Massachusetts House Passes Bill to Protect Children from Social Media, Prohibit Cell Phones in Schools

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill requiring social media companies to implement age verification systems that prohibit users under the age of 14 and require parental consent from prospective users aged 14 and 15. Additionally, the bill will protect students from distracting technology during the school day by prohibiting the use of cell phones from school arrival through dismissal.

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Massachusetts House Passes Bill Restricting Interactions Between State, Local and Federal Immigration Enforcement

This week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that establishes statewide standards governing interactions between state and local systems and federal immigration enforcement. It strengthens due process protections, limits civil immigration enforcement in courthouses, expands protections for victims of crime, and increases transparency, accountability, and clarity for correctional facilities and law enforcement.

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Massachusetts House Passes Fair Share Supplemental Budget

This week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a $1.8 billion supplemental budget that invests $885 million in public transportation, $417 million in public education, and funds several Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) deficiencies. The bill also includes tax conformity legislation filed by Governor Healey that delays the state’s alignment with the corporate tax changes passed by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) Act last year.  

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Massachusetts House Passes Bill Regulating AI Use in Elections

This week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed bills regulating the use of artificial intelligence in political advertisements. The bills would require the disclosure of AI use in political advertisements and would ban deceptive communications about a candidate or about the electoral process within three months of an election.  

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Massachusetts House Passes Bill Addressing Workplace Violence in Health Care Facilities

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill that strengthens protections for health care workers, establishes preventive and protective standards to reduce the risk of violence, improves health care facility incident reporting, enhances interagency coordination to safeguard privacy, and creates legal protections for certain employees harmed in the line of duty.  

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Massachusetts House Passes Higher Education Bond Bill

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the BRIGHT Act, authorizing approximately $3.65 billion in capital investment to modernize Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities and support the state’s academic, research, workforce and climate goals. Originally filed by Governor Healey, the bill is financed by 10-year special obligation bonds that are backed by Fair Share surtax revenue. These funds will be used to address deferred maintenance, modernization projects, and decarbonization across higher education institutions.

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Massachusetts House Passes Bill to Remove Outdated and Offensive Terms in General Laws

The Massachusetts House of Representatives this week passed a bill that removes outdated and offensive language in the General Laws to describe persons with disabilities. The language in the bill removes all variations of outdated terms such as “handicapped,” “disabled,” and the “r-word.” The bill replaces these terms with current terminology such as “person with a disability.” 

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