# Massachusetts S 2963: An Act authorizing the town of Milton to use certain land acquired for conservation purposes for school purposes

Massachusetts S 2963, An Act authorizing the town of Milton to use certain land acquired for conservation purposes for school purposes, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) Senate bill sponsored by William J. Driscoll Jr. (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-06-10 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2026); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-S2963-194
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Massachusetts S 2963
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act authorizing the town of Milton to use certain land acquired for conservation purposes for school purposes
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-02-19
- Last action: 2026-06-10, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2026
- Sponsor: William J. Driscoll Jr. (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Municipalities and Regional Government, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 2 (154 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Milton can use conservation land for schools: benefit, low. The law lets the town of Milton keep using the listed conservation land for school purposes through June 30, 2033. It replaces the old end date of June 30, 2028. The change takes effect upon passage. It applies only to the land covered in Chapter 147 of the Acts of 2024.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: William J. Driscoll Jr. (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-06-04 | House | Enacted | pass | 149 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-06 | committee | Committee Favorable: Ought to pass | pass | 5 | 0 |   |

## Actions (17)

- 2026-06-10: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2026
- 2026-06-04: Laid before the Governor (Senate)
- 2026-06-04: Enacted -see Roll Call #189 (Yeas 39 to Nays 0) (Senate)
- 2026-06-04: Enacted - 149 YEAS to 0 NAYS (See YEA and NAY No. 202) (House)
- 2026-06-03: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2026-06-03: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-04-16: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2026-04-16: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-04-16: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2026-03-23: Read; and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2026-03-19: Read second, ordered to a third reading, read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-03-19: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Bill reported favorably by committee and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: Hearing rescheduled to 03/03/2026 from 01:00 PM-01:30 PM in 222 and Virtual<br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2026-02-26: Hearing scheduled for 03/03/2026 from 01:00 PM-03:00 PM in 222 (legislature)
- 2026-02-25: House concurred (House)
- 2026-02-19: Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (Senate)

## Bill text

- Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-06-10: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S2963.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 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)

## Sources
- [Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S2963.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 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-S2963-194 (as of 2026-11-01).