H 4781 Massachusetts House · 194th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act authorizing Bridgewater town charter amendment for gender neutral language

This bill amends Bridgewater's town charter to replace gendered pronouns ("his," "him") with gender-neutral terms ("their," "them") in several sections of the charter. It directly affects all official town documents and procedures referenced in the charter, including those related to town governance and operations. The key mechanism is a series of specific textual changes to sections 2-3, 2-12, and 6-1 of the charter. The amendment requires voter approval via a town election to take effect, as specified in Section 5. The bill focuses solely on updating language for inclusivity in existing charter provisions, without creating new policies or programs.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2025
Committee Review
Dec 2025
House Passage
Jun 2026
Senate Passage
Jun 2026
Signed into Law
Jul 2026
Introduced Nov 26, 2025 Signed Jul 7, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
8
Committee
3
Jul 7, 2026
Signed into law
Signed by the Governor, Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2026
executive
Jun 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Enacted and laid before the Governor
upper
Jun 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Enacted
lower
Jun 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed
upper
Jan 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed
lower
Dec 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting
lower
Nov 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling
lower
Nov 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government
lower
0 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.