H1742 • 2025

An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Christopher Hendricks
Last action: 2026-03-26
Official status: Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations

An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations By Representative Hendricks of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations By Representative Hendricks of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
1742) of Christopher Hendricks for legislation to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations.
The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-26 House
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
2025-10-20 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 07/29/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:10 PM in A-2
2025-07-29 Joint
Hearing rescheduled to 07/29/2025 from 01:00 PM-06:00 PM in A-2 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time
2025-07-29 Joint
Hearing rescheduled to 07/29/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:10 PM in A-2 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time
2025-07-16 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 07/29/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on The Judiciary
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred
House
Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations
By Representative Hendricks of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1742) of Christopher Hendricks for legislation to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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Bill H.1742

Section 85K of Chapter 231 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence of the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:

It shall not constitute a defense to any cause of action based on tort brought against a corporation, trustees of a trust, or members of an association that said corporation, trust or association is or at the time the cause of action arose was a charity; provided, that if the tort was committed in the course of any activity carried on to accomplish directly the charitable purposes of such corporation, trust or association, and such corporation, trust or association derives more than fifty percent of its income from charitable gifts or donations, then liability in any such cause of action shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars, exclusive of interest and costs.

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