Massachusetts General Laws

The laws in the Massachusetts General Laws are passed by the Massachusetts General Court, which consists of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate. The House of Representatives contains 160 members, while the Senate contains 40 members. The members of both chambers serve two-year terms, and they are not subject to any term limits.

A proposed law is known as a bill, which can be introduced in either chamber of the Massachusetts legislature. After a bill is introduced, it will be referred to one or more standing committees. These committees determine whether a bill should move forward, and they also can propose amendments to a bill. If a bill passes through the committee phase, it will return to the chamber in which it was introduced. This chamber will discuss the bill and consider any amendments suggested by a committee or by members of the chamber. Once the bill has been finalized, the original chamber will vote on whether to pass it.

If the bill is passed, it will go through the same process in the other chamber. Sometimes the second chamber will amend the bill and pass a different version of it. A bill will not reach the next stage unless the differences between these versions are resolved. Each chamber must pass identical versions of the bill.

If each chamber of the legislature passes the bill, the Governor of Massachusetts will review it. The Governor may sign the bill into law, or the Governor may take no action, which usually means that the bill will become law. If the Governor vetoes the bill, however, it will return to the legislature. The legislature can vote to override the Governor’s veto and pass the bill into law. Overriding the Governor’s veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber of the legislature.