On February 7, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a major deadline in the 2023 – 2024 legislative session, known as “Joint Rule 10 Day.” This is the day by which all of the Joint Committees must act on every bill before them.
Committees can advance a bill favorably, they can amend a bill and then advance it, or they can send the bill to “study,” a euphemism for ending that bill’s journey for that session. If the committee needs more time to work on a particular bill, they must request an extension to continue their work past the Joint Rule 10 deadline. A number of our bills have been granted extensions.
I am delighted to share that many of the bills my team and I filed on your behalf in our 2023-2024 Legislative Agenda advanced out of Committee favorably by this deadline.
We’ve provided updates on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) on some individual bills, but we wanted to compile a full list of bills that have advanced in one place, below. (Please note that this list does not include our Home Rule Petitions, pieces of legislation we have filed seeking state approval for the local actions of municipalities, which have advanced this session.)
The following bills were advanced favorably by Committees by the Joint Rule 10 deadline, and some were advanced well prior to that deadline and have already passed the Senate.
Joint Committee on Agriculture:
An Act protecting our soil and farms from PFAS contamination *
An Act promoting equity in agriculture *
An Act strengthening local food systems *
An Act promoting the growing and use of hemp and hemp products *
Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities:
An Act allowing spouses to serve as caregivers
Joint Committee on Education:
An Act to provide a sustainable future for rural schools
An Act fairly reimbursing local school transportation of foster children
An Act establishing a Green and Healthy Schools working group and implementation plan
An Act prohibiting the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth
Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources:
An Act expanding access to trails for people of all abilities
Joint Committee on Health Care Financing:
An Act protecting the homes of seniors and disabled people on MassHealth
Joint Committee on Higher Education:
An Act improving access to affordable higher education
An Act improving access to affordable community college
Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery:
An Act relative to student mental health
Joint Committee on Public Health:
An Act prohibiting nonconsensual intimate examinations of anesthetized or unconscious patients *
An Act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer *
An Act relative to menstrual product ingredient disclosure *
An Act relative to end of life options
An Act expanding access to the certified nurses’ aides certification process *^
Joint Committee on Revenue:
An Act to reform payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned land *
Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:
An Act establishing gender-neutral bathrooms ^
Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy:
An Act incorporating embodied carbon into state climate policy
Joint Committee on Transportation:
An Act relative to gender identity on Massachusetts identification **
An Act facilitating cost efficient transportation
* — The bill was reported favorably from its Committee well prior to the Joint Rule 10 deadline.
** — The bill already passed the full Senate.
^ — The bill was partially or fully enacted through regulations from agencies or the Administration.
