# Massachusetts H 5564: An Act amending the charter of the town of Bellingham to allow the Director of Finance to serve as the Town Accountant

Massachusetts H 5564, An Act amending the charter of the town of Bellingham to allow the Director of Finance to serve as the Town Accountant, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Michael J. Soter (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-09-22 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2026) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5564-194
- 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 5564
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act amending the charter of the town of Bellingham to allow the Director of Finance to serve as the Town Accountant
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-07-06
- Last action: 2026-09-22, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2026
- Sponsor: Michael J. Soter (Republican)
- 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: 0

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Michael J. Soter (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-07-23 | committee | Committee Favorable: ought to pass | pass | 11 | 0 |   |

## Actions (16)

- 2026-09-22: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2026
- 2026-09-17: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate)
- 2026-09-17: Enacted (House)
- 2026-09-14: Read second, ordered to a third reading, read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-09-14: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2026-08-24: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate)
- 2026-08-20: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2026-08-04: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2026-08-04: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-08-04: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2026-07-30: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2026-07-22: Hearing rescheduled to 07/22/2026 from 10:00 AM-10:25 AM in A-1 <br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2026-07-22: Hearing rescheduled to 07/22/2026 from 10:00 AM-10:25 PM in A-1 <br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2026-07-10: Hearing scheduled for 07/22/2026 from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM in A-1 (legislature)
- 2026-07-09: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2026-07-06: Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House)

## Bill text

- Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-09-22: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5564.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 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)
- 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)

## Sources
- [Chapter 219 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5564.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 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194)
- [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)
- [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-H5564-194 (as of 2026-11-01).