# Massachusetts H 5491: An Act implementing the recommendations of the Walsh-Kennedy Commission Report Massachusetts H 5491, An Act implementing the recommendations of the Walsh-Kennedy Commission Report, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by House Committee on Ways and Means; status passed senate, last action 2026-08-17 (Referred to the committee on Bills in the Third Reading); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5491-194 - 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 5491 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act implementing the recommendations of the Walsh-Kennedy Commission Report - Status: passed senate - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-06-10 - Last action: 2026-08-17, Referred to the committee on Bills in the Third Reading - Sponsor: House Committee on Ways and Means - Cosponsors: 41 - Subjects: House Ways and Means, Senate Ways and Means, Bills in the Third Reading - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (172 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: House Committee on Ways and Means - Cosponsor: Angelo J. Puppolo Jr. (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Antonio F. D. Cabral (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Bruce E. Tarr (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Christopher Hendricks (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Christopher Richard Flanagan (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Colleen M. Garry (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Daniel Cahill (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Daniel J. Hunt (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Daniel J. Ryan (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Danillo A. Sena (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: David F. DeCoste (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Dennis C. Gallagher (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Donald H. Wong (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Erika Uyterhoeven (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Hannah Kane (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jacob R. Oliveira (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: James Arciero (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: James C. Arena-DeRosa (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: James K. Hawkins (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: John J. Marsi (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jonathan D. Zlotnik (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Joseph W. McGonagle Jr. (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Kathleen R. LaNatra (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Marcus S. Vaughn (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Michael D. Brady (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Michael J. Soter (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Natalie M. Higgins (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Nick Collins (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Patrick Joseph Kearney (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Paul McMurtry (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Richard G. Wells Jr. (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Rodney M. Elliott (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Ryan M. Hamilton (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Samantha Montaño (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Steven George Xiarhos (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Steven Ultrino (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Tackey Chan (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Tara T. Hong (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Thomas M. Stanley (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Vanna Howard (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: William F. MacGregor (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-08-10 | committee | Committee Favorable with Amendment: Ought to pass with an amendment - New Text | pass | 16 | 0 | 2 | | 2026-06-10 | House | Passed to be engrossed | pass | 156 | 0 | | ## Actions (16) - 2026-08-17: Referred to the committee on Bills in the Third Reading (House) - 2026-08-13: Read third and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2026-08-13: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate) - 2026-08-10: Ordered to a third reading (Senate) - 2026-08-10: Amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in place thereof the text of S3251 (Senate) - 2026-08-10: Read second (Senate) - 2026-08-10: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-08-10: Committee recommended ought to pass with an amendment striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in place thereof the text of S3251 (Senate) - 2026-06-11: Read; and referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means (Senate) - 2026-06-10: Passed to be engrossed - 156 YEAS to 0 NAYS (See YEA and NAY No. 212) (House) - 2026-06-10: Read third (House) - 2026-06-10: Rules suspended (House) - 2026-06-10: Ordered to a third reading (House) - 2026-06-10: New draft of H2692 (House) - 2026-06-10: Pending new draft of H2692 (House) - 2026-06-10: Reported from the committee on House Ways and Means (House) ## Bill text - Passed to be engrossed, 2026-08-13: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5491.pdf) ## Related bills - H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate) - 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 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading) - 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) ## Sources - [Passed to be engrossed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5491.pdf) ## Related - [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 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 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194) - [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) - [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-H5491-194 (as of 2026-11-01).