# Massachusetts H 4805: An Act amending the town charter of the town of Plainville Massachusetts H 4805, An Act amending the town charter of the town of Plainville, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government; status signed, last action 2026-07-07 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 129 of the Acts of 2026) (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4805-194 - 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 4805 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act amending the town charter of the town of Plainville - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-12-08 - Last action: 2026-07-07, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 129 of the Acts of 2026 - Sponsor: Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Municipalities and Regional Government, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling, Bills in the Third Reading - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 1 (11 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Alternate members for most town boards: benefit, low. The select board may appoint up to two associate or alternate members to each multi-member body, except the school committee and housing authority. Alternates serve one-year terms and may take part in all matters. The body’s chair may seat an alternate as a full member when someone is absent, has a… - New appointments for finance committee: benefit, low. Finance committee members are appointed by three officers: the select board chair, the finance committee chair, and the town moderator. Town by-laws set how many members there are and how long terms last. This clarifies who appoints the committee and how it is structured. - Plainville creates a town manager: benefit, low. The charter now uses the title "town manager" instead of "town administrator." The select board appoints the town manager. The manager must have suitable education and training and at least 3 years of public administration experience as a city or town administrator, assistant administrator, or a si… - Written budget guidance for departments: benefit, low. The select board, town manager, finance director, and finance committee chair must give department heads a written directive before budget requests. The directive states the main principles and priorities for the next year’s budget. Department heads use it to prepare their requests. - Limits on select board outside roles: cost, low. Select board members cannot hold any other elected town job created by the charter or by-laws. They also cannot serve on boards the select board appoints. A member may still serve when the role is meant to represent the select board on that body. This reduces conflicts of interest. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government - Cosponsor: Marcus S. Vaughn (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-11-25 | committee | Committee Redraft: Ought to pass, with substitution of new draft | pass | 11 | 0 | | ## Actions (15) - 2026-07-07: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 129 of the Acts of 2026 - 2026-06-29: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate) - 2026-06-29: Enacted (House) - 2026-06-29: House concurred in the Senate amendment (House) - 2026-05-28: Referred to the committee on Bills in the Third Reading (House) - 2026-05-26: Read third, amended (Rausch) and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2026-05-26: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate) - 2026-01-27: Read, rules suspended, read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate) - 2026-01-22: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House) - 2025-12-29: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House) - 2025-12-29: Rules suspended (House) - 2025-12-29: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House) - 2025-12-08: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House) - 2025-12-08: New draft of H4382, H4383, H4384, H4385 and H4386 (House) - 2025-12-08: Reported from the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House) ## Bill text - Chapter 129 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-07-07: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4805.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 129 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4805.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-H4805-194 (as of 2026-11-01).