# Massachusetts H 4579: An Act authorizing Bridgewater Town Charter amendment Article IV, Section 4-3, Town Manager Powers of Appointment

Massachusetts H 4579, An Act authorizing Bridgewater Town Charter amendment Article IV, Section 4-3, Town Manager Powers of Appointment, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Dennis C. Gallagher (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-02-12 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2026) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4579-194
- 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 4579
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act authorizing Bridgewater Town Charter amendment Article IV, Section 4-3, Town Manager Powers of Appointment
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-10-02
- Last action: 2026-02-12, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2026
- Sponsor: Dennis C. Gallagher (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- 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: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- New rules for Bridgewater board appointments: mixed, low. The Town Manager now appoints all town boards, committees, and agencies. Ad hoc committees created by a two‑thirds vote of the Town Council are not appointed by the Manager. All appointees must live in Bridgewater. The Town Council must ratify the Manager’s appointments. The Manager must create a c…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Dennis C. Gallagher (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-10-23 | committee | Committee Favorable: ought to pass | pass | 11 | 0 |   |

## Actions (15)

- 2026-02-12: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2026
- 2026-02-09: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate)
- 2026-02-09: Enacted (House)
- 2026-02-05: Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2026-01-29: Read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate)
- 2025-12-22: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate)
- 2025-12-18: Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2025-11-20: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2025-11-20: Rules suspended (House)
- 2025-11-20: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2025-10-30: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2025-10-14: Hearing scheduled for 10/14/2025 from 02:00 PM-02:00 PM in Written Testimony Only (legislature)
- 2025-10-06: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-10-02: Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House)

## Bill text

- Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-02-12: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4579.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 4755: An Act amending the means tested senior citizen property tax exemption in the town of Sudbury (signed)
- H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed)
- H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading)

## Sources
- [Chapter 21 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4579.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 4755: An Act amending the means tested senior citizen property tax exemption in the t…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4755-194)
- [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194)
- [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-H4579-194 (as of 2026-11-01).