Wide-ranging reforms deliver more information to the public and adjust the legislative calendar
(BOSTON—6/26/2025) 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. Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington) celebrated the package, voting in favor of the new joint rules in Thursday’s Senate session.
“In February, we put forward significant reforms to how the Senate chamber operates, but also a joint rules proposal that would address the pressure points that impact how the Legislature as a whole conducts business,” said Senator Friedman, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules. “With these new joint rules, we still honor the traditions of one of the oldest state legislatures in the country but also improve and modernize our procedures. These reforms allow us to be more transparent, effective, and efficient so that we are able to better serve our constituents.”
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.
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.
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