Massachusetts House Passes Haverhill Election Bills, Wayland Library Fund in Brief Session

BOSTON — June 24, 2026 — The Massachusetts House passed a slate of local legislation in an 11-minute informal session Tuesday. The chamber enacted two Haverhill election bills (House 4203 and 4204) and extended the Southbridge alcoholic-beverage-license window (House 5096) on a single voice vote, while approving emergency preambles five-to-zero for Senate bills establishing sick leave banks for a Worcester County Sheriff's Office employee and a Department of Public Health worker. The House also concurred with a Senate amendment to House 4137 authorizing Wayland to establish a Millennium Fund for its free public library, and engrossed a substituted version of House 4614 governing the James J. O'Neill Park after Representative Thomas P. Walsh of Peabody offered a last-minute replacement text. The session opened with adoption of a resolution by Representative Marjorie C. Decker honoring Transition House on 50 years of service to domestic violence survivors, and closed with a House citation for the Sandwich High School Lady Blue Knights Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team, recognized as the 2026 MIAA Division 4 State Champions — the first title in program history.