Massachusetts House Opens 2026 Session With Eight Unanimous Procedural Votes

BOSTON — January 7, 2026 — Massachusetts House opens 2026 session with unanimous action on eight procedural and legislative items. Speaker Ronald Mariano presided over the January 7 opening-day session, which included a salute to the Fairhaven High School Blue Devils, the 2025 MIAA Division VI Super Bowl champions appearing as guests of Representative Mark Sylvia. The House unanimously concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 4233 amending the Malden city charter, engrossed Senate Bill 2799 establishing a sick leave bank for Department of Elementary and Secondary Education employee Jeffrey Yantham, extended the Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses' reporting deadline to March 2, 2026 on a motion by Representatives Andres X. Vargas and Tara T. Hong, and suspended Joint Rule 12 on a petition by Assistant Majority Leader Alice Hanlon Peisch relative to the Massachusetts Uniform Commercial Code, sending it to the Committee on Financial Services.