Relates to death certificates for persons whose death is caused by any act or event in which alcohol is a factor

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Nathalia Fernández

The bill standardizes ballot language to explicitly refer to the governor’s councillor on ballots, clarifying office labeling and reducing potential voter confusion.

REFERRED TO HEALTH

Main purpose

This bill makes narrow, technical amendments to Massachusetts election law to explicitly identify the Governor’s Councillor office on the ballot. Its stated purpose is to "clarify the role of governor’s councillor on the ballot."

Note: the bill package contains some inconsistent metadata (see "Notes and discrepancies" below).

Key provisions

Amends Chapter 54 (Election Laws) of the Massachusetts General Laws:

Section 43A: inserts the word “governor’s” after the word “congressman.”
Section 150: inserts the word “governor’s” after the word “each,” (line 4).
Section 150: further inserts the word “governor’s” after the word “one,” (line 5).

These are simple textual insertions intended to ensure that statutory references and ballot language explicitly reference the "governor’s councillor" (i.e., members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council).

Who is affected

Secretary of the Commonwealth and local election officials — will implement the clarified ballot labels and any related instructions or ballot-layout rules.

Candidates for Governor’s Council (Governor’s Councillor) — ballot designations would explicitly reflect the office as “governor’s councillor.”

Voters — may see clearer, more consistent ballot language for the Governor’s Council office, potentially reducing confusion.

Little to no direct fiscal impact is expected beyond routine administrative or printing changes.

Procedural status and timeline (as provided)

Introduced in the Senate: February 10, 2025 (Senate Docket No. 1537; filed 01/16/2025).

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance: 2025-02-10.

Referred to the Committee on Election Laws: 2025-02-27.

Hearing scheduled: June 17, 2025 (1:00 PM–5:00 PM, B-1).

Reported favorably by committee and referred to Senate Rules: 2025-07-31.

Other entries in the provided legislative history list additional referrals (including to "Health") and an entry indicating the House concurred; these items appear inconsistent with the main docket record below.

Sponsors / Petitioners

The bill text and petition list Senator Michael J. Barrett as the presenter, with petition signatures from several state senators (Michael D. Brady; Paul W. Mark; James B. Eldridge; Joanne M. Comerford; Patricia D. Jehlen; Rebecca L. Rausch).

Separate metadata lists Bill Hagerty and Nathalia Fernandez as primary sponsors; this conflicts with the petition/presentation information above.

Expected impact

Administrative/technical change: clarifies statutory language and ballot labeling for an existing state office (Governor’s Councillor).

Unlikely to change election mechanics, eligibility, or office powers.

May reduce ambiguity or litigation risk over ballot language and help ensure consistent ballot presentation across jurisdictions.

Notes and discrepancies in the provided materials

The bill package includes inconsistent elements: an initial title referencing death certificates and an acronym “FENCE Act,” but the bill text itself is a short amendment about ballot wording for Governor’s Councillor. The docket number (1537) and bill number (S 497) both appear; petitioners named in the text differ from the metadata sponsors (Hagerty, Fernandez). These inconsistencies suggest mixed or mis-merged records; the substantive text summarized above is taken from the bill language provided.

Bill