Massachusetts Senate Engrosses Agricultural Resilience Bill 39-0, Farm Labor Amendment Withdrawn

BOSTON — April 1, 2026 — Massachusetts Senate passes major agricultural resilience bill 39-0 and withdraws contentious farm labor amendment. The chamber voted Tuesday to engross Senate No. 3029, An Act Fostering Agricultural Resilience in Massachusetts, after debating more than a dozen amendments on topics ranging from farm building tax exemptions to foreign ownership registries to renewable energy production caps. The session's most consequential moment came when Senator Adam Gomez of Springfield withdrew Amendment 41, which would have replaced the $8 agricultural subminimum wage with the statewide minimum wage, established overtime after 55 hours, and guaranteed 15-minute breaks every eight hours for farm workers, citing unfinished negotiations among the Farm Bureau, dairy and cranberry growers, and farm worker advocates. Ways and Means Chair Joanne M. Comerford committed that "this conversation will move forward in the days and the weeks ahead." The sole amendment to pass on a roll call, Amendment No. 5 by Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, allows municipalities by local option to exempt newly constructed farm buildings from property taxes for up to five years; it passed 37-0. Amendment No. 34 by Senator Ryan C. Fattman, directing a study on a potential new central Massachusetts agricultural school with a structured plan due by July 1, 2027, also passed 37-0.