Massachusetts Statutes

Section 5. The state secretary shall be the custodian of the coat of arms, seal and flags of the commonwealth and all representations of said arms, seal and flags shall conform strictly to the specifications which shall be prepared under the direction of the state secretary in th…

Section 50. The author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, shall be the official children's author and children's illustrator of the commonwealth.

Section 51. The Boston Cream Donut shall be the official donut of the commonwealth.

Section 52. The Bay State Tartan shall be the official District Tartan of the commonwealth.

Section 53. Blue, green and cranberry shall be the official colors of the commonwealth.

Section 54. The musician, Henry St. Clair Fredericks, better known as Taj Mahal, shall be the official Blues Artist of the commonwealth.

Section 55. The sport of basketball shall be the official sport of the commonwealth.

Section 56. Benjamin Franklin shall be the official inventor of the commonwealth.

Section 57. The garter snake shall be the official reptile of the commonwealth.

Section 58. Norman Rockwell shall be the official artist of the commonwealth.

Section 59. Rolling Rock, located in the city of Fall River, shall be the glacial rock of the commonwealth.

Section 6. The flag of the United States and the flag of the commonwealth shall be displayed on the main or administration building of each public institution of the commonwealth. The flags shall be of suitable dimensions and shall be flown every day when the weather permits. All…

Section 60. The city of Salem shall be designated and known as the birthplace of the National Guard.

Section 61. Ms. G of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Inc. shall be the official groundhog of the commonwealth and shall be utilized as a way to educate elementary school children on the importance of meteorology. [Text of section added by 2014, 208. See also, Section 61 added …

Section 62. The Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey shall be the official vessel of the commonwealth.

Section 63. The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument located in Bicentennial Park in the city of Fall River shall be the official Gold Star Families Memorial Monument of the commonwealth. [Text of section added by 2016, 260. See, also, Section 63 added by 2016, 141, Sec. 1, above…

Section 64. The Podokesaurus holyokensis shall be the official dinosaur of the commonwealth.

Section 6A. The flag of the commonwealth shall be flown at half-staff at or on the main or administration building of each public institution of the commonwealth, at or on each other state-owned or state-controlled building, and at all state military installations on the followin…

Section 6B. (a) The Massachusetts Iraq and Afghanistan Fallen Heroes Memorial shall be erected in Seaport Square park in the South Boston Waterfront of the city of Boston and shall be the official memorial of the commonwealth to honor all post-September 11, 2001 veterans of the c…

Section 7. The mayflower (epigaea repens) shall be the flower or floral emblem of the commonwealth. Any person who pulls up or digs up the plant of the mayflower or any part thereof, or injures such plant or any part thereof except in so far as is reasonably necessary in procurin…

Section 8. The American elm (Ulmus americana) shall be the tree or tree emblem of the commonwealth.

Section 9. The chickadee (Penthestes atricapillus) shall be the bird or bird emblem of the commonwealth.

Section 1. The state secretary shall receive the copies of records of votes cast for representatives to the general court and shall lay such copies of records before the governor and council. On or before the Tuesday next preceding the first Wednesday of January following a state…

Section 10. Each member of the general court who is chosen to fill a vacancy or who resigns from the general court during a regular annual session shall be entitled to any additional compensation that a member may receive pursuant to section 9B and an allowance for expenses pursu…

Section 10A. In special elections, called for the purposes of filling a vacancy in the general court, state funds for compensation of members pursuant to section nine of chapter three of the General Laws not expended during such period of vacancy shall not revert to the General F…

Section 12. The clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall each receive such salary as may be established by the committee on rules of the senate or the committee on rules of the house of representatives, as the case may be, and each shall hold office…

Section 12A. Facsimiles of the signatures of the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives on endorsements of bills, reports of committees and other legislative documents shall have the same validity and effect as their written signatures.

Section 12B. The clerks of the 2 branches shall in every odd-numbered year prepare a manual for the general court. Such number of copies of the manual as the committees on rules shall determine shall be printed under the direction of the clerks of the 2 branches.

Section 13. The clerks of the senate and house of representatives, subject to the approval of the senate and house, respectively, may each appoint an assistant clerk and a second assistant clerk, who shall receive such salaries as may be established by the committee on rules of t…

Section 14. The chaplain of the house of representatives shall receive such salary as may be established by the committee on rules of the house of representatives, as the case may be.

Section 15. The general court shall choose a sergeant-at-arms who shall hold office until removed or until another is chosen. The sergeant-at-arms may be removed by the general court. The sergeant-at-arms shall receive such salary as may be established by the committees on rules …

Section 16. In case of the disability or necessary absence of the sergeant-at-arms of the general court and of the sergeant-at-arms of the house of representatives, the sergeant-at-arms may appoint, with the approval of the presiding officers of the 2 branches of the general cour…

Section 17. The sergeant-at-arms shall serve such processes and execute such orders as may be enjoined upon him by the general court or by either branch thereof, attend the members or clerks of either branch when they are charged with a message from one branch to the other or to …

Section 18. There shall be 2 chief general court officers for each branch, each with the title of assistant sergeant-at-arms, and such assistant chief general court officers, general court officers and pages as shall be established by the committees on rules of the 2 branches of …

Section 19. The number of chief general court officers, assistant chief general court officers, general court officers and pages of the senate and of the house shall not exceed 92 in all.

Section 2. The persons named on the lists delivered to the sergeant-at-arms shall be admitted to take seats as members in the representatives' chamber on said first Wednesday of January or thereafter during the terms for which they are elected.

Section 20A. Subject to appropriation, the sergeant-at-arms may purchase uniforms for the sergeant-at-arms, general court officers and pages as the sergeant-at-arms may determine.

Section 21. The sergeant-at-arms shall, immediately after his election, with the approval of the presiding officers of the two branches of the general court, appoint such employees as are necessary to fill any existing vacancies in the employees provided for by section eighteen; …

Section 22. The journals, files and papers of the senate and of the house of representatives shall be in the custody of their respective clerks during the session to which they relate and after that session they shall be in the custody of the state secretary. The clerk of each br…

Section 22A. Such number of copies of the journals of the senate and of the house of representatives as the committees on rules shall determine shall be printed annually under the direction of the clerks of the 2 branches.

Section 23. Bills and resolves passed to be engrossed by the general court, and bills for which initiative petitions are completed under the constitution of the commonwealth, shall, under the direction of the committees on rules of the 2 branches, acting concurrently, be fairly e…

Section 24. All proposed amendments to the constitution which have been agreed to in joint session of the two houses of the general court in the manner prescribed by the constitution shall be engrossed on parchment or parchment paper, certified by the clerk of such joint session,…

Section 26. No periodicals, publications or books, other than those printed for the use of the general court, shall be ordered for members thereof at the expense of the commonwealth.

Section 27. Senators and representatives, acting as members of a committee of the general court, may administer oaths to persons examined before such committee.

Section 28. A person shall not be excused from attending and testifying before either branch of the general court or before a committee thereof upon a subject referred to such committee on the ground that his testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, may tend to criminate …