Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Due to changes in legislative rules this session, conference committees are continuing to meet to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of a dozen important bills.
Under the rules, conference committees have through Jan. 5, 2027, to work out differences between the bills and issue final compromise language, which will go before each chamber for a final vote without an opportunity for amendments.
The legislation under negotiation that’s of greatest interest to cities and towns is an economic development bill, an environmental bond bill (known as the Mass Ready Act), and an energy affordability bill.
Economic development
Economic development bills passed by the House and Senate in July include funding via bond authorizations and a wide range of policy provisions.
Zoning: Each branch included proposed by-right zoning changes that would significantly impact cities and towns. The Senate bill would allow duplexes by right in residential zones, while the House bill would mandate multifamily housing by right on land owned by religious institutions.
The MMA strongly opposes both proposals, as these types of by-right provisions undermine essential local decision-making and bypass community input. The MMA is also concerned about a Senate provision that would create a “preference modifier” for all grant applicants that have specific zoning or land-use policies for all discretionary and competitive grant funding across all agencies.
Alcohol: The Senate bill would return control of bar and restaurant liquor licenses to cities and towns. The Senate included local-option provisions for municipalities to permit happy hour pricing on alcoholic beverages and to allow public drinking in designated areas, as happened this past summer under a pilot program.
Public meetings: The Senate bill would codify existing remote and hybrid public meeting flexibilities, as well as remote provisions for representative town meetings. These existing authorizations are set to expire next June. The Senate included a provision aimed at limiting nuisance open meeting law violation complaints, allowing a municipality to seek relief from the attorney general’s office if a complainant files more than 12 complaints within a year.
Municipal buildings: The Senate bill would create a commission to study the concept of a Municipal and Public Safety Building Authority. The commission’s charge would be to develop a framework to assist cities and towns with the construction, rehabilitation, and long-term management of municipal and public safety facilities.
Smart growth: The Senate bill would update payments for Chapter 40R Smart Growth zoning.
Other provisions: Both the House and Senate bills include provisions that would:
• Standardize site plan review
• Create an opt-in program for communities wishing to convert commercial buildings to housing
• Create regulations for micromobility devices (such as motorized bikes, scooters and skateboards), including a speed tier classification system and standardized definitions
• Allow municipalities to create bylaws allowing for tenants of multifamily buildings to have a right of first refusal when the building is sold
Funding: Grant authorizations in either the House or Senate bill (or both) include:
• $25 million to support the Downtown Vitality Fund
• $25 million for Creative Economy and Cultural Infrastructure grants
• $50 million for grants and technical assistance for municipalities that have opted in to the commercial conversion program
• $20 million for community development financial institutions
• $75 million for the development and application of AI
• See MMA letter to economic development bill conference committee
Environmental bond bill
Environmental bond bills passed by each branch include funding to strengthen infrastructure, invest in farms and local economies, protect water sources and the environment, reform permitting for housing and environmental initiatives, and support the western and central regions of the state.
The Senate passed its $3.94 billion version on April 15, and the House passed its $3.5 billion version on June 17.
Authorizations: The House bill includes $315 million for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program, in line with the governor’s proposal, while the Senate bill includes $500 million.
The House bill includes $385 million for water pollution abatement work, including the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, while the Senate recommended $450 million. Both bills include $120 million for PFAS remediation projects.
Both the House and Senate included a $93.5 million authorization for inland flood and dam control projects, while the House proposed $50 million more than the Senate did for a coastal infrastructure authorization, bringing it to $250 million.
Extended producer responsibility: The House included an extended producer responsibility framework for statewide mattress recycling, while the Senate tackled paint recycling.
Light pollution: The House bill would require that state and municipal governments purchase lighting fixtures that conform with certain guidelines and certifications to reduce light pollution.
Combined sewers: The House bill would create a new series of planning, testing and reporting requirements for water bodies and waterways impacted by combined sewers.
Non-flushable wipes: The Senate bill includes a labeling requirement for non-flushable wipe products to help consumers avoid improper disposal.
Shade trees: The Senate bill would update the public shade tree law.
Drought management: The Senate bill would allow the state to impose water conservation measures, including but not limited to nonessential outdoor watering restrictions, across drought regions or basins. Currently, the state can only impose such requirements during a Level 4: Emergency Drought. This provision would make municipalities responsible for expanded enforcement and oversight of conservation restrictions.
Prioritization of funding: The Senate bill would require the Executive Office for Administration and Finance to help institute a “preference modifier” for municipalities that have zoning or land use policies that encourage the production of housing (such as as-of-right zoning for multifamily housing, elimination of parking minimums for residential use, elimination of lot size requirements, and wastewater and wetlands standards that do not exceed state health or environmental standards). This would apply to all discretionary or competitive grant programs authorized under the environmental bond bill.
“Priority housing projects”: The Senate bill would exempt newly defined “priority housing projects” from local regulations or rules that go above and beyond the minimum state codes for wastewater and wetlands protection.
Right of first refusal: Both the House and Senate bills include a new right of first refusal for the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Department of Conservation and Recreation for Chapter 61, 61A, and 61B lands, subsequent to the municipal process.
• See MMA letter to environmental bond bill conference committee
Energy affordability
The Senate passed its version of a sweeping energy affordability bill on July 1, after the House passed its bill in March. The bills take different approaches to addressing energy affordability while continuing to make progress on clean energy efforts statewide.
The House bill would create nearly $1 billion in savings by reducing funding for the Mass Save program, which provides services, rebates, incentives, and training to promote energy efficiency statewide. The Senate bill would realize $1.46 billion in savings by narrowing the scope of the Gas System Enhancement Program, which is designed to repair or replace aged natural gas infrastructure. These proposals would result in lowering related surcharges on consumer bills.
Third-party suppliers: Both bills would give municipalities the option to ban third-party competitive energy suppliers, marketers or brokers from renewing or executing new contracts in their city or town (while not impacting municipal aggregation programs).
Solar generation cap: The Senate bill would strike a section of state law that caps the amount of solar generation — currently set at 10 megawatts — for which a city or town may obtain net metering credits. Rather than removing the cap, the House’s bill would raise it to 20 megawatts.
Accelerated solar permitting: Both the Senate and House bills would require municipalities to use an online platform created by the state and designed to streamline and accelerate the permitting process for small, residential solar arrays. If a municipality does not use the state’s platform, an equivalent would have to provide baseline efficiencies (including online submission for permit documents and forms and electronic approvals). The Senate bill would require the state platform to be provided at no cost to cities and towns, and includes more explicit responsibilities for the Department of Energy Resources to facilitate the use of the platform.
Clean energy siting and permitting technical support: The Senate bill would allow cities and towns to use Section 53G consultants for the new local clean energy siting and permitting process, which took effect statewide on Oct. 1.
• See MMA letter to energy affordability bill conference committee