# Massachusetts H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey

Massachusetts H 5435, An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Kristin E. Kassner (Democratic), Sally P. Kerans (Democratic); status passed senate, last action 2026-11-02 (House concurred in the Senate amendment); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-04).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194
- As of: 2026-11-04
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Massachusetts H 5435
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey
- Status: passed senate
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-05-18
- Last action: 2026-11-02, House concurred in the Senate amendment
- Sponsors: Kristin E. Kassner (Democratic), Sally P. Kerans (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Public Service, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling, Bills in the Third Reading
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 1 (10 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: Kristin E. Kassner (Democratic), House
- Sponsor: Sally P. Kerans (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Bruce E. Tarr (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-07-22 | committee | Committee Favorable: Favorable Report | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (14)

- 2026-11-02: House concurred in the Senate amendment (House)
- 2026-10-26: Referred to the committee on Bills in the Third Reading (House)
- 2026-10-26: Read third (title changed), amended and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-10-26: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2026-09-14: Read, rules suspended, read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate)
- 2026-09-10: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2026-08-13: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2026-08-13: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-08-13: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2026-07-27: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2026-06-03: Hearing rescheduled to 06/03/2026 from 11:00 AM-11:45 AM in B-2 <br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2026-05-22: Hearing scheduled for 06/03/2026 from 11:00 AM-04:00 PM in B-2 (legislature)
- 2026-05-19: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2026-05-18: Referred to the committee on Public Service (House)

## Bill text

- Passed to be engrossed, 2026-10-26: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5435.pdf)

## Related bills

- H 5685: An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Carry Shulock-Sexton, an employee of the department of agricultural resources (signed)
- S 3139: An Act authorizing the town of Medfield to continue the employment of David O'Toole as deputy fire chief (signed)
- H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed)
- 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 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading)

## Sources
- [Passed to be engrossed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5435.pdf)

## Related
- [H 5685: An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Carry Shulock-Sexton, an employee of…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5685-194)
- [S 3139: An Act authorizing the town of Medfield to continue the employment of David O'T…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-S3139-194)
- [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 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 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-H5435-194 (as of 2026-11-04).