings are cost-effective, sustainable, and innovative.

Requires sellers of prepaid wireless service to collect the E911 surcharge from end users at the point of sale on each retail transaction and remit it to the Department of Revenue.

Directs the Department of Revenue, within 60 days of the act's effective date, to issue regulations for reporting, remittance, and enforcement; excludes the collected prepaid wireless E911 charge from the base used to calculate any other tax, fee, surcharge, or charge; and provides that those regulations take effect July 1, 2025.

Standardizes statutory terminology by replacing references to the Board, Department, Office of Probation, and Commissioner of Probation with "Massachusetts Probation Service" across provisions governing criminal records, sex offender registration, firearms licensing, restraining orders, motor vehicle offenses, controlled substances, and pretrial procedures.

Updates titles and headings and makes conforming edits, including deleting residual phrases such as "of the department," to ensure uniform usage of the agency name.

Eliminates the sprinkler exemption for certain pre-1975 buildings previously exempt from installation and requires phased retrofits: one-third of gross square footage sprinklered by March 30, 2028; two-thirds by March 30, 2031; and full coverage by March 30, 2035.

Authorizes owners to seek an extension or waiver from the Board of Appeals of the Fire Safety Commission, or to elect an alternative compliance path requiring complete installation by March 30, 2031, in which case the owner waives any right to an extension.

This bill allows individuals suffering from depression to voluntarily disavow their eligibility to purchase firearms. Those wishing to do so must complete a form acknowledging their condition and their decision to forgo firearm purchases. The bill authorizes the creation of a confidential list of individuals who opt out of firearm eligibility for themselves due to mental health concerns. The list will not be classified as a public record. In hospital settings, individuals presenting with depression must be offered the form to voluntarily give up their firearm purchase eligibility. The bill also mandates any state-funded suicide hotline to refer callers to the form.

Establishes a statewide disability indicator form, to be created and published by the Department in consultation with organizations representing the mobility, hearing, speech, and sight impaired communities, enabling individuals to notify primary and regional public safety answering points (PSAPs) of relevant disabilities and needs.

Requires the form to allow identification of mental health needs, intellectual and developmental disabilities, complex medical needs, neurological impairments, reliance on life-sustaining equipment, mobility, vision, hearing, speech, and cognitive impairments, the presence of service animals, translation needs, and potential triggers for first responders, and to include a mechanism for removing or changing indicators; mandates availability to subscribers of wireless, wireline, and prepaid wireless telephone services, use of clear fifth-grade-level language, accessibility for persons with visual disabilities, and translation wherever 5 percent of citizens speak a language other than English; and requires annual review and amendment of the form as needed.

Establishes the Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity Unit within the Office of the Inspector General and creates an independent Anti-Racism Corrections Inspector General, appointed by the Attorney General, State Auditor, and Chair of the Black and Latino Caucus and confirmed by a 10-member community council that includes directly impacted individuals, to oversee and dismantle structural racism in correctional facilities.

Authorizes immediate, unannounced facility access; confidential interviews; subpoenas; broad, deadline-bound record access; and investigations into all aspects of day-to-day operations, including searches, classification, medical and mental health care, discipline, housing, visitation and reentry, use of force, and deaths or injuries.

Empowers the Inspector General to impose fines, sanctions, or demotions for noncooperation; refer matters for civil or criminal enforcement; issue public reports and annual summaries; and protect whistleblowers.

Requires statewide anti-racism standards, a comprehensive review and overhaul of data systems, implementation of a uniform disaggregated racial data collection system, review of legislation and regulations, maintenance of statewide grievance intake channels, independent investigations of complaints alleging disparate treatment or impact on BIPOC correctional community members, and coordination with other agencies; adopts findings that structural racism exists in corrections in institutional, systemic, interpersonal, and internalized forms affecting incarcerated persons and staff.

This bill establishes the Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity Unit (IDAREU) within the Office of the Inspector General. This independent division will be led by an anti-racism corrections inspector general with expertise in structural racism and anti-racist strategies. The role will focus on monitoring practices that disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within the correctional system. IDAREU is tasked with investigating, inspecting, and assessing the operations of correctional facilities to address structural racism. Key duties include reviewing legislation, implementing anti-racist standards, establishing a uniform data collection system on racial disparities, and investigating related complaints. The unit is vested with powers to subpoena, conduct investigations, and recommend systemic changes while ensuring confidentiality. The bill sets protections to prevent retaliation against individuals cooperating with the investigations or communicating with the office.

Additionally, the bill calls for the formation of a community council to support oversight efforts, comprising individuals who have direct experiences with the correctional system, including family members of incarcerated persons and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Establishes a permanent DJC Task Force with audit authority over publicly funded state, county, municipal, and public entities and enforces a staffing mandate that people of color and women be represented at least in proportion to statewide population, transferring 50 percent of a noncompliant entity's appropriation to the General Fund.

Requires expansive public reporting and oversight across policing, courts, schools, and corrections; directs the Registry of Motor Vehicles to collect expanded citation data and enable opt-in transmission to the DJC Task Force; mandates monthly review by the Executive Office of Public Safety with voiding of warnings or citations where patterns of racial or gender profiling or disproportionate issuance by race or gender are found; and compels the Trial Court to report case-outcome demographics and discipline justices exhibiting discriminatory patterns.

Overhauls police training and procedures by directing the Municipal Police Training Committee to ensure academy staff reflect population demographics, base training on current crime data, add implicit bias and inclusion, and train officers to use non-lethal force before physical force likely to cause injury or death; requires officers to identify themselves and provide business cards during defined activities with specified exceptions; prohibits tampering with agency-issued firearms; requires body-worn cameras for responses to incidents in correctional facilities; and directs the Commission to develop consent-search guidance.

Creates a civil action against those who intentionally summon police without justification because of bias; criminalizes hate speech with fines or up to one year of imprisonment; narrows criminal record information to offenses related to murder; adjusts civil service eligible lists to include proportional placement of non-veteran community members alongside veterans; mandates 10 monthly hours of community service by police and firefighters; and tightens idling and nighttime commercial vehicle noise restrictions near residences.

Requires inclusion of a current color photograph in sex offender information and notifications, replacing prior permissive language allowing only "a photograph ... if available." Standardizes this mandate across affected provisions to ensure sex offender documentation uniformly includes current color images.

Requires the Municipal Police Training Committee to integrate an in-person civil rights course, presented by the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) or its designees, into recruit and in-service curricula-at least 8 hours in Recruit Basic Training and at least 4 hours annually for in-service-and mandates that all law enforcement officers annually attend and successfully complete this course covering lawful stops and identifications, searches and seizures of persons and property, electronic searches, and recognition of clearly established federal law governing qualified immunity.

Directs CPCS to establish standards and guidelines and to develop the training annually, with instruction delivered in person by counsel appointed by CPCS.

Amends existing law to replace the phrase "A full-call fire department" with "An at large fire department."

Requires each law enforcement agency, in collaboration with the Municipal Police Training Committee, to develop and maintain a policy or program to support officers involved in critical incidents-including officer deaths or serious injuries, suicides, multiple-casualty events, stressful incidents involving children, incidents affecting an officer's family, and officer-involved injuries or deaths-with mandated components: pre-incident training on post-traumatic reactions; on-scene and post-incident protocols to safeguard physical and psychological well-being; post-incident services that may extend to family and significant others; agreed-upon temporary leave or duty reassignment; and return-to-duty procedures with ongoing supports, which may include reintegration plans, additional firearms training, graduated re-entry with a partner, and confidential follow-ups by qualified mental health professionals in person or via telehealth.

Authorizes, where resources permit, at least one timely confidential post-incident intervention and ongoing mental health care via qualified professionals and peer support, including online and telehealth, with services available to peripheral officers present at the scene who report impact or request assistance; requires biennial review and revisions.

Expands from 13 to 15 the number of members appointed by the Governor to the body. Requires that one appointee be nominated by the President of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists and one by the union representing the Boston Police Crime Laboratory Unit.

Overhauls jurisdiction over fire protection and life safety by consolidating standards for design, installation, and maintenance under the Fire Safety Code and the regulations of the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations, and defines "Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems" and "Fire Safety Code." Applies the Fire Safety Code to all buildings and structures-except the State House-including those owned, operated, or controlled by the state and its political subdivisions, and requires the State Fire Marshal to enforce the State Fire Code in state-owned or controlled buildings.

Conforms existing laws by replacing references to the state building code with the State Fire Code for sprinkler and related fire safety provisions, shifts appeals to the Fire Prevention Regulations Appeals Board, and adds a right of appeal to the Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Board from local fire department actions under the sprinkler statute. Takes effect January 1, 2017, and does not apply to buildings or structures issued a building permit before that date.

Requires all emergency response vehicles-including fire apparatus, police vehicles, ambulances, and disaster vehicles-to be equipped with an emergency thermal blanket.

Requires the Municipal Police Training Committee, by January 1, 2024, to establish an in-service training curriculum and response guidelines for law enforcement and correction officers on appropriate interactions with persons on the autism spectrum and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, without increasing currently required in-service hours.

Directs that the course and guidelines emphasize positive responses and de-escalation; sensory and language processing differences; and appropriate, rights-protective interviewing and interrogation, and include presentations from adults on the autism spectrum and, where appropriate, experts with law enforcement or corrections expertise.

Mandates at least two hours of instruction covering the nature and manifestations of these disabilities; locating and returning missing persons with minimal stress; officers' legal duties, arrest and restraint techniques; differentiating disability-related behaviors from belligerence; ensuring safety and wellbeing in correctional facilities; and best practices that address the broad range of disabilities and intersecting marginalized identities.

Restricts law enforcement tracking, collection, maintenance, and dissemination of "protected information" about political, religious, or social views and associations-permitting use only when directly tied to an investigation supported by reasonable suspicion-and requires prior written authorization for investigations and dissemination, source and content reliability assessments, detailed logging, five-year reviews with purging of unreliable, irrelevant, or untimely records, and establishes a private right of action with damages, fees, and potential employee discipline for violations.

Mandates robust oversight of criminal intelligence systems through annual internal audits with public reports on user access, database activity, data sources, disseminations, and investigation outcomes; biennial compliance reviews by the Office of the Inspector General with unrestricted access; and public availability of training manuals, and requires the Commonwealth Fusion Center to publish its privacy oversight committee members and hold quarterly public meetings.

Requires an independent audit of Suspicious Activity Reports at the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, the Commonwealth Fusion Center, and the New England State Police Information Network, and, if any report lacks indicia of reasonable suspicion under 28 CFR 23.20, directs the Department of State Police to suspend cooperation with the producing entity until all relevant records are reviewed and noncompliant records purged.

Redefines "personal data," adds definitions for "criminal intelligence information" and "criminal intelligence system," confirms that personal data in such systems is disclosable to the subject, the subject's attorney, or heirs where otherwise proper, and authorizes the Office of the Inspector General to impose monetary penalties up to $500 per violation.

This bill strikes out a provision in current law that permit citations for not wearing a seat belt to be issued only if the operator of the motor vehicle has been stopped for another offense. The bill also increases the fine for not wearing a seat belt while operating or riding as a passenger in a motor vehicle to $50.00. The bill specifies that these penalties will not result in increased motor vehicle insurance premiums, and violations related solely to safety belt infractions cannot be used as probable cause for vehicle searches or inspections. 

Establishes a voluntary do-not-sell firearms list administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services and amends firearm identification card and license-to-carry eligibility to disqualify anyone registered on the list; registrants are prohibited from purchasing, renting, leasing, borrowing, possessing, or carrying firearms, and the list is accessible only to licensing authorities and the Colonel of State Police.

Requires strict confidentiality: information may be disclosed only to a law enforcement officer acting in official duties or to the applicant, may not be considered by a court, used as a condition of employment, benefits, or services, or treated as a public record.

Allows individuals 18 or older to register and later apply to deregister with a 21-day cooling-off period; mandates notification of registration and deregistration to the Attorney General of the United States for inclusion in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; requires destruction of all related records after deregistration; and directs a public awareness campaign.

This bill establishes the Massachusetts Public Safety Building Authority (MPSBA) as an independent public entity responsible for overseeing a public facilities building program focused on the construction, renovation, and remodeling of police stations, fire stations, and other public safety facilities. The MPSBA is composed of seven members, including the State Treasurer as chairperson, the Secretaries of Administration and Finance, and Public Safety and Security, along with four additional members appointed by the Treasurer. The bill also establishes the Municipal Building Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund, which will receive a portion sales tax revenue equal to 0.5 percent of sales. 

Requires incorporation of American Sign Language (ASL) basic-understanding courses across public safety training, mandating inclusion in police recruit and in-service curricula, establishing training and ongoing education for all levels of fire service personnel, and requiring individuals providing, operating, or participating in ambulance services to successfully complete such courses.

Directs the Department to designate qualifying ASL courses as eligible for required continuing education credits for emergency medical services.

Establishes a separate, non-appropriated Law Enforcement Memorial Fund to make annual payments to the Law Enforcement Memorial to memorialize and honor law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty. Credits the fund with revenues from the sale of registration plates.

Establishes a statewide Blue Alert system to be activated when law enforcement is searching for an individual wanted in the serious injury or killing of a police officer, state trooper, or other law enforcement official.

Directs the Executive Office of Public Safety to coordinate implementation and ensure statewide development and deployment, and defines "Executive Office" and "Law enforcement agency" for administration of the system.

Establishes an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and creates an Ebony Alert system for missing Black youth, including young women and girls ages 12-25 or otherwise endangered by disability, abduction, trafficking, or other perilous circumstances; upon concurrence with a law enforcement request, activates alerts, notifies participating broadcasters, and shields alert-related records from public disclosure.

Empowers the Office to collect and analyze data on missing-person and homicide cases, Amber and Ebony Alerts, and reports of missing Black girls; assess intersections with labor and sex trafficking and domestic violence; track outcomes; conduct case reviews of cold cases and suspicious suicides or overdoses; review prosecutions and sentencing to identify repeat offenders; and develop recommendations, including proposed legislation to secure needed data access. Creates a community-centered Advisory Commission on Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls, housed within but independent of the Office, to examine systemic causes, coordinate data practices and Ebony Alert operations, review policies across institutions, and recommend measures to reduce violence and support victims; authorizes grants to community-based organizations for prevention, training, and victim services; grants the Director access to confidential corrections, detention, and medical data necessary to perform duties; and requires annual reporting on measurable outcomes and statewide statistics.

The bill establishes the Active Shooter/Hostile Events Response (ASHER) Program within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to enhance preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery strategies for active shooter or hostile situations. The bill directs EOPSS to adopt the national NFPA 3000 Standard, which will guide the management of such incidents. The bill mandates the development of standardized training requirements in cooperation with state, regional, and local agencies, including law enforcement, fire services, and emergency medical services. EOPSS will be the lead agency, tasked with planning, regulating, and overseeing the state’s emergency response strategies. Under the bill EOPSS will direct improvements and establish statewide standards for training programs, aiming to ensure consistency with national guidelines and enhance the state's readiness for active shooter or hostile events.

The bill concerns investments related to fossil fuels held by Massachusetts state pension funds. The legislation mandates that the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM) must not approve or support investments in fossil fuels or other climate-risk areas. PRIM is directed to compile and update a list of such investments targeted for divestment. The bill specifies deadlines for selling or disposing of direct holdings in these investments and allows for cooperation with managers of actively managed funds to develop alternatives free from climate risks.The bill also establishes a Climate Risk Investment Review Committee within the Treasurer's Office to supervise and evaluate investments linked to climate risks, advising on divestment strategies. The committee's role includes formulating plans to eliminate conflicting investments by January 1, 2026, and delivering annual progress reports to state authorities. Additionally, it encourages state and local agencies to assess and divest from climate risk investments, in line with sound investment practices and fiduciary duties. 

Requires state universities to achieve direct payroll savings beginning in fiscal 2027 by offering one-time separation incentives or implementing a State Universities Retirement Incentive Program administered by the State Board of Retirement.

Establishes eligibility for Group 1 state university employees in service as of the effective date with at least 25 years of creditable service and already eligible for superannuation, contingent on trustee approval by January 1, 2026, and excludes employees funded by capital appropriations or federal grants, elected officials, and non-contributing or not-reinstated members.

Authorizes participants to purchase up to six combined years of age and service credit, capped so the retirement allowance does not exceed 80 percent of average regular compensation, with costs shared by the university (2.5 percent of the highest three-year average salary per credit) and the employee (4.5 percent plus 1 percent of salary above $30,000 per credit); requires applications by April 1, 2024 for retirements on June 30, 2026 or, with approval, by December 31, 2026; treats multi-group service as Group 1 for benefit calculation; provides retirement counseling; preserves payment of accrued leave subject to union waivers of inconsistent terms; permits part-time post-retirement work and reinstatement while requiring repayment of cash incentives or forfeiture of added credits upon subsequent full-time state employment; bars stacking incentives or using them to qualify for other benefits; and mandates certifications, participation reporting, and an actuarial analysis through 2030.

Exempts service as Executive Director of the Municipal Police Training Committee from post-retirement public employment compensation limits, allowing a retiree to be paid for that role.

Creates an explicit exception to the general prohibition on compensation for post-retirement public service for this position.

Dissolves, upon the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's dissolution, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Employees' Retirement System; transfers all members to the Massachusetts State Employees' Retirement System; moves assets to the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board; transfers records and benefit administration to the State Board of Retirement; abolishes the Authority's retirement board; and makes all pensions, annuities, retirement allowances, refunds, and other benefits obligations of the state.

Requires employees of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation hired after the effective date to join the Massachusetts State Employees' Retirement System, which bears liability for service in that employment, with liabilities from other service recoverable by the state. Sets the Turnpike provisions effective July 1, 2009 (implemented upon dissolution) and the Department of Transportation provision effective January 1, 2010.

Establishes an alternative retirement program for Public Safety Officers-including probation, trial court, police, corrections, firefighters, and environmental police-setting mandatory retirement at age 65 and a 20-year service retirement. Provides that current officers with at least 20 years may retire before 65, and that those hired after the effective date who reach 20 years before 65 are retired under this program. Sets benefits at 60% of the highest three-year average salary, increasing by 0.25% per month of service beyond 20 years up to a 75% cap, with an additional veteran stipend up to $300.

Requires eligible employees to contribute 12% of regular compensation, allows eligible members on the effective date to irrevocably elect within 270 days to participate while waiving other retirement benefits, and requires at least three years of contributions at that rate or a make-up payment at retirement. Exempts participating officers from additional specified contributions and retains existing tiered withholding rates for other employees, including a 12% rate for State Police. Requires the Actuary to collect member data and deliver five-year analyses of contributions, normal cost, and liabilities attributable to this benefit, and sunsets the act after five years.

Establishes the YMCA's Youth & Government Fund, administered by the State Treasurer to finance the YMCA's Youth & Government program, capitalized by a voluntary income-tax check-off and by public and private gifts, grants, and donations. Authorizes the State Treasurer to invest deposits for the highest available interest consistent with safety and immediate liquidity, expend monies without further appropriation, and carry forward unexpended balances.

Creates an income-tax return check-off allowing taxpayers to designate refunds or add to amounts due for the fund, with the Commissioner of Revenue prescribing the contribution method, ensuring taxpayer awareness, and reporting annual totals to the State Treasurer.

Creates the Fund for Vulnerable Countries Most Affected by Climate Change (MFVC) as a tax return-enabled contribution option, allowing taxpayers to direct refunds or add amounts, and accepting other gifts or grants, to be invested by the State Treasurer and transferred to the United Nations Least Developed Countries Fund or a qualifying 501(c)(3) that financially supports its mission. Defines "tax return-enabled contribution option" and requires the personal income tax form to clearly present the MFVC option.

Requires express legislative authorization for any such option; limits the tax form to three to nine options and removes underperforming options for at least five years-established options that in any of the five most recent years fail to reach 80 percent of the average contributions across all options, and newer options that do not meet that threshold in at least one of their first five years-while permitting the Commissioner limited discretion to maintain the minimum using new options and the highest-contributing previously authorized options. Mandates transparency and oversight by identifying on the form the entities authorized to hold or disburse funds, requiring annual administrator reports listing recipients of $2,000 or more and selection criteria, directing periodic audits by the State Auditor with authority to recommend removal of options or barring of administrators, and authorizing the Attorney General to seek injunctions and, with the Commissioner, recover misused funds.

Creates a Downtown Vitality Fund capitalized with 0.75% of "sales tax-regular" receipts (excluding meals, motor vehicles, cigarettes, fuels, alcohol, lodging, car rentals, and other special categories), administered by the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative within the Executive Office of Economic Development and disbursed without further appropriation at the request of the Secretary of Economic Development for grants to establish and sustain district management entities, provide technical assistance, issue multi-year Transformative Development Initiative grants via MassDevelopment, and support municipalities or endorsed third parties to implement local commercial area plans.

Prioritizes small business districts in Gateway Cities and other economically disadvantaged areas, entrepreneurship among underrepresented communities, and cultural identity preservation with anti-displacement goals, and requires locally matched contributions calibrated to market strength.

Requires annual reporting on grants awarded and establishes a Downtown Vitality Advisory Board of at least 15 members appointed by the Secretary to advise on guidelines and grant selections, including representatives of MassDevelopment, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, business improvement and cultural districts, municipal officials, and small business representatives serving underrepresented communities.

This bill establishes a "Housing First and Housing for All Fund" to support reducing homelessness and increasing access to affordable housing. The fund will be financed by a new annual gross receipts tax, set at 0.25% of the gross receipts of businesses operating within Massachusetts. The first $50 million of gross receipts are exempt from this tax. The fund will support rental subsidies, support services for the homeless, financial help for low-income households, and assistance for first-time homebuyers. Additionally, the fund will be used to invest in community land trusts, social and affordable housing projects, and initiatives designed to help transition homeless individuals into permanent housing with supportive services. 

Creates an Artist Workspace Tax Credit for new construction or renovation of buildings in designated cultural districts that provide artists with workspace, available for projects placed in service on or after January 1, 2016 and authorized under both the personal income tax and corporate excise. Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Commissioner of Revenue, to issue eligibility statements and allocate credits based on a project's economic feasibility within an annual statewide cap of $20,000,000 combined across both taxes, plus unused and returned credits, and allows allocation to taxpayers hired as contractors or subcontractors on qualified projects.

Provides that credits are claimed in equal installments over five years, are nonrefundable with a five-year carryforward, are subject to recapture, and are limited to no more than seven taxable years of eligibility per project; authorizes regulations, documentation, and compliance oversight. Permits an election to convert the credit into a loan by transferring it to the Department or its designee, with such loan not treated as taxable income.

Establishes the Massachusetts Against Discrimination Fund to support the Commission Against Discrimination's investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of discrimination claims and its prevention and remediation training, including related administrative and personnel costs. Authorizes the Commission to spend from the fund without further appropriation, carry forward year-end balances, and be exempt from indirect cost assessments, and directs the State Treasurer to invest deposits for safety and immediate liquidity.

Creates an income-tax return checkoff allowing taxpayers to contribute a refund or add an amount to be credited to the fund, requires the Commissioner to prescribe the contribution method and clearly inform taxpayers, and permits public and private gifts, grants, and donations, with annual reporting of designated totals.

Establishes a disaster-response safe harbor under which out-of-state businesses and employees performing disaster- or emergency-related work on critical infrastructure during a defined period-beginning 10 days before a declaration and ending 60 days after it-do not create nexus or filing obligations, are exempt from state and local licensing, registration, unemployment insurance, and income- or receipts-based taxes, and have their activities disregarded for combined reporting and apportionment; transaction taxes on items consumed, including fuel, sales/use on materials or services, and hotel and car rental, remain due. Requires specified information to be provided upon request and restores normal obligations if they remain after the period; excludes prepaid wireless service.

Exempts sales of rolling stock used by a licensed telecommunications provider to transport goods in interstate commerce or to perform work on critical telecommunications infrastructure in response to a governmental request or to support service during a weather-related emergency, subject to substantiation as determined by the Commissioner, and exempts the storage, use, or other consumption of such rolling stock from the use tax. Effective July 1, 2025, exempts sales of machinery, equipment, and replacement parts used to provide broadband communications services, and adds definitions for "critical telecommunications infrastructure," "qualified truck," and "rolling stock."

The bill supports family caregivers, including a voucher program allowing claims of up to $1,500 for respite service expenses, subject to income qualifications. Additionally, a refundable tax credit of up to $1,500 is available for costs incurred in home modifications, equipment purchases, and caregiving services, also contingent upon income eligibility The bill also allows spouses to be compensated as caregivers under MassHealth, contingent federal approval. 

The bill also extends anti-discrimination protections to include individuals based on their status as family caregivers, ensuring they are not subject to discrimination in various contexts, and creates an advisory council on family caregiving, which will provide guidance to the state’s executive office and legislature on caregiving policies. 

Establishes a Special Commission on Abandoned State Properties to determine the feasibility of repurposing abandoned state properties as drug addiction treatment facilities, and authorizes it to hold public hearings, forums, and meetings to gather information.

Requires an annual report by June 30 with recommendations and draft legislation, and permits interim reports.

Designates October as Adopt a Shelter Dog Month and requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation to increase public awareness and encourage adoption of shelter and rescue dogs, recommending appropriate observance by the people.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day.

Recommends public and school observances to acknowledge the history of genocide and discrimination against Indigenous peoples, honor their histories and contributions, and recognize and celebrate the thriving cultures and continued resistance and resilience of Indigenous peoples and their tribal nations.

Requires service contracts funded by legislative appropriations to employ up to 2% individuals with disabilities on the contract within one year of award, restricts awards to bidders with at least 75 full-time equivalents, and mandates steps to minimize displacement of current workers.

Directs the Supplier Diversity Office, in consultation with the Office on Disability, the Commission for the Blind, and the Rehabilitation Commission, to implement and regulate these requirements and to arrange employment support services through nonprofit employment providers. Applies to custodial, landscaping, mailroom, food service, fleet management, manufacturing, waste disposal, document destruction and scanning, and facility management such as HVAC, painting, emergency repairs, and snow removal, and defines "individual with a disability" by specified functional-limitation criteria with an enumerated list of qualifying conditions.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim July 2 as Machado-Joseph Disease Awareness Day, recognizing the thousands affected and promoting increased public recognition, support, and awareness of this hereditary neurodegenerative disorder, which disproportionately affects families of Portuguese-Azorean descent.

Overhauls public records governance by establishing a Public Records Division in the Office of the Secretary, overseen by a five-member Commission of Public Records that appoints a Supervisor of Records, and by creating a Division of Public Record Appeals within the Division of Administrative Law Appeals, led by the Chief Administrative Magistrate to conduct adjudicatory proceedings, compel evidence, enforce final orders in court, and issue decisions subject to judicial review.

Requires records custodians to comply within 10 days, accept requests by hand delivery, first-class mail, or a designated secure electronic system, and provide electronic copies of electronically maintained records upon request; authorizes the Supervisor of Records to order compliance, refer noncompliance to the Attorney General or a District Attorney, and seek enforcement if referrals fail, and entitles requesters to reasonable attorney's fees and costs when records are unlawfully withheld.

Authorizes the Supervisor of Records to adopt regulations and take necessary measures to ensure lawful custody, condition, and preservation of governmental records and certain records of religious organizations. Sets penalties for unlawful possession, removal, alteration, defacement, mutilation, or destruction of public records and imposes monthly fines on public officers who neglect required duties, and removes a restriction on publishing the substance of city council debates at city expense.

This bill establishes a Children's Cabinet within the Governor's office, with the goal to enhance interdepartmental collaboration for services that improve the welfare of children and youth. The cabinet is co-chaired by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Education and comprises representatives from other state departments. The cabinet is to establish a strategic plan to improve outcomes related to child poverty, education, mental health, homelessness, foster care, and juvenile justice. Additionally, the bill mandates the formation of an advisory committee to identify service gaps and ensure regional equity.

Establishes an Office of Restorative Justice within the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, led by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Administration and Finance, as the primary administrative and funding entity for publicly sponsored restorative justice initiatives, charged with building cross-disciplinary capacity and promoting implementation of restorative justice laws. Authorizes the office, in collaboration with communities and government agencies, to design, develop, launch, or fund programs; set standards and guidelines; provide education and technical assistance; serve as a centralized repository; adopt policies for grantmaking, data collection, and evaluation; charge fees to public agencies for services; accept grants, gifts, and contributions into a dedicated account expendable at the Director's direction; and enter agreements and contracts with public and private entities.

Requires the Director to convene a statewide advisory committee of up to 18 members with equal government and non-government representation-including representatives of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches and community representatives such as indigenous communities, survivors, formerly and currently incarcerated people, and restorative justice practitioners-whose members are diverse and reimbursed for expenses, and mandates an annual report on activities, income, and expenditures.

Designates June 7 as Tourette Syndrome Awareness Day and requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation recommending appropriate observance.

Designates the fourth Thursday in March as Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day and requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation recognizing the service and sacrifice during World War II of Black pilots, bombardiers, navigators, flight surgeons, nurses, mechanics, instructors, crewmembers, and support personnel, and recommending appropriate public observance.

Prohibits municipalities, the Commissioner, and the Authority from installing or constructing "hostile architecture" in publicly accessible spaces, including municipal buildings and property, state capital facilities and real property under the Commissioner's control, and mass transportation facilities under the Authority's control.

Defines "hostile architecture" as a building or structure designed or intended to prevent unhoused individuals from sitting or lying on it at street level, excluding features intended to deter skateboarding or rollerblading or to block vehicle entry, and imposes a fine of up to $500 per day on whoever installs or constructs hostile architecture on publicly accessible real property.

Requires the Secretary to direct all agencies administering grant programs to give preference to rural communities-defined as municipalities with fewer than 7,000 residents or under 500 persons per square mile-and to applicants serving them, with particular priority for projects that regionalize or share services.

Directs agencies to identify and inform rural communities of discretionary grant opportunities and related incentives consistent with these preferences, and requires an annual implementation report to the Legislature by July 1.

Requires the Treasurer, in coordination with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, to annually by March 15 produce a pie- or bar-chart summary showing residents' total federal income tax paid and the share of the prior year's congressional discretionary budget devoted to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, biomedical research, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and defense spending (including nuclear weapons), using Congressional Budget Office data and noting that Medicare and Social Security are financed through trust funds rather than income taxes.

Mandates a companion report on the prior fiscal year's state budget stating the percentages allocated to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, criminal justice, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and conservation and recreation, and identifying the federal funds returned to the state in those categories, also presented as pie or bar charts; authorizes use of nonpartisan third-party data sources and agreements with such organizations to produce the report.

Requires the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to maintain free disposable menstrual products in public and private restrooms across all real property owned, rented, or otherwise occupied by public agencies, available at no charge to menstruating individuals, including employees and members of the public. Requires each Public Institution of Higher Education to provide these products at no cost in restrooms of its buildings. Both provisions mandate convenient, non-stigmatizing access.

Establishes a municipal lobbying framework for cities with more than 150,000 residents by defining "covered municipal official," "municipal lobbying," and "municipal agent," and creating a presumption that activity is incidental if it totals no more than 25 hours and $2,500 per reporting period.

Requires municipal agents to register, pay a $50 annual filing fee, and file semiannual sworn disclosures of campaign contributions; itemized expenditures with a $35-per-day threshold; clients; governmental actions lobbied; positions taken; compensation; and direct business associations with public officials, and prohibits contingency-fee agreements for municipal lobbying.

Requires employers of municipal agents and groups that do not employ an agent but spend more than $250 to influence municipal governmental action or procurement to file semiannual statements, while exempting qualifying groups that meet specified conditions and spend $2,000 or less; integrates municipal agents into the broader lobbying registration, reporting, and disclosure regime alongside legislative and executive agents.

Amends the definition of "Privatization contract" to exclude agreements solely for legal or management consulting services.

Establishes Diwali Day as an official state holiday observed on the fifteenth day of the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik.

Requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation setting the day aside and recommending its observance in recognition of the Diwali "Festival of Lights."

Strikes lines 6 through 15 from an existing provision, deleting that language without replacement.

This bill creates an Executive Office of Food Resources and Security. Headed by a governor-appointed secretary, this office will include departments of Food Production, Food Labor and Workforce Development, Food Innovation, Investment and Financial Planning, Food Security, and Nutrition and Food Health. Each department will be directed by a governor-approved commissioner with expertise in their respective field.

The Office's primary objectives are to foster sustainable food production, stimulate job creation, and enhance economic development. It also seeks to elevate nutrition standards and public health via targeted education and public relations programs. The Food Production Department will support agriculture and fishing communities, while the Food Labor and Workforce Development Department will provide incentives for food producers and address workforce needs. The Department of Food Innovation will promote the advancement of scientific research and techniques pertinent to the food sector. Also, the Investment and Financial Planning Department will determine eligibility for loans and devise strategies to reduce production costs and attract investments. The Food Security Department will work on improving food management systems and securing the state's food supplies, and the Economic Development Department will enhance marketing efforts to increase demand for locally grown foods. Finally, the Nutrition and Food Health Department will lead educational campaigns aimed at fostering healthier consumer eating habits.

Opens to public inspection and copying, after 75 years from creation, records in the custody of the State Secretary that were accessioned from state institutions for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities or mental health conditions.

Requires the Department, within one year, to adopt rules achieving at least a 30% reduction in embodied carbon for eligible projects and to direct Awarding Authorities to specify that responsible bidders comply via one of three pathways: a cradle-to-grave whole-building life-cycle assessment showing at least 30% lower global warming potential than a baseline from the LCA Commons or a Department database; building reuse retaining a minimum 45% of primary structure and enclosure; or procurement demonstrating, via Type III Environmental Product Declarations, that 90% of covered products average 30% below industry GWP benchmarks.

Defines eligible projects as new construction over 50,000 gross square feet or renovations exceeding 50% of assessed value and 20,000 gross square feet, and identifies covered products as structural concrete, reinforcing steel, structural steel, and engineered wood/mass timber; requires documentation signed by the Design Professional of Record, allows inspection, and mandates transfer of anonymized project data and GWP to the LCA Commons or a Department database. Establishes, within one year, a representative whole-building life-cycle assessment database (or reliance on the LCA Commons) to supply baselines, and directs biennial reviews starting two years after rule finalization to increase reduction targets and potentially add compliance pathways toward net zero emissions by 2050.

Establishes a three-year term for SDO certification and requires recertification by the SDO.

Mandates businesses to report to the SDO within 30 days any status change that would render the business non-compliant.

Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to convey to the Town of Bolton two state-owned parcels-portions of the former Lancaster Industrial School for Girls campus and the Bolton Dam-for general municipal purposes, subject to a reversionary clause, and requires payment of fair market value reflecting the use restriction based on an independent appraisal reviewed and approved by the Inspector General.

Requires completion of the purchase by December 31, 2025, or a later agreed date, after which the Commissioner may instead sell, lease for up to 99 years, or otherwise dispose of the property through competitive bidding. Disclaims liability for property conditions, authorizes necessary easements, assigns all transaction costs to buyers or lessees, and directs sale proceeds to the General Fund.

This bill concerns the participation of minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs) in public construction projects of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, UMass and Massachusetts State College Building Authorities, and MassPort. Under the bill, for construction projects estimated to cost $5 million or more, these authorities can establish participation goals for MBEs and WBEs, with a cap at 10 percent of the bid’s overall value. To help achieve these participation goals, the bill permits bidders to subcontract parts of their work, even those portions they are ordinarily required by law to execute themselves. Additionally, the bill allows sub-bidders and trade contractors to subcontract work to meet the specified MBE/WBE goals. 

Creates an Executive Office of Structural Racism, led by a Secretary appointed by the Governor, with authority to establish bureaus, hire staff, adopt regulations, and coordinate racial equity strategies across state agencies and the Office of the Governor.

Requires the office to identify and investigate laws, regulations, ordinances, policies, standards, and licensing that perpetuate structural inequality in economics, employment, housing, health, and education; review proposed measures before implementation and monitor trends in facially neutral policies; use current studies to recommend corrective actions; publish annual findings on the disproportionate impact of incarceration on low-income residents of color; identify behavioral health conditions linked to structural disadvantages and develop awareness strategies; and study how structural racism has exacerbated disproportionate minority contact with the criminal law system. Grants the office access to any state agency record and independence from agency approval for data collection, analysis, and publication of findings.

Transfers the Department of Correction, including the Parole Board, from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, places the Parole Board within the Department of Correction, and updates related provisions accordingly.

Reconstitutes the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to enumerate its component offices and agencies, including the Office of Health Services, the Offices of Children, Youth and Family Services and of Disabilities and Community Services, the Managed Care Oversight Board, the Health Facilities Appeals Board, and the Office of Health Equity. Redefines the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to comprise the Department of State Police, the State 911 Department, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Department of Fire Services, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the Military Department, the Municipal Police Training Committee, the Sex Offender Registry Board, the Office of Grants and Research and the Highway Safety Division, and the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services.

Requires the Commissioner to control and supervise any State Agency or Building Authority project involving structural or mechanical work that exceeds $1,000,000, while Agencies and Authorities control projects under $1,000,000 or any project that does not involve structural or mechanical work.

Authorizes the Commissioner, upon request, to delegate control of structural or mechanical projects estimated at less than $10,000,000 to Agencies or Authorities the Commissioner deems capable; structural or mechanical projects at $10,000,000 or more remain under the Commissioner's control.

Prohibits any additional surcharge based on a payer's approved method of payment-check, credit card, electronic, or other approved instruments-including for annual report filings.

Sets the annual report filing fee at $450, or such other amount as the Secretary designates.

The bill requires that all new medium- and heavy-duty trucks purchased or leased by the Commonwealth after July 1, 2025 be zero emissions battery electric trucks. It further mandates that by June 30, 2035, the entire fleet of such trucks owned or leased by the Commonwealth must transition to zero emissions vehicles. In cases where battery electric trucks are unavailable or inadequate due to existing charging infrastructure limitations, alternatives may be procured at the discretion of the secretary. The bill also includes a reporting requirement, obligating the secretary to submit an annual report by July 1 to the Senate and House clerks and the transportation committee chairs. This report must include updates on progress, a complete list of trucks by agency, their propulsion type, and justifications for any non-zero emission vehicle selections.

Additionally, the bill prohibits the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection from implementing or enforcing the Advanced Clean Trucks and the Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations before July 1, 2027. These regulations, part of California initiatives, enforce manufacturer targets for zero emissions vehicle sales and set nitrogen oxide emission standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim the last week in April as Building Trades Recovery Week for the Buildings Trades Employers Association to promote awareness of the dangers of opioids and substance misuse among construction workers and to facilitate discussions and events to combat the opioid epidemic and promote mental health in the building construction industry.

The bill requires that any building project overseen by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance engaging in a public-private partnership comply with local zoning ordinances. These projects may not receive approval if their execution would result in the issuance of a bond.

Establishes April 5 as Okur-Chung Neurodevelopmental Syndrome (OCNDS) Awareness Day and requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation recommending appropriate observance.

Defines OCNDS as a rare genetic disorder caused by heterozygous mutations in the CSNK2A1 gene on chromosome 20, associated with developmental delay or differences in brain function and manageable with early therapy.

Requires state agencies and authorities, to the extent permitted by federal law, to purchase products and services from in-state businesses when available unless the same products or services are available for at least 10 percent less from out-of-state suppliers; if not available in-state, requires procurement from U.S. businesses unless the same products or services are available for at least 10 percent less outside the United States, and allows foreign purchases only when the goods or services are unavailable domestically.

Directs the Operational Services Division to endeavor to ensure that at least 15 percent of statewide procurement contracts each fiscal year are awarded to independently owned and operated small businesses with a principal place of business in-state that have operated for at least one year, as defined by federal law or the Division's small business purchasing program.

Overhauls blasting and fireworks oversight by requiring a Marshal-issued certificate of competency for blasting and separate user's certificates for blasting and fireworks; mandates continuous general liability insurance with minimum limits (blasting: at least $1 million per person, $5 million per occurrence and aggregate for bodily injury, and $1 million per occurrence, $5 million aggregate for property damage; fireworks: at least $1 million per person, $2 million per occurrence and aggregate for bodily injury, and $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate for property damage), a minimum one-year policy term, 30-day notice to the Marshal, and additional-insured status for the host city or town for blasting; and defines "loss" for fireworks coverage to include reasonable municipal firefighting expenses. Establishes application, examination, and renewal rules for blasting certificates, valid statewide for up to 24 months and renewable without examination except when a certificate has been in effect more than seven years from original issue.

Restructures financial assurance by replacing Treasurer-filed bonds with bonds or acceptable bond documentation examined and approved by the Commissioner of Banks, made accessible to the State Treasurer, and recorded by the Treasurer in a public record; repeals cash or securities deposit authority and related certificate references while preserving existing deposits for five years and, absent actual notice of a pending claim, allowing refunds thereafter with mailed notice to depositors within six months of the act's effective date. Authorizes the Department of the State Treasurer to charge state agencies, departments, and authorities for the reasonable costs of services it provides.

Expands privatization oversight to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Massachusetts Port Authority, Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, school districts, and education collaboratives, and updates "privatization contract" to cover agreements of $500,000 or more-annually indexed to the consumer price index-including renewals and rebids, while excluding solely legal, planning, engineering or design services and certain information technology contracts agreed to in writing by the affected employees' exclusive representative.

Requires contract cost assessments to include any bidder-proposed increases in prices charged to residents and prohibits compensation based on a percentage of revenues or fees, including tuition sharing. Strengthens enforcement by making a State Auditor objection final and binding unless withdrawn after a revised certificate by the agency and the Commissioner of Administration, authorizes the Attorney General to seek equitable relief and protect employees reporting violations, and mandates a financial and performance audit by the State Auditor before any renewal.

Overhauls the Open Meeting Law complaint process by standardizing filing requirements and deadlines, requiring complaints to be filed within 20 business days, defining when electronic and postal submissions are deemed received, and mandating a public body to meet and respond within 14 business days.

Authorizes the Attorney General to grant relief from response obligations when a complainant files more than twelve complaints with the same public body in a year or when a complaint is unduly burdensome, and to extend time for remedial action upon good cause; bars use of remedial actions identified in a public body's response as evidence in subsequent proceedings, and recharacterizes follow-on filings as a "petition for review of an open meeting law complaint."

Deletes from the Public Records Law the clause, "and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity."

This bill adds protections for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), as well as those who are deaf or hard of hearing to state law. The bill establishes an Office of Access and Opportunity within the governor's office, led by a deputy chief responsible for advising on non-discrimination and equal opportunity initiatives. This office will coordinate with a steering committee comprising various state agencies to enhance access.

The bill directs all public-facing state agencies to create and execute comprehensive language access plans biennially, grounded in community and agency assessments. Agencies are required to provide oral interpretation, auxiliary aids, and translation of vital documents, while also ensuring their websites are accessible in multiple languages. Each agency must appoint language access coordinators to respond to language-related requests and complaints. Additionally, a language access advisory board will be formed to assist public agencies in catering to LEP and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The bill sets forth reporting obligations for state agencies concerning assessments, language services inventories, and language access plan compliance. These reports must be publicly accessible in multiple languages, with provisions in place to safeguard privacy.

The bill outlines specific timelines for state agencies to implement these requirements, with an overarching goal of full compliance within five years post-enactment.

Requires State Agencies to disclose a constituent's personal information to a State Legislator or an authorized staff person acting on the constituent's behalf, limited to what is necessary to provide assistance.

Prohibits State Agencies from requiring a release authorization for such disclosures unless mandated by federal law.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim September 22 as Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day.

Expands the commission's membership from 11 to 12 and adds a seat to be filled from a list of two nominees, one submitted by each of the two federally recognized tribes.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim September as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Awareness Month to increase public awareness of the most common endocrine disorder in women, promoting better education and earlier diagnosis, intervention, and care, and encourages appropriate public observance.

Establishes Election Worker Appreciation Day on the Wednesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year and requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation recommending appropriate public observance.

Creates an Executive Office of the Military Division, encompassing the Military Division and placing it under the supervision of the Adjutant General, who is granted the powers and duties of a Secretary.

Provides for the orderly transfer of employees, proceedings, rules and regulations, property, contracts, and obligations between the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Executive Office of the Military Division, preserving compensation, seniority, civil service status, benefits, union representation, and collective bargaining units and agreements, and keeping existing orders and proceedings in force until changed. Conforms terminology by striking references to the "military department."

Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, in consultation with Massachusetts Bay Community College, to convey to Kimberlee A. Dow a roughly 3,500-square-foot parcel in Wellesley under the college's care, with boundaries set by the Commissioner, without warranties and subject to terms and conditions. Requires independent appraisals of fair market value and of value in the proposed use with Inspector General review and approval; sets consideration at the greater of those values and assigns all transaction costs to the grantee.

Establishes the Massachusetts Bay Community College Oakland Circle Scholarship Trust, administered by the President of Massachusetts Bay Community College, to receive sale proceeds, other contributions, and interest, and authorizes expenditures without further appropriation for student scholarships with balances carrying forward.

Designates John F. Kennedy Day as a legal holiday and schedules its November observance for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in even-numbered years.

Creates a Commission on the Celebration of John F. Kennedy Day to recommend civic-engagement and voter-participation activities, including K-12 curriculum, special events, marketing, voter registration drives, and voter access. Requires the Commission to be chaired by a State Secretary appointee and include appointees of the Governor, Legislative leaders, the State Secretary, and leaders of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum Foundation, and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, and to meet at least semiannually.

This bill requires that all newly acquired medium- and heavy-duty trucks purchased by the Commonwealth after July 1, 2025 must be zero-emission battery electric vehicles so that by June 30, 2035, the entire fleet of these vehicles must be zero-emission. The bill also delays the enforcement of Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations, which are modeled after California's regulations, until July 1, 2027.

Authorizes the University of Massachusetts Building Authority to acquire, by purchase at fair market value or by eminent domain, the property at 800 Washington Street in Norwood and to issue bonds to finance the purchase or construction of UMass Memorial Health-Norwood Hospital; designates Norwood as a University campus and defines the Medical School as having campuses in Worcester and Norwood.

Empowers the Trustees to transfer the clinical division's operations, assets, and liabilities to one or more nonprofit corporations, lease University facilities for up to 99 years, and merge or consolidate with Memorial Health Care, Inc., subject to permanent nonprofit status for any transferee of the Teaching Hospital, 10-year limits on mergers reconstituting the board without legislative approval, continued operation of an acute care hospital in Norwood while a merging entity operates any acute care hospital in Norfolk County, and a ban on equity ownership in for-profit affiliates by officers, trustees, and employees.

Establishes governance and affiliation terms, including equal University and Memorial Health Care representation on the parent board for four years followed by continuing representation by the Chancellor; annual payments to the Trustees to support the Medical School and assumption of University debt on transferred or occupied facilities; continued academic integration with the Medical School as the primary teaching site and research manager; and indemnification of the University for clinical-division liabilities, with environmental indemnification by the Medical School for pre-existing conditions.

Deems determinations of need, ownership changes, licensure, and related approvals granted and directs issuance of required licenses; supersedes federal and state competition laws for these transactions; protects collective bargaining rights and continuity for registered nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, including recognition, same position and location, comparable benefits with arbitration, and a ban on layoffs to replace University-provided nurses; exempts related University-corporation contracts and construction from competitive bidding laws, subject to prevailing wage; requires an agreement to continue uncompensated care; and authorizes the Medical School to deliver hospital services directly or through subprovider arrangements, including for Medicaid and other low-income or uninsured patients.

Subject to federal law, requires state and municipal public building and public works contracts to include a Buy American clause mandating that iron, steel, fabricated steel, and manufactured goods used or supplied be manufactured in the United States, applying broadly to public agencies and, for governmental bodies under the procurement law, to construction projects exceeding $500,000. Authorizes waivers when compliance would be inconsistent with the public interest, when qualifying materials are unavailable in sufficient quantity or satisfactory quality, or when using domestic materials would raise overall project costs by more than 25 percent; for procurement-law projects, the requirement may also not apply if fewer than three U.S. steel manufacturers or fabricators submit responsive bids.

Requires at least 30 days of public notice and comment before a waiver decision and publication of a detailed justification before any waiver takes effect. Makes any person found by a court or agency to have intentionally misrepresented foreign goods as "Made in America" ineligible for future public contracts or subcontracts, enforceable by the Attorney General.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim September 20 as LGBTQ+ Veterans Day, honoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer veterans who have honorably served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and recommending appropriate public observance.

Transfers fee-simple ownership of the 430-acre Lampson Brook Farm at no cost, conveying the Commercial Agriculture, Community Farm, Forest, and Enterprise Zone parcels to the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation and the Jepson Farmstead parcel to the New England Small Farm Institute, subject to a historic preservation restriction permitting office, educational, archival, and residential uses.

Requires the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation to honor existing leases and subleases on the Community Farm parcel until they expire, to offer future leases of no less than five years, and to continue leasing the Commercial Agriculture parcel to current leaseholders as long as they wish to remain; authorizes the use of state funds to restore the Enterprise Zone parcel to support conversion of former dairy facilities into Nipmuc farm worker housing.

Retains the former Belchertown State School landfill site under the care and control of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, allows its disposition with mitigation of impacts on adjacent property, and repeals two prior acts.

Establishes Domestic Workers' Rights Day on June 16. Requires the Governor to issue an annual proclamation setting the day apart and recommending public observance honoring domestic workers who work in private homes and recognizing the historic enactment of basic labor standards in the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights.

Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, in consultation with the Court Administrator of the Trial Court, to convey to the City of Framingham, for nominal consideration, two state-owned parcels at 600 and 602 Concord Street-acquired for the First District Court of Southern Middlesex-after completion of a regional justice center at 121 Union Avenue and upon their designation as surplus.

Requires the conveyance to be by deed without warranties or use restrictions, allows the Commissioner to impose additional terms and finalize parcel boundaries, and assigns the City all transaction costs, including engineering, surveys, appraisals, title work, recording fees, and deed preparation.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim August 9 as Indigenous Peoples Day and recommend its observance with appropriate exercises in schools and other settings.

This bill imposes a five-year moratorium on the development and expansion of correctional facilities and detention centers within Massachusetts. During that time, the bill restricts state and public agencies from studying, planning, designing, acquiring, leasing, or constructing new correctional facilities or detention centers. Additionally, agencies are prohibited from expanding the capacity of existing facilities, converting dormant facilities for detention purposes, and undertaking renovations that might increase bed capacity, except when such improvements are intended to comply with laws and improve living conditions for those incarcerated. This includes routine maintenance and improvements such as installing plumbing fixtures or improving heating and cooling systems, improving food or health services, or improving spaces for programming and education.

Establishes an Office of Economic Empowerment within the Office of the State Treasurer to provide equitable access to opportunities and resources through equity-centered programs, policies, and partnerships that promote economic mobility and financial independence for residents.

Places the office under an Executive Director, subject to the direction and supervision of the State Treasurer, who serves as the executive and administrative head with authority to administer and enforce applicable laws and regulations and, subject to appropriation, to appoint and remove staff and set their duties and salaries within available funds.

Requires the Governor to annually proclaim January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, in recognition of his birthday, to educate the public and honor his life and advocacy for civil liberties, and encourages civic participation and appropriate observance.

This bill establishes the Massachusetts Baby Bonds Trust Fund, designed to support children born on or after July 1, 2026, who receive Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children or are under the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families' care during their first year. Funds will support their pursuit of education, homeownership, and entrepreneurship. Beneficiaries can access these funds between the ages of 18 and 35 for eligible activities such as education, starting a business, or buying a home within Massachusetts. Receiving these funds do not impact other state benefit eligibility and are not treated as taxable income. A Massachusetts Baby Bonds Trust Fund Advisory Board will aid the Treasurer in policy formation, fraud prevention, and creating partnerships, and a Community Advisory Committee will manage outreach efforts.

Establishes an official Diwali Day as a state holiday on the fifteenth day of the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik. Requires the Governor to annually issue a proclamation setting aside the day and recommending its observance as a period of special attention recognizing the Diwali "Festival of Lights," a five-day celebration whose third day is a day of thanksgiving and reflection celebrated worldwide and by millions of Americans.

Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, in consultation with the Commissioner of Correction, to release by deed portions of a 1930 Department of Correction sewer easement encumbering specified parcels in Norfolk, with exact boundaries established by survey.

Requires each release to be on terms and conditions prescribed by the Commissioner and for consideration equal to full and fair market value, determined by an independent professional appraisal and reviewed by the Inspector General.

Assigns all costs for surveys, appraisals, recording fees, and related expenses to the benefiting owners.

Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, in consultation with the Adjutant General, to convey permanent and temporary easements over state armory property on Armory Road in Bourne for installation, use, maintenance, repair, and replacement of a subsurface waterline, with exact boundaries set by survey and subject to additional reasonable terms.

Requires the town of Bourne to pay all engineering, surveying, appraisal, deed preparation, and related execution costs, and to provide consideration equal to the greater of full and fair market value or the value in proposed use, based on an independent appraisal reviewed and approved by the Inspector General.

Mandates that the easements be used solely for those purposes and include a reversionary clause allowing termination-after notice and opportunity to cure-if the use ceases, with any further disposition handled under standard state property procedures.

Requires the Supplier Diversity Office to promulgate regulations for the annual collection and reporting of procurement activity with certified business enterprises (MBEs and WBEs) and non-certified Black-owned, Western Hemisphere Hispanic-owned, and Women-owned businesses by large businesses, nonprofit corporations, and state authorities.

Directs the Office to issue by April 30 an annual, entity-level report detailing procurement with these firms for businesses and nonprofit corporations with at least $100 million in revenue, state authorities with at least $100 million, museums and institutions of higher education with at least $100 million, and hospitals with emergency departments and the University of Massachusetts Medical School's teaching hospital.

Defines MBEs to include Blacks or African Americans and Western Hemisphere Hispanics.

This bill amends the Transportation Network Drivers Collective Bargaining Law concerning Uber and Lyft drivers, passed by a voter initiative in 2024. The bill provides that it is an unfair work practice if a driver organization fails to provide bargaining-related information requested by a transportation network company. Additionally, the bill mandates that records submitted by these companies to state agencies, including driver records, remain confidential and are not subject to public record laws.

The bill calls for the Employment Relations Board to develop comprehensive regulations to safeguard driver data, including data minimization, encryption, controlled access, and well-defined protocols for handling data breach incidents. The regulations should also encompass the authorization card processes, the verification of driver organization representation, and rules to preserve driver anonymity if they meet specified regulatory criteria. A rules must prevent unauthorized use of driver data, particularly in immigration law enforcement scenarios, requiring a judicial order for any access. 

Requires the Department of Public Utilities to implement performance-based rates for distribution, transmission, and gas companies with enforceable service quality and workforce standards tied to the net zero transition; bars staffing reductions below January 1, 2025 levels in rate filings absent compliance with collective bargaining agreements or Department approval ensuring safety and reliability; and mandates biennial, Department-approved just transition plans through 2050 or pipeline retirement detailing hiring, training, attrition, in-house staffing, mitigation measures, union agreements, and-if winding down operations-steps to protect pensions and avoid shifting social costs, with dual-fuel companies including opportunities for displaced workers on their other energy lines, while authorizing Department investigations, on its own or at the request of the Attorney General, into plan sufficiency.

Establishes a training fund jointly administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to support apprenticeships and retraining by gas and dual-fuel companies, labor organizations, and qualifying alternative energy companies committed to high-quality employment for displaced workers.

Creates a Just Transition Office and a multi-stakeholder Just Transition Advisory Committee to develop a sector-wide plan, expand training and re-employment for dislocated energy workers and residents of environmental justice communities, and require detailed workforce transition plans from employers closing facilities or significantly reducing energy-sector workforces due to decarbonization.

Imposes comprehensive labor and workforce standards on publicly funded clean-energy projects and renewable energy supply-chain facilities-including prevailing wage, apprenticeship utilization, diversity participation goals, compliance certifications with cure and penalty provisions, debarment disqualification, Attorney General enforcement, and labor peace agreements-and extends prevailing wage protections to contractor-performed gas, electric, and renewable infrastructure work on public rights-of-way; strengthens gas infrastructure planning to maintain a skilled workforce, including use of in-house and contractor crews, oversight and training investments, and evaluation of hydrogen and renewable natural gas; and expands the Clean Energy Center's board with additional labor representation, subjects it to public procurement rules, and directs five-year clean-energy workforce development planning coordinated with the Just Transition Office.

Requires the agencies developing the portal to automatically re-enroll individuals and households that apply for and receive fuel assistance through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for the following heating season, contingent on continued compliance with federal and state eligibility requirements as determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Defines "heating season" as November 1 through April 30, unless otherwise designated by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

This bill regulates zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) requirements in Massachusetts. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is directed to conduct an annual review of each vehicle manufacturer’s adherence to the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule, including the sales ratio of zero-emission vehicles compared to internal combustion engine vehicles over the preceding five years. Should the majority of vehicles sold fail to meet annual ZEV targets, or if there is insufficient charging infrastructure to support these sales levels, the department may defer the implementation of ZEV requirements.

Additionally, the bill sets a timeline for Massachusetts to transition all new medium- and heavy-duty trucks purchased or leased by the Commonwealth to zero-emission vehicles starting on July 1, 2025, with a fully zero-emission fleet by June 30, 2035. Exceptions are provided where zero-emission vehicles do not satisfy state needs or are unsupported by current infrastructure. The bill also prohibits DEP from enforcing the Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations before July 1, 2027. 

The bill aims to regulate gas facilities near environmental justice neighborhoods and promote a transition to clean energy. It restricts the establishment or expansion of gas facilities within a five-mile radius of these communities, unless necessary for public safety. Gas companies must develop and update plans to achieve net zero emissions, focusing on workforce training and development for both current gas services and future renewable energy sources. The bill establishes a Just Transition Office to aid displaced energy sector workers, collaborating with businesses to create employment strategies in clean energy fields, particularly for residents of affected communities. 

This bill regulates zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) requirements in Massachusetts. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is directed to conduct an annual review of each vehicle manufacturer’s adherence to the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule, including the sales ratio of zero-emission vehicles compared to internal combustion engine vehicles over the preceding five years. Should the majority of vehicles sold fail to meet annual ZEV targets, or if there is insufficient charging infrastructure to support these sales levels, the department may defer the implementation of ZEV requirements.

Additionally, the bill sets a timeline for Massachusetts to transition all new medium- and heavy-duty trucks purchased or leased by the Commonwealth to zero-emission vehicles starting on July 1, 2025, with a fully zero-emission fleet by June 30, 2035. Exceptions are provided where zero-emission vehicles do not satisfy state needs or are unsupported by current infrastructure. The bill also prohibits DEP from enforcing the Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations before July 1, 2029.

This bill authorizes the establishment of "Creative Space Restrictions" in deeds, covenants, and other land decuments. A creative space restriction is a condition or right associated with land or structures dedicated to artistic creation, cultural expression, or live/work artist studio housing, potentially including limitations on resale prices to maintain affordability for artists and creative workers. The bill empowers municipalities to create their own Municipal Creative Space Trust Fund, overseen by a board of trustees. This board is endowed with broad authorities to manage the trust’s assets, accept and allocate contributions, conduct property transactions, hire advisors, and handle legal issues, all with the objective of expanding and safeguarding spaces dedicated to culture and the arts. 

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Establishes a statewide Program for Local Art and Community Engagement (PLACE) and dedicates one-half of one percent of public funds for construction or renovation of state-owned buildings or properties to a PLACE Fund supporting public art, capped at $300,000 per project, adjusted annually for inflation, and supplemented by private contributions; artworks acquired with fund dollars must be state-owned, with best efforts to distribute projects across regions and support in-state artists.

Creates the PLACE Commission within the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to administer the fund, requiring a contract with the Cultural Council to manage operations, set rules, run application and approval processes, coordinate with agencies and stakeholders, and convene a local advisory group for each project. Sets a nine-member, co-chaired commission with staggered three-year terms and quarterly meetings, mandates annual reporting on implementation and awards, and requires the commission be established by December 1, 2026.

Establishes a Poet Laureate appointed biennially by the Governor for a two-year term to promote public appreciation of reading and writing poetry, especially among school children, with vacancies filled in the same manner.

Creates a five-member nominating committee-the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, two gubernatorial appointees, and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Center for the Book, or their designees-to solicit resident candidates, review submissions, and forward three nominees to the Governor by February 1 for appointment by March 31.

Authorizes the Massachusetts Center for the Book, subject to appropriation, to set a stipend and reimburse expenses for the Poet Laureate.

Amends term limits to allow members of local and regional cultural councils representing populations of 15,000 or less to serve three consecutive terms.

This bill establishes a number of motor vehicle fees and new tolls, which will support transportation projects.  A new "Green Fee" will be assessed as part of vehicle registration, with a reduced fee for zero emission, electric and hybrid cars and motorcycles. Higher fees will be required for registering trucks and vans. An additional "Emissions Fee" based on mileage is also established, along with a 5% surcharge on car rentals and parking fees. Under the bill, tolls on major interstate highways will apply to commercial trucks. 

The fee and toll revenue, in addition to two cents per gallon of the gas tax, will go to a Massachusetts Transportation and Environment Equity Fund created by the bill. The fund will support capital investment transportation projects prioritized based on criteria such as cost-efficiency, economic benefits, and air quality improvements, with potential impacts on commuter rail services. Provisions are included to ensure fair compensation for affected employees and adherence to construction project labor agreements. 

Additionally, the bill emphasizes the preservation of the North South Rail Link right-of-way, calling for a feasibility study to map and maintain this corridor. The bill establishes the state's bonding authority to fund the proposed initiatives and mandates the involvement of regional planning agencies in corridor land use planning to facilitate sustainable development.

Eliminates fares on all MBTA services-bus, rapid transit, light rail, and commuter rail-and on bus services operated by regional transit authorities.

Establishes a Public Transportation Affordability Fund, administered by the Department of Transportation and available for transfer to the MBTA and regional transit authorities without further appropriation to finance fare-free service. Raises the corporate excise on business corporations to 8.75 percent beginning in tax year 2025 and dedicates receipts equal to 0.75 percent of taxable net income to the Fund; the Fund also receives appropriations, constitutionally dedicated revenues, and investment income, and requires an annual report on fund activity.

Establishes a comprehensive regulatory regime for contract railroad crew transportation vehicles, directing the Rail and Transit Division of the Department of Transportation to regulate providers and vehicles, including driver qualifications, equipment and operational safety, hours of service, passenger safety, drug testing, and record retention, and to require at least 4 hours of Division-approved safety training and conspicuous notices informing employee passengers of their rights and complaint procedures.

Requires per-vehicle insurance of $5,000,000 combined single limit and $1,000,000 uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, permits the operator, a contracting third party, or the railroad to satisfy coverage with proof to the Division, and authorizes the Division to investigate complaints, assess penalties, and deny, suspend, or revoke operating authority after notice and hearing.

Disqualifies drivers for three years for specified offenses-including two license-suspension-triggering traffic violations within three years, drug- or alcohol-related traffic offenses, using a vehicle to commit a felony, leaving the scene of an accident, prohibited passing, railroad-highway grade-crossing offenses, or driving with a suspended, revoked, or canceled license-with a 10-day employer notification requirement; compels data reporting and compilation on complaints, accidents, violations, and corrective actions with complainant identities not a public record; and authorizes inspections of passenger-carrying and contract crew vehicles, with assistance from the Colonel of State Police.

The bill establishes regulations for third-party food delivery service companies in Massachusetts, mandating that they submit monthly reports to the state. These reports must include detailed delivery information such as vehicle types, geographic coordinates, delivery timings, fees, driver identifiers, cancellations, vehicle usage metrics, and accident details. Aggregated delivery data by city or town will be posted online. The bill also permits the creation of confidential data-sharing agreements with state and regional bodies for transportation, environmental, and planning purposes for this information, with that data aggregated, de-identified, and used only for specific, agreed-upon purposes. 

This bill regulates automated road safety camera systems. The bill permits municipalities to install these systems on local or state roads to detect violations such as running red lights, making illegal turns on red, speeding, and blocking intersections, provided they have obtained the necessary permissions. Before activating the cameras, communities must publicize the initiative and conduct awareness campaigns to inform the public. The placement of cameras requires approval through city council or select board hearings, and localities must report annually on each installation site. While the system records traffic infractions, the data remains confidential, are not part of public records, and will not impact drivers’ records or insurance rates.  Municipalities are responsible for ensuring camera systems are accurately calibrated and adhere to privacy safeguards by not capturing identifiable driver or passenger information. 

Establishes a Motorcycle Safety Fund and redirects the $2 fee from every motorcycle registration into it, retaining all credited revenues in the Fund and prohibiting the State Treasurer from depositing or transferring them to the General Fund.

Requires the Registrar to provide rebates of at least $150 to riders under 21 who successfully complete an approved basic rider course, capped at 20 percent of deposits.

Directs the Fund to administer a motorcycle safety program, including Registrar-approved rider education and instructor training, a policy manual setting minimum requirements for instructors and course providers, the Motorcycle Awareness Program, and public awareness efforts.

Creates a special firefighter motorcycle license plate for privately owned and operated motorcycles of active municipal firefighters and retirees in good standing, issued by the Registrar upon certification by the head of the fire department at issuance and renewal.

Adds a $10 surcharge to issuance and renewal, in addition to existing registration fees, with proceeds deposited into the Massachusetts Firefighters Academy Trust Fund.

This bill establishes a pilot program in Massachusetts to explore a mileage-based revenue collection system as a potential alternative to the existing motor vehicle fuel tax. The program will be overseen by a task force chaired by the Secretary of Transportation, which includes people with expertise in areas such as civil engineering, transportation data security, finance, and privacy rights advocacy. Its responsibilities include gathering public input, making informed recommendations, and evaluating the pilot program's effectiveness. 

Under the bill, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will manage the development and implementation of at least one statewide pilot program, with at least 1,000 volunteers with diverse vehicle types. The aim is to test technologies and methodologies for tracking, reporting miles driven, and collecting payments. The pilot will also study variable pricing techniques based on factors like driving time, road type, and vehicle fuel efficiency. MassDOT is expected to release a report on the pilot's initial findings within three years of its commencement. This report will focus on the practicality, economic and environmental consequences, and alternatives to the gas tax, and offer recommendations for possible legislative actions.

Establishes a statewide Blue Alert system, coordinated by the Executive Office of Public Safety, activated when law enforcement is searching for an individual wanted in the serious injury or killing of a law enforcement officer.

Increases penalties under the Move Over Law to $250/$500/$1,000 for first, second, and subsequent offenses; authorizes up to one year in jail or a $2,500 fine when a violation causes injury; requires second- and third-time offenders to complete a Registrar of Motor Vehicles-approved driver behavior program; and makes only third or subsequent offenses insurance-surchargeable.

Provides, at no charge, distinctive "Blue Star Family" plates or motorcycle emblems for one vehicle owned by an immediate family member of an officer killed in the line of duty, with eligibility tied to National Law Enforcement Memorial criteria, and directs fine revenue to defray program costs and supplement a Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, funded by registration plate sales and used without appropriation to make annual payments to the memorial.

Creates a Desert Shield/Desert Storm bonus, paying $500 to veterans who served in the Persian Gulf area and received the Southwest Asia Service Medal and $300 to Guard or Reserve members activated in support who served elsewhere. Requires at least 30 days of active service between August 2, 1990 and April 11, 1991, excluding training duty; waives that threshold for Purple Heart recipients, those awarded a service-connected disability, or those who died, and pays an additional $500 death benefit; limits payments to discharges under honorable conditions while permitting eligible active-duty members to receive them.

Amends wartime bonus statutes for World War II (September 16, 1940-December 31, 1946) and the Korean War (June 25, 1950-January 31, 1955) to allow eligibility based on domicile either for not less than six months before entry into service or for not less than ten years after discharge.

Revises the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal program to authorize a $300 payment to recipients who served outside the continental United States during a period when no other wartime bonus is available, conditioned on at least 90 days of service unless physical incapacity prevented completion, and provides for administration of the Desert Shield/Desert Storm payments by the State Treasurer with military certification by the Adjutant General, creates a Payments Appeal Board, and establishes penalties for false statements-up to a $1,000 fine or three years' imprisonment-enforceable by the Attorney General.

This bill focuses on veterans’ services in Massachusetts. It mandates the development of educational materials on the health effects of exposure to open burn pits during military deployments. This includes monitoring epidemiological studies and creating informational pamphlets, as well as setting a contact plan for eligible veterans and service members to register with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. In terms of educational benefits, the bill extends these to the dependents of Massachusetts National Guard members. It prevents municipalities from disclosing identifying information of veterans with overdue taxes and mandates that funeral directors inform clients about veterans' funeral and burial benefits. Additionally, it permits veterans' organizations to apply for licenses to operate limited slot machine establishments, directing proceeds toward charitable purposes.

The University of Massachusetts is tasked with creating a continuing education program for counselors aiding military-affiliated students. A special commission is also established to consider creating a memorial for Deborah Samson. In addition, the bill establishes a veteran equality review board to ensure that those dishonorably discharged due to sexual orientation under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy can access state-based veteran benefits.

Authorizes cross-charter mergers and two-way charter conversions between credit unions and mutual or co-operative banks-including mergers of mutual banks and credit unions into a single credit union and conversion of mutual banks or qualifying stock banks into credit unions-and overhauls conversion procedures with detailed plans and disclosures, independent secret-ballot member votes, required regulatory approvals, post-conversion filings, and a two-year period to divest impermissible assets after bank-to-credit-union conversions. Expands credit union investment powers to include asset-backed securities, investments in organizations providing services closely related to banking, participation in the Capital Growth Corporation, and shared service entities with other credit unions.

Expands the Credit Union Share Insurance Corporation's membership to include state- and federally chartered credit unions with principal offices in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, or Rhode Island, and authorizes the Commissioner to collect examination reports, require supervisory agreements, and weigh interagency information-sharing arrangements and other risk factors when considering applications.

Tightens conditions on excess members by capping excess share and deposit insurance to the limits applicable to state-chartered credit unions, subjecting them to the Commissioner's supervision and examinations, and requiring prior approval for mergers, asset purchases, and establishing branch offices in other states-failure to obtain approvals automatically terminates excess insurance.

Strengthens the corporation's powers by requiring quarterly board meetings; permitting it to borrow and pledge assets and to be an organization member so credit unions may lend to it; authorizing, with a two-thirds board vote and Commissioner approval, investments up to 15% of assets in non-enumerated instruments and the use of registered investment advisers; and enhancing its ability to resolve troubled members by facilitating mergers or purchase-and-assumption transactions and by providing broad forms of financial assistance, including above-market asset purchases, loans, reserve deposits (including subordinated), liability assumptions, and guarantees.

The proposed bill creates the Massachusetts Climate Bank as an independent public authority to promote climate resilience and advance clean energy projects across the state. The bank will provide various financial products, such as loans, guarantees, and investments, targeted at climate and clean energy projects, with a focus on aiding disadvantaged communities and rural areas in eliminating fossil fuel dependency. The bank is authorized to issue bonds, enter into funding agreements, and establish transparent financing standards. At least $100 million will be allocated to the bank for five years, coming from multiple sources, including cap and trade pollution control program revenue, fees from the enforcement of the Climate Protection and Green Economy Act, and other investments.

The proposed bill seeks to implement the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) in Massachusetts, allowing registered nurses and licensed practical or vocational nurses to practice in multiple states with a single multistate license. It introduces specific definitions for key terms like "adverse action," "home state," and "multistate license" and outlines the responsibilities of participating states, including mandatory criminal background checks for license applicants.

Under the compact, participating states must recognize multistate licenses from other member states, provided certain criteria are satisfied. Massachusetts' Board of Registration in Nursing will be granted the authority to develop new regulations that align with the compact and to impose disciplinary measures based on actions taken by a nurse's home state. The bill mandates the coordination of a licensure information system among party states to exchange data on licensure statuses and disciplinary actions.

An Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators will be established to manage and enforce the compact, with responsibilities that include rulemaking, conducting meetings, and resolving disputes. The commission has the authority to enforce compliance through a range of legal and administrative measures. The bill also addresses criminal history background checks, involving fingerprinting and the management of related fees through designated trust funds, to evaluate applicants for multistate licensure.

Additionally, the bill specifies the timeline for the compact’s activation in Massachusetts, becoming effective 180 days post-enactment, facilitating a smoother transition for nurses seeking multistate practice privileges.

This legislative bill seeks to enhance educational services for English learners and ensure non-discrimination based on immigration or citizenship status. It accomplishes this by amending Section 5 of Chapter 76 to explicitly protect individuals from discrimination based on their immigration or citizenship status. The bill mandates that interpreters and translators working in public schools be not only bilingual but also proficient in specialized terminology of both languages, uphold confidentiality, and facilitate effective communication with parents and guardians.

To accurately reflect their abilities, evaluations for English learners must consider language proficiency and be conducted in the student’s native language. Additionally, the bill requires that Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams for English learners include experts on language needs and second language acquisition, ensuring that both their English language and special education requirements are met holistically.

The bill further prohibits school districts from advising parents to decline English learner program services for scheduling convenience, emphasizing the importance of addressing any academic deficits expediently in English language programs. Lastly, it tasks the Department of Education with establishing regulations that are consistent with federal protections surrounding the discipline of students with disabilities to ensure these regulations are upheld and enforced effectively.

This bill proposes an amendment to Chapter 6 of the General Laws to designate the fifteenth day of the Hindu lunisolar month of Kartik as Diwali Day, to be recognized as an official state holiday in Massachusetts. It requires the governor to issue an annual proclamation promoting the observance of Diwali, widely celebrated as the "Festival of Lights." Diwali is observed over five days, with the third day focused on thanksgiving and reflection. The bill encourages widespread participation in recognizing the cultural significance of Diwali, which is celebrated globally and by millions of Americans.

This bill establishes a permanent commission in Massachusetts tasked with overseeing sexual assault and domestic violence service providers. The 19-member commission includes representatives from both governmental and nongovernmental organizations dedicated to these issues. The commission's role is to develop and recommend uniform service standards for statewide programs, ensuring continual review and improvement of these standards. It will conduct its activities transparently through public meetings and fact-finding hearings as needed.

Empowered to solicit funds, hire staff, and suggest policy improvements to state agencies, the commission's financial dealings are managed in a separate account by the state treasurer. It is mandated to report its service standard recommendations to the executive office of health and human services within 180 days of establishment and to provide biennial updates thereafter. Together with the commission, the executive office will create and enforce mandatory minimum service standards, which service providers must meet to receive state funding. Providers must comply with improvement or corrective actions if standards are violated. To qualify for funding, service providers must also adhere to non-discrimination requirements, ensuring no discrimination on various grounds.

This bill addresses nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases involving sexual harassment, discrimination, and related retaliation. It prohibits settlement agreements that restrict the disclosure of information related to claims of sex offenses, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Courts are barred from issuing orders that conflict with these prohibitions. However, claimants/victims may request to shield their identities without impacting their right to disclose information. Any agreements made after the bill's effective date, which violate its terms, are deemed void and against public policy. The bill protects claimants/victims who choose to disclose information covered under past agreements, now considered void, ensuring they retain the right to any prior financial considerations.

The legislation guarantees the right to a jury trial for claimants/victims seeking damages and mandates the awarding of reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Individuals who attempt to enforce void NDAs may also be liable for such fees and costs. The use of public funds to settle claims against public employees is prohibited, and attorneys who insist on or encourage the inclusion of prohibited nondisclosure clauses face professional discipline unless they comply with the outlined exceptions. These measures supplement existing legal rights and protections, and the act takes effect immediately upon enactment.

The bill establishes the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to streamline the licensing process for physicians across member states, enhancing access to healthcare. It offers an expedited licensing pathway, allowing physicians to quickly become licensed in multiple states without changing existing state medical practice laws. Physicians remain under the jurisdiction of state medical boards where they treat patients, and these boards retain the power to discipline physicians licensed through the compact.

The bill creates the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, consisting of two voting representatives from each member state, to manage the compact. The commission is responsible for overseeing the application and renewal process of expedited licenses, collecting and distributing fees, and maintaining a database of licensed physicians. Member boards must report disciplinary actions or complaints, and the compact stipulates that adverse actions in one state may affect a physician's license in all member states. Provisions for maintaining the compact include dispute resolution, amendments, and processes for withdrawal or termination of membership.

Additionally, the bill requires fingerprint-based criminal background checks for license applicants, with associated fees funding the Fingerprint-Based Background Check Trust Fund. The Board of Registration in Medicine must adopt necessary regulations and ensure compliance with labor laws while disclosing personal information during the licensing process.

This bill proposes amendments to Chapter 69 by establishing new educational standards focused on environmental science and climate change education. It mandates that these standards address key topics such as the human impact on the carbon cycle, climate change effects on ecosystems, its role in the water cycle, and broader implications for health, economics, agriculture, natural disasters, and weather patterns. The legislation permits integration of these climate change topics into existing school curricula across a range of subjects, including science, history, social sciences, technology, and business, applicable to school districts, charter schools, and approved private day or residential schools.

The bill also grants the Department of Education the authority to support schools by providing access to climate change educational materials, curricula, and professional development opportunities. It encourages collaboration with private, non-profit, and governmental environmental experts to source appropriate resources. Additionally, the department is authorized to pursue funding from federal, state, and other sources to assist in the implementation and support of these educational initiatives.

This bill requires public schools to provide inclusive instruction that reflects the histories, experiences, and contributions of historically underrepresented groups. This includes a curriculum on history, social science, literature, arts, sciences, cultural customs, and discussions on discrimination, bias, and inequities. The curriculum must address topics such as immigration, discrimination, slavery, segregation, and the effects of colonial and exclusionary practices. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will work with educational stakeholders to offer professional development to support these objectives.

The bill also establishes the Comprehensive and Inclusive Curriculum Trust Fund to support the creation of curriculum frameworks across various subjects while emphasizing professional development and collaboration. The fund's grants will promote this inclusive curriculum, focusing on the inclusion of historically underrepresented groups in subjects like literature, arts, and sciences.

The bill establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for the dietetics and nutrition profession in Massachusetts by amending various sections of the General Laws. It creates a dietetics and nutrition board within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services tasked with overseeing regulatory standards and practices in the field. The board comprises state commissioners, secretaries, and nine appointed experts, including registered physicians and practicing dietitians or nutritionists, serving three-year terms with expense reimbursements.

Additionally, the bill establishes a board of registration for dietitians and nutritionists within the Department of Public Health. This board holds the authority to license professionals, create rules, and enforce standards, including setting educational and professional experience requirements, managing application procedures, conducting examinations, and mandating continuing education. It outlines clear definitions for practice, including medical nutrition therapy, and specifies exemptions for unlicensed practice in supervised or particular scenarios.

The legislation specifies penalties for unauthorized practice or misrepresentation, allows for provisional licenses and reciprocal recognition of out-of-state licenses, and details the procedural aspects of board composition and function. Current license holders and applicants maintain eligibility under prior criteria if they remain in good standing, ensuring a smooth transition with the bill's enactment.

This legislative bill amends the regulations related to parks overseen by the Massachusetts Port Authority in East Boston, Boston. It primarily focuses on the planning, creation, and maintenance of public parks, particularly Piers Park Phases I, II, and III. The bill eliminates prior references to a lobster facility and redefines park-related provisions to better align with current and future park developments.

Key actions authorized by the bill include enabling the Massachusetts Port Authority to plan, design, and construct these parks while collaborating closely with the East Boston Project Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC, now restructured to consist of 21 members appointed by local government officials, plays a critical role in overseeing park design, construction, and operations. Members serve staggered three-year terms to ensure continuity and diversity within the committee.

Financial and operational aspects of the parks are also addressed in the bill. It mandates the Massachusetts Port Authority to finance and construct the first two phases of the parks, with stipulations for Phase III funding contingent on bond issuance and potential private leases. All financial dealings must comply with prevailing wage laws. Additionally, the bill lays out provisions for the authority to contract with the PAC regarding park operation and maintenance standards, enforcing penalties for non-compliance. Any penalties collected are required to be reinvested in park maintenance.

The bill dissolves existing PAC by-laws and memberships, effectively resetting the governance framework, thereby marking a fresh start for the committee's structure and responsibilities.

This bill adds protections for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), as well as those who are deaf or hard of hearing to state law. The bill establishes an Office of Access and Opportunity within the governor's office, led by a deputy chief responsible for advising on non-discrimination and equal opportunity initiatives. This office will coordinate with a steering committee comprising various state agencies to enhance access.

The bill directs all public-facing state agencies to create and execute comprehensive language access plans biennially, grounded in community and agency assessments. Agencies are required to provide oral interpretation, auxiliary aids, and translation of vital documents, while also ensuring their websites are accessible in multiple languages. Each agency must appoint language access coordinators to respond to language-related requests and complaints. Additionally, a language access advisory board will be formed to assist public agencies in catering to LEP and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The bill sets forth reporting obligations for state agencies concerning assessments, language services inventories, and language access plan compliance. These reports must be publicly accessible in multiple languages, with provisions in place to safeguard privacy.

The bill outlines specific timelines for state agencies to implement these requirements, with an overarching goal of full compliance within five years post-enactment.

This bill proposes a framework to establish and enhance teacher leadership programs in Massachusetts educational institutions, with the goal of improving teacher retention and student success. It authorizes the commissioner to distribute competitive grants to eligible entities such as local and educational service agencies. These grants aim to support the development of programs that incorporate distributed leadership, thereby promoting shared decision-making among school leaders and teachers. The initiatives also encourage teacher leaders to participate in strategic planning and professional development.

Priority for grant distribution is given to ensure geographical diversity and address high-need areas, including both urban and rural regions. Applicants must present detailed proposals that highlight plans for operating teacher leadership programs, focusing on enhancing teacher retention, fostering professional growth, and cultivating inclusive educational environments. Selection criteria for teacher leader participation emphasize proven leadership skills and a commitment to improving both student and professional outcomes. The bill allocates a significant portion of the grant funds strictly for direct program implementation, limiting administrative expenses to 5%.

Additionally, the commissioner is responsible for conducting independent evaluations of the funded programs' effectiveness, with results reported annually. The bill also offers planning grants to assist eligible entities in the proposal development process, supporting a strategic approach to nurturing teacher leadership state-wide.

The bill establishes an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for offshore wind energy equipment in Massachusetts. This program mandates that producers manage the entire lifecycle of their products, ensuring the safe disposal, reuse, or recycling of components at the end of their useful life. The Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for implementing this EPR program by setting and annually reviewing recycling targets for equipment like turbines, blades, and related infrastructure. Producers are required to appoint a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to ensure compliance, formalized through a Producer Responsibility Agreement that outlines their duties in collection, recycling, or disposal.

The department is authorized to enact these agreements, enforce compliance, and impose penalties for any violations. Even if a producer entity dissolves, the obligations persist, with the designated PRO or another responsible party remaining accountable under the EPR framework. These responsibilities are in addition to existing legal obligations and do not limit the department's authority. Additionally, information requested by the department from offshore wind companies will be considered public records and can be disclosed upon request.

This bill replaces current law on underperforming schools and receivership, and substitutes reforms relating to the oversight and performance of underperforming schools. Key provisions include the establishment of local stakeholder groups tasked with developing comprehensive support and improvement plans for up to five percent of schools selected as needing support. These groups will comprise superintendents, school committee members, union representatives, educators, parents, and community figures. The improvement plans will employ evidence-based interventions such as class size reduction, professional development, and student mental and social health support services. The focus is on aligning strategies with the school’s vision and addressing unique challenges and strengths. Plans are set for a four-year duration, with annual reviews and possible extensions upon meeting exit criteria.

The bill also mandates a transition plan for districts in receivership, to conclude within a year, facilitated by necessary funding and technical assistance. A special commission will evaluate and recommend enhancements to the state's student, school, and district assessment systems, ensuring federal compliance while promoting authentic and less demographically biased evaluation methods. Additionally, the bill revises the financial arrangements between public school districts and charter schools, imposing a cap on charter school tuition payments at 9% of a district's net school spending, with additional allowances in excess of the cap if necessary due to siblings attending charter schools.