Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 51 – Report No. 31
July 27 – 31, 2026
Copyright © 2026 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved.
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of July 27-31.
During the week of July 27-31, the House met for a total of 28 hours and 38 minutes and the Senate met for a total of 20 hours and 11 minutes.
HOME CARE (H 5627)- House 157-0, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey a bill that would establish a licensure process for home care agencies that supporters say will ensure that consumers receive quality non-medical services and that home care workers are protected.
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services would implement the licensure process and have the authority to approve licenses, survey and investigate home care agencies and impose fines. Home care agencies would be required to disclose anyone with at least a 5 percent ownership interest in the agency, carry workers compensation and liability insurance and provide appropriate levels of training for their employees.
(A Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – Yes
Sen. Jason Lewis – Yes
CHILD WELFARE (H 5629)- House 156-0, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Healey legislation that supporters say would guarantee certain basic rights for children in foster care related to their safety, education and health care. They argued that the measure safeguards the wellbeing of children, especially those in state care and foster care; increases access to community support for children at risk of court involvement; and strengthens the Office of the Child Advocate to support robust investigations into reports of harm or abuse to a child.
A key provision would expand the diversion of children dealing with behavior or attendance problems to Family Resource Centers (FRCs) instead of the court system. Supporters note that FRCs provide accessible, confidential support to children and families in crisis close to home and have proven successful in helping kids and teens stay in school, connecting families with services such as mental health or substance use treatment, housing aid and legal help.
Other provisions include creating a Foster Child Bill of Rights to clarify and protect the basic rights and services foster children need to live healthy, safe and fulfilled lives; codifying a Youth Engagement program to ensure the voices of youth are included to inform relevant policy, oversight and programs; allowing a child the same ability as an adult to petition the court to extend any abuse or harassment protection order made on behalf of the child; tasking the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) with supporting families and caregivers by providing training materials to mandated reporters and individuals who frequently work with children; and with creating and maintaining a list of resources for grieving parents who have experienced a sudden unexplained pediatric death.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – Yes
Sen. Jason Lewis – Yes
THE “PROTECT ACT” (H 5620 – House 137-21, Senate on a voice vote without a roll call, approved and sent to Gov. Healey the PROTECT Act that supporters said would establish statewide standards governing interactions between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement. They said the measure would create among the strongest protections in the nation for residents who have immigrated to their communities; strengthen due process protections; limit civil immigration enforcement in courthouses, public school grounds, hospitals and other sensitive locations; expand protections for victims of crime; and increase transparency, accountability and clarity for correctional facilities and law enforcement relative to civil immigration enforcement.
Provisions bar Massachusetts law enforcement agencies from signing new deputization agreements with federal immigration authorities, except in narrow, criminal-law-focused arrangements that meet additional safeguards; prohibit civil immigration arrests without a judicial warrant at schools, childcare centers, medical facilities and courthouses; establish a civil cause of action against federal officers who violate a resident’s constitutional rights, putting them under the same accountability standards as state and local police; keep state and local police out of federal civil immigration enforcement, barring the use of local resources for that purpose, or detention, based solely on a civil immigration detainer; and protect immigrant crime victims, including trafficking survivors, who assist law enforcement as witnesses, and speeds up review of their special visa applications so they can keep participating in investigations or trials.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – Yes
BANNING SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOKS AND MATERIALS (H 5489)- House 156-1, Senate on a voice vote without a roll call, approved and sent to the governor a bill that supporters said would protect people’s access to library materials and guard against politically motivated book bans in Bay State school libraries and public libraries. The bill requires local policies to be developed using nationally recognized library standards and lays out a process around challenges to library materials. The measure also protects librarians and school library professionals from retaliation.
Provisions include ensuring that students have free and open access to library books and other school library materials by establishing clear standards for library teachers and other employees to follow as they select school library materials; requiring that school library materials be age-appropriate, serve an educational purpose and be chosen based on a teacher or employee’s professional training—leaving aside any of their own personal, political or doctrinal views that could affect whether or not they place the book on the shelf; requiring all school districts, charter schools and local education agencies to adopt their own policies on how to select library materials as long as the policies align with American Library Association standards; guarding against spurious or unfounded challenges to school library books by keeping a book in question on the shelves unless and until a public hearing process has taken place and the appropriate authority has voted to remove it; and protecting school employees and public librarians from professional, civil or criminal penalties based on their selection of library materials.
A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – Yes
ABORTION (H 5595)- House 119-35, Senate on a voice vote without a roll call, approved and sent to Gov. Healey legislation that would loosen restrictions on abortions that can be performed after 24 weeks of gestation. The bill removes existing requirements that limit abortions at 24 weeks of pregnancy or later to four specific medical circumstances and instead allows licensed physicians and providers to rely on their best medical judgment when caring for patients.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – No
PROTECT THE PRESS WITH A SHIELD LAW (S 3200)- Senate 40-0, approved an amendment creating the Press Shield Law that would prohibit government bodies from compelling journalists to reveal their sources, except in certain limited circumstances and only with clear and convincing evidence that the source disclosure is necessary and there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Jason Lewis – Yes
For more information and details on each bill, roll call attendance, and other relevant information, please visit the Wakefield Daily Item at www.localheadlinenews.com.