Massachusetts House Passes Apprenticeship Mandate, AED, and Domestic Workers Bills

BOSTON — January 28, 2026 — The Massachusetts House passed three significant bills in a single session, including a landmark apprenticeship mandate for public construction, an AED requirement at sporting events, and a Domestic Workers Rights Day designation. Representative Paul McMurtry of Dedham led debate on House Bill 4994, the PATHS Act, which requires that 15 percent of labor hours on public construction projects over $10 million be performed by registered apprentices, phased in over four years beginning at 5 percent; the bill passed 154 to 1. Representative Marjorie C. Decker of Cambridge shepherded House Bill 4993, the Preston Settles Every Minute Counts Act, which mandates AEDs and trained personnel at sports facilities statewide, passing 154 to 1 after two Republican-offered amendments — including one to create an AED fund subject to appropriation — failed 26 to 130. Representative Priscila S. Sousa of Framingham, a former house cleaner, carried House Bill 3417 designating June 16 as Domestic Workers Rights Day, which passed 156 to 0; Sousa noted that roughly 67,000 domestic workers in Massachusetts, over 90 percent of them women, are protected by a Bill of Rights that more than three quarters of them do not know exists.