Press Release: 9/11/2025

Senate to Take Up Legislation on Fentanyl Testing Equipment, Rental Car Costs, and Day Habilitation Protections

 

September 11, 2025

 

(BOSTON—9/11/2025) Next week, the Massachusetts Senate will take up three pieces of legislation to create legal protections for people who administer fentanyl testing equipment, protect day habilitation participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and help lower rental car costs in the Commonwealth.

The bills were polled out of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means today and approved by committee membership to go to the floor.

An Act relative to fentanyl test strips, S.1057, builds on measures in last year’s overdose prevention legislation by ensuring that people in Massachusetts can use key testing materials to determine whether a substance contains fentanyl or its related synthetic opioids. A comprehensive fact sheet on the legislation is available here.

An Act to update Nicky’s Law, S.165, protects people with intellectual or developmental disabilities from abuse at MassHealth day habilitation services by closing a gap in existing law. A comprehensive fact sheet on the legislation is available here.

An Act relative to affordable car rentals, S.2367, brings the rental car industry in Massachusetts onto the same playing field as the vast majority of other states and promotes continued access to affordable vehicle rentals. A comprehensive fact sheet on the legislation is available here.

Votes of members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee are available online on each bill’s webpage.