# Massachusetts H 4637: An Act relative to civil rights and technology

Massachusetts H 4637, An Act relative to civil rights and technology, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Joint Committee on the Judiciary; status second reading, last action 2026-05-20 (Read second, amended (as recommended by the committee on House Ways and Means)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4637-194
- 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 4637
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act relative to civil rights and technology
- Status: second reading
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-10-23
- Last action: 2026-05-20, Read second, amended (as recommended by the committee on House Ways and Means)
- Sponsor: Joint Committee on the Judiciary
- Cosponsors: 3
- Subjects: Judiciary, House Ways and Means, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling with the amendment pending
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 2 (42 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Joint Committee on the Judiciary
- Cosponsor: Lindsay N. Sabadosa (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Michael J. Finn (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Patricia A. Duffy (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-05-19 | committee | Committee Favorable with Amendment: H.4637 “An Act relative to civil rights and technology” as amended | pass | 31 | 0 |   |
| 2025-10-12 | committee | Committee Redraft: H1688 - An Act relative to unmanned aerial vehicles | pass | 11 | 0 |   |

## Actions (9)

- 2026-05-20: Read second, amended (as recommended by the committee on House Ways and Means) (House)
- 2026-05-20: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-05-20: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting for a second reading with the amendment pending (House)
- 2026-05-20: Referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling with the amendment pending (House)
- 2026-05-20: Committee recommended ought to pass with an amendment, substituting therefor a bill with the same title, see H5444 (House)
- 2026-05-19: New draft substituted, see H5444 (House)
- 2025-10-23: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means (House)
- 2025-10-23: New draft of H1688 and H1978 (House)
- 2025-10-23: Reported from the committee on The Judiciary (House)

## Bill text

- As Filed: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4637.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
- [As Filed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4637.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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4637-194 (as of 2026-11-01).