Municipal government

Senator Friedman has sponsored the following bills relative to municipal government in the 2019-2020 legislative session:

S1184 An Act relative to proceeds from the sale of bonds

  • Summary: This bill would make technical corrections to the changes made by the Municipal Modernization Act to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 44, section 20 related to a municipality’s treatment of premiums (net of issuance costs) received when issuing debt.

S1663 An Act relative to stormwater management and climate change adaptation

  • Summary: This bill would give municipalities the option of adopting an ecological tax exemption for satisfying local ecological needs. It would apply to real estate parcels that satisfy requirements for stormwater management, climate change adaptation, native-species habitat, vegetated permeable surface, vegetated water retention, water quality, soil health, foliage and tree cover, carbon sequestration, or other ecological services as specified by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and approved by the secretary of that office.

S1851 Resolve establishing a special commission to identify a suitable location for a justice complex in Southern Middlesex County

  • Summary: This bill would create a special commission to identify and evaluate potential sites suitable for the location of a replacement justice complex in southern Middlesex County.

S1968 An Act relative to the failure to remove existing poles

  • Summary: This bill would mandate that a distribution or telephone company that has installed a double pole must complete the necessary wire transfers and pole removal within 90 days from the date of instillation, or pay a $200 daily fine (after 90 days) to the municipality where the pole is located. For any commercial or industrial construction project expected to take longer than one year to complete, the distribution and telephone companies would have six months to remove the double pole before paying the daily $200 fine to the municipality where the pole is located.

Senator Friedman has co-sponsored the following bills relative to municipal government in the 2019-2020 legislative session:

H3676 An Act authorizing the town of Burlington to grant additional alcoholic beverage licenses

  • Summary: This would authorize the town of Burlington to grant additional alcoholic beverage licenses.