# Massachusetts H 4135: An Act amending the town manager act of Arlington relative to the appointment and management of the town clerk Massachusetts H 4135, An Act amending the town manager act of Arlington relative to the appointment and management of the town clerk, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Cindy F. Friedman (Democratic), Sean Garballey (Democratic); status signed, last action 2025-11-20 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2025) (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4135-194 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Massachusetts H 4135 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act amending the town manager act of Arlington relative to the appointment and management of the town clerk - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-05-12 - Last action: 2025-11-20, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2025 - Sponsors: Cindy F. Friedman (Democratic), Sean Garballey (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Municipalities and Regional Government, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 1 (11 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Voters still elect town assessors: benefit, low. The law keeps Arlington’s current way of electing assessors. Voters continue to choose assessors the same as before. - Town clerk becomes an appointed job: cost, low. The current elected town clerk stays in office until the term ends or the office is vacated. After that, the elected clerk office is abolished. Future town clerks are appointed under the new rules. - Select board approval for key officers: mixed, low. The town manager appoints the comptroller (who also has town accountant powers), the treasurer/collector, and the town clerk based on merit. These appointments take effect only if the select board approves. The manager may remove these officers, but removal also needs select board approval. These o… - Town manager oversees most departments: mixed, low. The town manager now supervises most town departments and offices. This does not include the select board, school committee, moderator, board of assessors, registrars and election officers, boards of appeal, finance committee, capital budget committee, or personnel review and appeals board. This ch… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Cindy F. Friedman (Democratic), Senate - Sponsor: Sean Garballey (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: David M. Rogers (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-07-02 | committee | Committee Favorable: Ought to Pass | pass | 11 | 0 | | ## Actions (14) - 2025-11-20: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2025 - 2025-11-13: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate) - 2025-11-12: Enacted (House) - 2025-11-10: Read second, ordered to a third reading, read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2025-11-10: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate) - 2025-11-03: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate) - 2025-10-30: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House) - 2025-07-24: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House) - 2025-07-24: Rules suspended (House) - 2025-07-24: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House) - 2025-07-14: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House) - 2025-06-03: Hearing scheduled for 06/10/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-1 (legislature) - 2025-05-15: Senate concurred (Senate) - 2025-05-12: Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House) ## Bill text - Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2025, 2025-11-20: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4135.pdf) ## Related bills - H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed) - H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate) - H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house) - H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed) - H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed) - H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading) ## Sources - [Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2025 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4135.pdf) ## Related - [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194) - [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194) - [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194) - [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194) - [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194) - [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194) - [Massachusetts bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts/bills) - [Massachusetts state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4135-194 (as of 2026-11-01).