Bill
HD 4391
Allows public employees to solicit and accept private donations for injured or fallen first responders and their families, with future ethics rules.
Date Introduced: March 24, 2025
Status: Referred to the Committee on House Rules
Sponsor: Representative Steven George Xiarhos (5th Barnstable)
Purpose and intent
- The bill, titled “An Act relative to crowdfunding for law enforcement officers (Lennon's Law),” seeks to authorize and regulate private fundraising for first responders, including firefighters, law enforcement officers, and EMS personnel, who are injured or killed in the line of duty, as well as their families and significant others.
- It aims to create a framework in which public employees may solicit and accept funds, and donors may contribute, for these purposes through crowdfunding or other means, notwithstanding existing restrictions in state ethics and gift laws.
Key provisions
- Section 1: Adds subsection (g) to Section 23 of Chapter 268A. The new subsection explicitly allows public employees to solicit and accept funds from donors for the benefit of first responders who are injured or killed in the line of duty, and for the families and significant others of those responders. It supersedes conflicting provisions in Chapter 268A, Chapter 268B, or any other general or special law.
- Scope of fundraising: The language covers crowdfunding and other donation methods.
- Beneficiaries: The targeted beneficiaries include firefighters, police officers, EMS first responders, and the families/significant others of these responders.
- Section 2: Requires the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission to promulgate regulations within 180 days of passage to implement the new subsection (g). These regulations would outline the rules and standards for fundraising activities and donor interactions.
Affected parties
- Public employees who are first responders (and their departments) would be allowed to solicit and accept private donations for the specified purposes.
- Donors and sponsors who contribute to funds raised for injured or fallen first responders and their families.
- Families and significant others of first responders who are the intended beneficiaries of such crowdfunding efforts.
- The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, which would regulate and implement the new framework.
Procedural/timeline notes
- Filing: February 11, 2025.
- Introduction: March 24, 2025.
- Current status: Referred to the House Rules Committee (2025-03-24 action).
- Regulatory timeline: The Ethics Commission must issue implementing regulations within 180 days after enactment.
Contextual notes
- The bill references a previous related measure (House 3252, 2021-2022), indicating ongoing interest in permitting and structuring private fundraising for first responders.
- The text emphasizes “notwithstanding” existing gift and ethics restrictions, signaling a broad permission that would be refined by subsequent regulations.
Impact considerations
- Enables organized private fundraising for first responders and their families without being constrained by certain gift-law limits, subject to forthcoming regulations.
- Effective implementation depends on the content of the forthcoming regulations (eligibility, permissible uses of funds, reporting, accountability, and anti-conflict safeguards).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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