Massachusetts Panel Takes Up Lobster, Asparagus, and Waltham Rink Bills

BOSTON -- May 20, 2026, The Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight heard testimony on four bills Wednesday, including measures to name the American lobster the state's official crustacean and asparagus its first-ever official state vegetable. Representative Joan Machino and Beth Cassoni of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association backed H5335, citing 665 active commercial permits landing 16.5 million pounds of lobster annually and generating over $323 million in ex-vessel value. Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Carlos Gonzalez championed the asparagus bills, S3073 and H5088, driven by third-grade students from Hadley Elementary School, where teacher Charlene Desjardins sparked a classroom-to-Statehouse civics campaign around a crop that once supplied 80 percent of the state's asparagus in the early 1900s. Representative Thomas Stanley and Waltham Mayor McCarthy urged passage of H5315 to restore the city's right of first refusal on the Veterans Memorial Ice Rink lease, warning that more than $4 million in city investments and a 500-child youth hockey program are at risk if the lease goes to open bid. Senator Barry Howard testified in support of S3061, a technical amendment needed to unlock the LINC development corridor at UMass Lowell, projected to generate $3.7 billion in new economic activity and 2,000 permanent jobs.