Press Release: 6/27/2025

Massachusetts Legislature Approves Joint Rules, Ushering in More Accessible, Efficient Lawmaking

 

June 26, 2025

 

The Massachusetts Legislature today adopted joint rules that will make lawmaking more efficient, transparent and accessible to the public while adjusting the legislative calendar to allow more time to get meaningful policy accomplished. The first agreed-upon joint rules since 2019, these new rules will now govern the legislative process, joint committees, and interactions between the House of Representatives and the Senate for the 2025-2026 legislative session. 

To increase public accessibility, committees will now post plain-language bill summaries online, the public will have more advance notice of hearings, and committee attendance and votes will be made public. To increase legislative efficiency, committees are allowed to act independently on bills from their respective chambers, and formal lawmaking will be allowed to continue for the full two-year session.

“These critical reforms are representative of the House’s strong commitment to the pursuit of a more accessible and efficient Legislature that is responsive to the concerns of our constituents,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “We remain focused on the all-important responsibility of bettering the General Court as an institution, a goal that I know so many of my colleagues are committed to. I want to thank Leader Moran, Chairman Galvin, and my colleagues in the House, as well as our partners in the Senate, for working diligently to find common ground, and to produce a strong set of meaningful reforms.”

“I’m proud of the contributions the Senate has made to this comprehensive joint rules agreement that will welcome the public into our day-to-day work in a much more transparent and accessible way, while adjusting the legislative calendar and workflow to better reflect how we operate today,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “Our best work on behalf of the people of Massachusetts happens when more voices are at the table, and these reforms are a positive step toward that goal. I’m deeply grateful to Majority Leader Creem and Rules Chair Lovely for their thoughtful leadership, to every Senator who contributed ideas and support, and to Speaker Mariano and our colleagues in the House for their shared commitment to joint rules that meet our current moment.”

“I want to thank Senator Creem and all the members of the conference committee for their valuable contributions to this rules reform package,” said Representative Michael J. Moran (D-Boston), House Majority Leader. “These new joint rules will hopefully reduce the legislative logjam of the past and increase accessibility and participation in our legislative process.”  

“I am proud to have helped lead the effort, on behalf of the Senate, to reach an agreement on the Legislature's joint rules, which reflects our shared commitment to transparency and increased public participation,” said Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “This is a meaningful step forward, made possible through close collaboration between the Senate and the House, and I am optimistic these reforms will bring greater clarity, accountability, and momentum to the work ahead.”

“These updates to the joint rules will streamline legislative work to aid efficiency and allow for more public involvement in the process,” Representative William C. Galvin (D-Canton), House Chair of the Joint Committee on Rules. “Our constituents are increasingly engaging in the legislative process online, and expect ample access to information on the progress of bills. These changes make information more accessible to the public on the legislative website in real time and provide more opportunities for residents to be involved.” 

“I am pleased that this conference committee was able to formulate a rules package that reflects the priorities of the House and Senate by increasing transparency in the legislative process while fostering more public participation in our democracy,” said Senator Joan B. Lovely (D-Salem), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Rules.

The joint rules approved today include the following reforms:

Joint committees structure and process

·Notice time for joint committee hearings will increase from 72 hours to 10 days. Joint committees must also post a schedule of hearing dates within three weeks of committee appointments.

·Hearings will be conducted jointly on all House and Senate bills, and after a bill is heard, the House or Senate Chair may unilaterally poll members of the committee from their respective branch on a bill that was filed in that branch.

·Money bills filed in the Senate, constitutional amendments filed in the House, and any matters not filed by a member of the General Court will continue to be voted on by all members of a joint committee.

Committee participation and votes

·Members of the public will be able to participate remotely in joint committee hearings, as will members of the Senate. Per House rules, House Members of a joint committee cannot participate remotely and must be physically present in the hearing room.

·Attendance of joint committee members at hearings posted with 10 days’ notice will be taken and available on the General Court website.

·How each individual member votes on the bills being acted upon by the committee will be posted on the General Court’s website.

Bill reporting deadlines

·Joint committees will be required to report bills by the first Wednesday in December of the first year of session. 

·Per House Rules, House Chairs will be required to make a final report not later than 60 days after a matter is heard by the committee, but they may request an additional 30 days, at their discretion. Additional extensions must be approved by the House. House bills cannot be extended beyond the third Wednesday in March of the second year of the session. Any bill not acted upon will be ordered to a study by default.

Summaries and other materials

·Joint committees will be required to produce plain-language summaries of all bills in time for their hearings, which will be posted to the General Court’s website.

·Joint committees will adopt rules making written testimony publicly available. The rules will contain limitations on the sharing of testimony including sensitive personal information, obscene content, or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness or safety of the testifier or others.

Conference committees

·The first meeting of conference committees will be open to the public. 

·A minimum of 24 hours of will be required between a conference committee report filing and a legislative vote. If a conference committee report is filed after 8 p.m., it cannot be voted on until the second calendar day following the day on which it was filed.

 

Formal lawmaking

The Legislature may meet in formal session after July 31 in the second year of the legislative session to take up the following matters: reports of conference committees formed on or before July 31; appropriation bills filed after July 31; and gubernatorial vetoes or amendments.

Joint rules review

At the end of the two-year session, the Joint Committee on Rules will conduct a comprehensive review of the joint rules. As part of the review, it will conduct a public hearing and solicit testimony from the public and other interested parties.

In addition to the joint rules approved today, the House and the Senate approved their own chamber’s rules in February to govern their internal operations.