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H879 • 2025

An Act to preserve local decision making during an emergency

An Act to preserve local decision making during an emergency

Elections
Active

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

Sponsor
Tommy Vitolo
Last action
2026-03-19
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5253 (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 preserve local decision making during an emergency

An Act to preserve local decision making during an emergency By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to preserve local decision making during an emergency By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 879) of Tommy Vitolo for legislation to authorize cities and towns to postpone town meetings due to certain short-term emergencies.
  • Election Laws.

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

  1. 2026-03-19 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5253 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-06-27 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 07/08/2025 from 01:00 PM-04:00 PM in B-1

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Election Laws

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  5. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act to preserve local decision making during an emergency
By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 879) of Tommy Vitolo for legislation to authorize cities and towns to postpone town meetings due to certain short-term emergencies. Election Laws.

Current Bill Text

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Bill H.879

Chapter 30A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 20 the following 3 sections:-

Section 20A: (a) A town may postpone any town meeting for up to 14 calendar days, with the approval of the moderator, provided that a short-term emergency prevents the meeting from taking place at the scheduled place and time.

(b) The moderator shall provide notice of the rescheduled town meeting, in a manner consistent with the notice provisions for a regularly scheduled town meeting, not less than 48 hours before the rescheduled meeting will take place.

(c)

All actions taken pursuant to this section are hereby ratified, validated and confirmed to the same extent as if the town meeting had been conducted in accordance with all other applicable laws, charter provisions, ordinances and by-laws.

Section 20B: (a) In an emergency that is expected to last more than 14 days, a town may request approval from the attorney general’s office to hold a town meeting according to the rules established in section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021. The chair of the select board or board of selectmen, along with the moderator, shall submit a written request to the attorney general’s office requesting to meet according to said section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021, explaining the nature of the emergency and how long they anticipate the emergency will last.

(b) Provided that the attorney general’s office provides the town with written approval to meet according to said section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 for a specified length of time, all actions taken pursuant to this section are hereby ratified, validated and confirmed to the same extent as if the town meeting had been conducted in accordance with all other applicable laws, charter provisions, ordinances and by-laws.

Section 20C. (a) In an emergency that is expected to last more than 14 days, a town may request approval from the attorney general’s office to hold public meetings and hearings according to the rules established in section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021. The chair of the select board or board of selectmen, or mayor, shall submit a written request to the attorney general’s office requesting that public meetings be held according to section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021, explaining the nature of the emergency and how long they anticipate the emergency will last.

(b) Provided that the attorney general’s office provides the town with written approval to meet according to section 20 of chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 for a specified length of time, all actions taken pursuant to this section are hereby ratified, validated and confirmed to the same extent as if the town meeting had been conducted in accordance with all other applicable laws, charter provisions, ordinances and by-laws.

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