Glossary

A bill is a proposed change to Massachusetts law. It has to pass the House and the Senate in the same words and then be signed by the Governor.

See all 31

A resolve does one specific thing, like funding a commission or settling a single claim, instead of changing the general law. It passes the same way a bill does.

A resolution records what the legislature thinks. It does not change any law.

Voters can put a proposed law on the ballot by gathering signatures. If it passes it becomes law without the legislature.

See all 13

A referendum asks voters whether to keep a law the legislature already passed.

See all 1

The legislature can put a question on the ballot itself, with no signature drive behind it. Voters decide it the same way they decide a citizens' initiative.

Amending the Massachusetts constitution takes two consecutive legislative sessions and then a statewide vote.

A legislator filed it. Every bill starts here and goes to a committee before anything else can happen to it.

Used for: Proposed state law · Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Filed · Filed with the Attorney General

It has been put forward and given a number. No committee has taken it up and nobody has voted on it.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

Massachusetts's record says: Filed

A joint committee of representatives and senators is studying it. It normally holds a public hearing, and it decides whether the bill goes any further.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Referred to committee · Hearing scheduled · Reporting date extended · Discharged to a rules committee

A committee is examining it and decides whether to send it on for a full vote. Most items spend most of their life here.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

The Attorney General cleared it, so supporters can start collecting the voter signatures it needs.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Certified by the Attorney General · Gathering signatures

The committee recommended it, so it is out of committee and in line for votes in the House and the Senate.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Reported favorably by committee · Placed in the Orders of the Day · Ordered to a third reading · In a conference committee

It goes before a joint session of the House and Senate. A quarter of the legislators have to vote for it to keep it alive.

Used for: Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Before the legislature

It is out of committee and waiting for a vote by the whole body.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

Enough signatures came in, so the legislature gets first refusal. It can pass the law itself, and if it does not, supporters collect a second round of signatures to reach the ballot.

Used for: Question you vote on

Massachusetts's record says: Before the legislature

The members voted for it. It may still need a signature before it takes effect.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

Massachusetts requires two separately elected legislatures to agree, so after the next election it has to clear a joint session a second time.

Used for: Change to the state constitution

The House and the Senate have both approved the same words. It goes to the Governor next.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Adopted · Passed to be engrossed · Passed to be enacted · Laid before the Governor

It qualified. It appears on the ballot at the next statewide election, and voters decide it rather than the legislature.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: On the ballot

The Governor signed it, so it is now state law.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Signed by the Governor · Veto overridden

Voters approved it, so it becomes state law.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Approved by voters

A decision was reached and the matter is closed.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

It is going no further. Either the members voted it down, or it passed and the executive then vetoed it.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

The session ended before it was decided, so it is no longer live. It can be filed again next session.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

The committee rewrote it and reported it out under a new number. The idea carries on; this particular filing does not.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Replaced by a new draft · Redrafted as an amendment

Supporters did not collect enough valid signatures in time, so it never reached the ballot.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Did not qualify for the ballot

The committee sent the subject away to be studied instead of recommending the bill. It sounds like a beginning and is an ending: in practice the bill is finished for this session.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Sent to study

The Governor refused to sign it. The legislature can override a veto if two thirds of both chambers vote to.

Used for: Proposed state law

Massachusetts's record says: Vetoed by the Governor

The legislature passed the law itself, so it never went to voters.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Enacted by the legislature

Voters voted it down.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Rejected by voters

Whoever put it forward took it back. Nobody voted it down.

Used for: Formal position, not binding

Massachusetts's record says: Withdrawn

Supporters stopped pursuing it.

Used for: Question you vote on · Change to the state constitution

Massachusetts's record says: Withdrawn

Where the government's money comes from and where it goes: budgets, taxes, borrowing, and contracts with outside companies.

See all 9

Rules about how people are treated and protected, including discrimination, immigration status, and getting services in your own language.

Schools and the people in them, from early childhood programs through high school, plus after-school and youth programs.

See all 4

Air, water, waste, and energy, and how the government prepares for heat, flooding, and storms.

See all 7

How the government runs itself: elections, public records, ethics rules, and the way decisions get made.

See all 15

Public health and the services people rely on, including mental health care, disability services, food access, and help for people in crisis.

See all 15

Where people live and what gets built: rent, tenants' rights, zoning, construction, and neighborhood planning.

See all 4

Jobs and the rules around them: pay, working conditions, hiring, benefits, and job training.

See all 7

Libraries, arts funding, cultural programs, historic buildings, and community events.

Parks, playgrounds, trees, and the outdoor places anyone can use.

See all 2

Police, fire, and emergency response, and the programs meant to prevent violence before it happens.

See all 4

Running a business here: permits, licenses, street vending, restaurants and bars, and the rules they operate under.

See all 4

The technology the government buys and uses, what it does with data about people, and the rules on surveillance.

See all 3

Getting around: buses and trains, roads and sidewalks, traffic safety, parking, and bike lanes.

See all 10

A small group of members that examines one subject in detail before the whole body votes on it. Most proposals spend most of their life in committee, and most of the ones that never become law end there.

A public meeting where a committee takes testimony on a subject before deciding what to do about it. Anyone can normally sign up to speak, and what is said becomes part of the public record.

Also called: Public hearing

What someone says at a hearing, out loud or in writing. You do not have to be an expert or a resident of anywhere in particular to give it.

The government's own reference for one item, like 2026-0451. It is how the city's records refer to it, and it is what to quote if you contact someone about it.

Also called: Docket · File number

The member who formally puts a proposal forward. Sponsoring something is not the same as voting for it later, and several members can sponsor the same item together.

A change to the wording of a proposal while it is still being considered. Amending something is not the same as passing it: the amended version still has to be voted on.

Readings are numbered stages a proposal passes through on its way to a final vote. Nothing is read aloud - the number only says how far along it is.

Also called: First reading · Second reading · Third reading

A vote by every member of the body rather than by one of its committees. This is normally the vote that decides whether something passes.

Also called: The floor

A vote where each member is named in turn and their answer written down, so you can look up how any one of them voted.

Also called: Recorded vote

The number of members who have to be present before the body is allowed to vote on anything. Below it, a meeting can talk but cannot decide.

The mayor, governor, or president refusing to approve something the lawmaking body passed. It stops there unless the body overrides it.

A second vote that puts something into effect over a veto. It takes a larger majority than the first vote did, which is why most vetoes stand.

Also called: Veto override

The stretch of time a body works in, usually a year or two, before the next one begins. Anything not passed by the end of a session dies and has to be filed again from the start.

Also called: Legislative session

The Massachusetts state legislature. It has been called the General Court since before the state was a state, and it is a lawmaking body rather than a court of any kind.

Also called: Beacon Hill · The State House

A small group drawn from both the House and the Senate, put together to settle the differences when each chamber has passed its own version of the same bill.

The final text of a bill, written out once the amendments are settled. A chamber "passes it to be engrossed" when it approves that text, which is a step before enactment rather than the end of the process.

Also called: Passed to be engrossed