Commonwealth of Massachusetts
JOINT COMMITTEE ON MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
State House, Boston 02133
Senator Rebecca L. Rausch, Senate Chair
Representative Jack Patrick Lewis, House Chair
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: State House Room 222
Subjects: Late files
The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government will hold a hybrid public hearing to accept written and oral testimony on the below-listed legislation. This hearing will be chaired by Senate Chair Becca Rausch. Please be advised that the docket is subject to change by agreement of the Chairs.
Persons seeking to provide oral testimony, whether in person or remotely, are asked to pre-register by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 6, 2026, using this online form: https://forms.office.com/g/TkCAGYZLxi. Persons seeking to testify remotely must pre-register by the stated deadline; further instructions on how to participate will be provided after registration. Persons seeking to provide in person testimony without pre-registering will be permitted to testify on the day of the hearing if time permits. Oral testimony is limited to 3 minutes per person. Oral testimony from panels is limited to 8 minutes total, to be distributed at the discretion of the panelists. Individuals and panels may testify only once, and testimony may cover multiple bills; all testimony must be completed within the stated time limits.
Written testimony does not require pre-registration and may be submitted via email to: jointcommittee.municipalities®ionalgovernment@malegislature.gov. Written testimony should be submitted not later than two (2) weeks following the hearing date.
| Bill No. | Sponsor | Document Title |
| H5171 | Duffy, Patricia A. (HOU) | An Act removing the Treasurer as Acting Mayor in the Holyoke Charter |
| H5261 | McKenna, Joseph D. (HOU) | An Act amending the town charter in the town of Oxford |
| H5294 | Sabadosa, Lindsay N. (HOU) | An Act establishing a temporary moratorium on large scale ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installations and battery energy storage systems in the town of Worthington |
| H5317 | Honan, Kevin G. (HOU) | An Act authorizing the grant of easements in or takings of certain parcels of land to the city of Boston |
| S3026 | Comerford, Joanne M. (SEN) | An Act providing equal opportunity for residents to vote on establishment of the Great River Regional School District |
| S3033 | Rush, Michael F. (SEN) | An Act authorizing the grant of easements in or takings of certain parcels of land to the city of Boston |
All matters filed in the House that are listed above will be subject to the reporting procedures in House Rule 27 and Joint Rule 10.
The public is invited to participate in this hybrid hearing, which will be livestreamed on the General Court website: https://malegislature.gov/. Hearings will be recorded and posted publicly on the Committee page: https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J10/Hearings.
At the discretion of the Chairs and per committee rules, written testimony received by the committee will be made publicly available. The committee may limit availability or redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information, information about minors, or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness, or safety of the testifier or others.
The Committee strongly prefers that written testimony be submitted by email, as specified above. If email submission is not possible, written testimony may be submitted in hard copy to:
Senator Becca Rausch, Senate Chair
Representative Jack Patrick Lewis, House Chair
Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government
State House Room 215
Boston, MA 02133
Questions regarding the hearing, legislation, or reasonable accommodations to ensure people with disabilities can participate fully in the committee process may be directed to Clay Spivey with Chair Rausch at Clayton.Spivey@masenate.gov or 617-722-1555, or Geoff Richelew with Chair Lewis at Geoffrey.Richelew@mahouse.gov.
