# Massachusetts H 56: An Act empowering municipalities and local governments

Massachusetts H 56, An Act empowering municipalities and local governments, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Maura T. Healey; status in committee, last action 2026-05-14 (Sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, accompanied a study order, see H5394); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H56-194
- 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 56
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act empowering municipalities and local governments
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-07-17
- Last action: 2026-05-14, Sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, accompanied a study order, see H5394
- Sponsor: Maura T. Healey
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Municipalities and Regional Government, Public Service, Revenue, House Rules
- 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: Maura T. Healey

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-12-02 | committee | Committee Favorable: Joint Committee on Public Service | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (22)

- 2026-05-14: Sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, accompanied a study order, see H5394 (House)
- 2026-04-02: Reported from the committee on Public Service (as relates to sections 18, 19, 83, 84 and 88), published as H5321 (House)
- 2026-03-09: Reported date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86) (House)
- 2026-02-19: Accompanied a new draft, see H5131 (House)
- 2026-02-19: Reported from the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (as relates to sections 1 to 17, inclusive, 20 to 44, inclusive, 73 to 82, inclusive, and 87) (House)
- 2026-02-17: Reporting date extended to Friday, March 13, 2026 (sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86) (House)
- 2025-12-18: Sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, recommitted to the committee on Revenue (House)
- 2025-12-18: Reported on the residue of H4850 (House)
- 2025-12-18: Reported from the committee on House Rules (House)
- 2025-12-18: Sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, accompanied a study order, see H4850 (House)
- 2025-11-26: Reporting date extended to Friday, February 13, 2026 (sections 1 to 17, inclusive, 20 to 44, inclusive, 73 to 82, inclusive, and 87) (House)
- 2025-10-28: Hearing scheduled for 11/07/2025 from 10:00 AM-02:00 PM in Gardner Auditorium (legislature)
- 2025-09-22: Hearing rescheduled (Joint Committee on Public Service) 09/22/2025 from 01:00 PM-03:10 PM in A-2 and Virtual<br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2025-09-11: Hearing scheduled (Joint Committee on Public Service) for 09/22/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2 (legislature)
- 2025-08-21: Hearing rescheduled (Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government) to 10/28/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-1 and Virtual<br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing location changed</span> (legislature)
- 2025-08-01: Hearing scheduled (Municipalities and Regional Government) to 09/09/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1 and Virtual (legislature)
- 2025-07-31: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-07-31: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-07-31: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-07-17: Read; and referred, as relates to sections 45 to 72, inclusive, 85 and 86, to the committee on Revenue (House)
- 2025-07-17: Read; and referred, as relates to sections 18, 19, 83, 84, and 88 to the committee on Public Service (House)
- 2025-07-17: Read; and referred, as relates to sections 1 to 17, inclusive, 20 to 44, inclusive, 73 to 82, inclusive, and 87 to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House)

## Bill text

- As Filed: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H56.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 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)
- H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)

## Sources
- [As Filed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H56.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 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)
- [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H56-194 (as of 2026-11-01).