The House and the Senate are collectively known as the Massachusetts General Court, http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/legis/legis.htm The annual session of the General Court for each year begins on the first Wednesday of January and dissolves when the legislative business is completed for the year and the legislators vote to "prorogue" (dissolve). If proposed legislation is not enacted by the end of the session, it dies and must be reintroduced in the next session.
The General Court's website provides information on legislators, committees, the current version of General Laws of Massachusetts, bill tracking and bill text of the current legislative session, session law texts from 1997-, as well as House Journals from 2001- and Senate Journals from 1998-.
Proposed legislation
Proposed legislation may be filed: (1) by the Governor; (2) as a recommendation from the a state officer or agency; (3) in a report of a special commission specifically appointed to do so by the General Court; (4) as a committee bill; or (5) by petition. Legislators may introduce a bill by petition, and also the Massachusetts Constitution guarantees citizens the right to introduce bills via initiative petition. Mass. Const. Amend. Art. 48.
Public hearings
After filing, proposed legislation is referred to one of the joint committees, and a public hearing on each bill is mandatory. The committee summarily reports (e.g., recommends without producing a written report) that the bill ought to pass or ought not to pass, and indicates if the bill was discharged to another committee, and/or if the committee redrafted it and assigned it a new bill number.
Readings of the bill
Three separate readings of each bill (in both the House and Senate) are required and the bill must be reviewed by the "Standing Committee for Bills in the Third Reading" (which conducts a review for technical accuracy and constitutional validity) prior to the third reading's taking place. After the third hearing, the House or Senate can pass a bill to be "engrossed" (enacted).
Bill signed into law
If the House and Senate agree on the bill to be engrossed, it goes to the "Engrossing Division of the General Court", then back to each branch to be actually engrossed, e.g., the Speaker of the House signs, and the President of the Senate signs. (If, however, the two branches disagree on the bill to be engrossed, the matter goes to a conference committee.) The engrossed bill proceeds to the Governor. The Governor must sign, return with amendments, or veto within 10 days or the bill becomes law automatically (without signature) except that if the legislature prorogues (dissolves) within the 10 day period, then the bill dies by what is called "pocket veto".
Effective date
The legislation is effective in 90 days, except where otherwise provided. (Special Acts are usually effective in 30 days unless otherwise noted.)
See also:
Lawmaking in Massachusetts, by Commonwealth of Massachusetts, http://www.state.ma.us/legis/lawmkng.htm,
Lawmaking in Massachusetts, by Secretary of the Commonwealth, http://www.state.ma.us.sec/trs/trslaw/lawidx.htm,
Massachusetts Legislative History, by State Library of Massachusetts, http://www.state.ma.us/lib/legishistory/legis2.htm
http://www.state.ma.us/lib/legishistory/leg_res.htm
Bill number
Whether researching legislative intent behind enacted legislation or delving into the political
machinations surrounding bills that did not pass, the pursuit begins with a bill number.
For enacted legislation, the annotated code provides the session number. In print resources, the session law number leads to
the bill number only for the current session of the legislature, e.g., advance legislative service pamphlets of annotated codes give bill numbers underneath chapter headings of session laws. Older bill numbers can be found by subject and/or date
in a variety of resources:
1997-, the General Court's official website, http://www.state.ma.us/legis;
1972-, Guide to Massachusetts General & Special Acts;
1919-1996 (NESL only has from 1975-), the Bulletin of Committee Work;
1726-69 and 1865-, in the House and Senate Journals subject indices;
1972-, the Legislative Record;
1983-, Numerical Lists: introductions to the General Court (Mass. House & Senate Documents).
Westlaw legislative history resources include session laws from 1987-, bill tracking and bill texts from 1991-, House Journals from 2001-, Senate Journals from 1998-, Joint Sessions from 2000-. In the online environment, the session law document contains the bill number also.
Lexis has bills from the current session only for Massachusetts, but bill tracking reports from 1990. The click route in the Lexis Source Directory is: States Legal > Combined States > Statutues & Legal Materials > Bill Tracking > All states (and use Massachusetts as a keyword in search).
Bill history
A bill history gives an abstract of a bill and summarizes its pathway through the legislature. The Massachusetts General Court has a Legislative Tracking System, e.g., bill histories, for the current legislative session. http://www.state.ma.us/legis/ltsform.htm. Westlaw has bill histories from 1990. NESL has bill histories from 1967-1972 on microfiche (Documents. Legislative documents on film),cabinet 34); in print, in the Legislative Record (1972-). Bills are in numerical order, with House bills and Senate bills in separate sections. An typical entry looks like ths:
"H4005.
Initiative petition of Denise A. Jillson and others for the passage of
An Act to prohibit rent control in Massachusetts, except where
voluntary, following an initial 6-month period (received on January
10 from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, having been
transmitted by him to the Clerk of the House of Representatives as
required by Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the
Constitution). 1/10-H Referred to the committee on LOCAL
AFFAIRS: 3/23-S Senate concurred - SJ 189; P Hearing date May
3 am; 1/18/95 Approved by people at state election, became law
Chapter 368 Acts."
After 1970, both Journals provide bill histories in the appropriate annual volume.
Public hearings, closed committee sessions, and floor debate transcripts
Closed committee sessions and floor debates are not transcribed. Selected public hearings on audio or video at Massachusetts State Library.
Note the most recent couple of years of audio/video will not be cataloged but are listed here: http://www.mass.gov/lib/sc/hearings.htm
Newspapers and news services
State House News Service, http://www.statehousenews.com . Commercial wire service covering the Massachusetts legislative and executive branches.
(See NESL reference librarian for password).
Massachusetts newspaper databases online (Westlaw, Lexis, Infotrac).
"Legislative package" refers to the original petition with names of all the petitioners, changes in the bill as recorded by the Clerks, and substituted or changed bills. Since no committee documents are included, legislative packages may be of limited help in determining legislative intent. For the current and previous year, legislative packages are held by the Clerks of the House and the Senate. Older legislative packages are in the Massachusetts Archives at Columbia Point.
"Legislative file" refers to the materials assembled for the Governor to give him or her background information about bills that are received for signature. Current legislative files are held by the Governor; prior Governors' files are housed in the State Archives.
The Governor's legislative files summarize and analyze each enacted law sent to him or her for approval, for the current administration only. The Office of the Governor is at: http://mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=aghome&agid=gov
The State Library, http://www.mass.gov/lib, provides a wealth of legislative history compilation assistance through its website and onsite has House and Senate bills from 1930-, indexes to special reports authorized by the General Court, Governor's messages, State House News Service (press releases) from 1975- selected late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Massachusetts newspapers. A file is also kept of political action committee information. The Special Collections section of the state library, located in Room 55 in the basement of the State House, contains audio and videotapes of regular sessions as well as selected public hearings. It also contains legislative documents from colonial times to approximately 1930.
Public hearings before 1992 were neither recorded nor transcribed. Videotape coverage after 1992 is selective. Access is through the State Library. House debates have been audiotaped since 1984 and videotaped from 1987. Senate debates have been videotaped since 1993. Committee sessions are not transcribed. Massachusetts legislative floor debates are likewise not transcribed and therefore not found in House and Senate Journals, unlike at the federal level where debates are in the Congressional Record.
The State Archives contain "legislative packages" from 1629-present, as well as historical records of the Governor's office ("legislative files") and state agencies.
State Library of Massachusetts, http://www.mass.gov/lib
Room 341, State House
Boston, MA 02133
Weekdays 9-5
(617)-727-2590
Massachusetts Archives at Columbia Point, http://www.state.ma.us/sec/arc
220 Morrisey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125
Weekdays 9-5, Sat. 9-3
(617)-727-2816
Summary Guide to Holdings, http://www.state.ma.us/sec/arc/arcpdf/sumhold.pdf