THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 24, 2025 Page 19 BHRC | FROM PAGE 17 tal outcomes that change lives forever.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Jason Lewis Yes ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL THE HOUSE GAVE INITIAL APPROVAL TO SEVERAL BILLS INCLUDING: FIRE CHIEF MUST BE A FORMER FIREFIGHTER (H 2646) – Would require that any candidates for appointment to the position of Fire Chief, Fire Commissioner or head of a fire department in any city or town, must have been a uniformed member of the Massachusetts firefighting force of a Massachusetts Fire Department for a minimum of five years. Supporters said this would ensure that anyone appointed to one of these high positions has some firsthand experience as a firefighter and has come up through the ranks. Rep. Dan Hunt (D-Boston), the sponsor of the measure, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call to comment on his bill and its passage. REQUIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEMS (H 2644) – Would allow cities and towns to require the installation of an automatic sprinkler system in any building with more than four units, which “undergoes a major alteration or modification and is occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes” including lodging houses, boarding houses, fraternity houses, dormitories, apartments, townhouses, condominiums, hotels, motels and group residences. This requirement would replace a current law that allows cities and towns to require the installation of an automatic sprinkler system in any building with more than four units, which is “substantially rehabilitated so as to constitute the equivalent of new construction.” Both the current law and the bill allow cities and towns to require the installation of an automatic sprinkler system in newly constructed buildings. Supporters of the bill said that the “major alteration” standard is more inclusive and will apply to more buildings than the “substantially rehabilitated so as to constitute the equivalent of new construction” standard. They argued that changing the standard will save more lives. They noted that automatic sprinklers work fast and give people more time to escape. They said that according to the Massachusetts Fire Sprinkler Coalition, having both sprinklers and smoke alarms reduces the risk of dying in a home fire by 80 percent. They also pointed out that automatic sprinklers put out 90 percent of home fires before the fire department arrives, which reduces firefighters’ exposure to the toxic products of combustion that cause cancer. Once again, Rep. Dan Hunt (D-Boston), the sponsor of the proposal, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on his bill and its approval. ABSENTEE BALLOTS (H 830) – Would require that early voting and absentee ballots be identical to a regular ballot that voters use on Election Day. Supporters said that current law only requires the ballots to be “similar.” They argued that it makes no sense for any of these three ballots to be different from each other. Rep. Richard Haggerty (D-Woburn), the sponsor of the measure, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call to comment on his bill and its passage. GOVERNOR’S COUNCILOR (H 805) – Would require that when candidates for Governor’s Council are listed on a voter ballot, the office they are seeking be listed as Governor’s Council. Under current law, the listing says simply “Council.” Supporters said that using the word “Council” is too vague and many voters have no idea about the office for which they are voting. They note that the Governor’s Council is a very important and powerful 8-member board which according to its website “meets weekly to record advice and consent on warrants for the state treasury, pardons and commutations, and recording advice and consent to gubernatorial appointments such as judges, clerk-magistrates, public administrators, members of the Parole Board, Appellate Tax Board, Industrial Accident Board and Industrial Accident Reviewing Board, notaries and justices of the peace.” Reps. Simon Cataldo (D-Concord) and Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury), the co-sponsors of the proposal, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them to comment on their bill and its approval. MUST PROVIDE CUSTOMERS INSURANCE FOR HEATING OIL SPILLS (H 1302) – Would require insurance companies that provide homeowners insurance to include insurance for heating oil releases to their customers. The measure also raises the required minimum coverage provided. Supporters said that some 100 homeowners experience an oil leak in Massachusetts every year. They noted that leaks can incur costly damage to the residence itself, but under Massachusetts law, owners are responsible for environmental cleanup, which can rise to $100,000 or more, to dispose of contaminated soil and mitigate the spread in surrounding areas. “Under current law, insurers are not mandated to provide coverage for heating oil releases but are only required to make it available to customers that explicitly request it,” said sponsor Rep. Jeff Roy (D-Franklin). “However, most homeowners are unaware that an oil spill is excluded from their base coverage. Most only discover this after they experience a catastrophic spill. In contrast, residential catastrophes stemming from other common forms of energy [like] natural gas and electricity, etc. are covered under typical homeowners’ policies.” Roy continued, “This means that all insurance payers contribute to paying such claims, regardless of whether they use that form of energy or not including those using home heating oil. My bill addresses this inequity by requiring that coverage be provided automatically to all homeowners and raising coverage limits to keep pace with rising cleanup costs. This small affirmative change will help prevent homeowners from going bankrupt or funding environmental cleanups with their retirement funds, children’s college funds or their life’s savings.” "This legislation is about ensuring that no family loses their home or savings because of an accident they never saw coming,” said the Senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow). “[My bill] will work to help prevent homeowners from going bankrupt or funding environmental cleanups by requiring that coverage automatically be provided to all homeowners and raising coverage limits to keep pace with rising cleanup costs." BAN EMPLOYERS FROM ASKING FOR CREDIT REPORTS (H 4450) - Would prohibit employers from obtaining the credit reports of existing or potential employees except in certain circumstances including hiring for a position that requires national security clearance; a position for which a person is required by federal or state law to obtain a consumer report; and some executive or managerial positions at a financial institution. “The [bill] reduces barriers to employment by limiting the use of personal credit reports in the hiring process,” said the original sponsor of the bill in 2024, former Duxbury representative Josh Cutler, who is now Gov. Maura Healey’s Undersecretary of Apprenticeship, Work-based Learning and Policy in the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. ”Credit scores were never intended to be used for employment purposes and pre-employment credit checks can create needless barriers for otherwise qualified workers. Eleven other states already taken similar steps.” Rep. Kenneth Gordon (D-Bedford), the sponsor of the proposal, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on his bill and its approval. REQUIRE UNIFORM BALLOTS (H 832) – Would require all election ballots to be uniform in size. “[My bill] requires all ballots be uniform in size, material and content for all voters, whether marked by hand or using a ballot-marking device,” said sponsor Rep. Sean Garballey (D-Arlington). “It also prohibits tabulating votes from barcodes, QR codes or any non-human-readable marks, mandating that votes be counted only from the selections visibly marked by the voter, except in limited cases where non-uniform ballots are necessary to comply with federal law or specific counting methods.” HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session. During the week of October 13-17, the House met for a total of seven hours and 13 minutes and the Senate met for a total of two hours and 20 minutes. Mon. Oct. 13 No House session. No Senate session. Tues.Oct. 14 House11:01 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. Senate 11:24 a.m. to 11:32 a.m. Wed. Oct. 15 House10:59 a.m. to5:44 p.m. No Senate session. Thurs. Oct. 16 House11:02 a.m. to 11:21a.m. Senate 11:08 a.m. to1:20p.m. Fri. Oct. 17 No House session. No Senate session. Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Bob founded Beacon Hill Roll Call in 1975 and was inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) Hall of Fame in 2019.
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