Legislative News Update

Weekly Update, December 5, 2025: With the public hearing phase of the legislative process largely complete for the 2025-26 Session, committees have begun to take initial action on the several thousand bills now pending before the General Court – including the 16 legislative proposals filed by Mass Retirees. As the December 17th deadline for committees to act on most bills quickly approaching, 5 Association bills have been reported favorably from committee and are now on the move at various stages of the legislative process in the House and Senate. However, key bills focused on the COLA will likely be held in committee while the Special COLA Commission completes its work in the coming weeks. Amongst the bills successfully released from committee: Option B & C Recalculation; Freezing Municipal Retiree Insurance Contribution % rates; Veterans Bonus Increase; Updated Definition of Veteran; Surviving Spouse Protection. In addition to the COLA, several other bills remain under review by the Joint Committee on Public Service. Of primary interest to our members are several bills pertaining to state and municipal health insurance. With rising costs triggering a healthcare affordability crisis, we will continue to place significant focus on healthcare related legislation and the topic in general. Beyond reporting on legislative progress, we also want to take a moment this week to address questions and concerns raised by Mass Retirees Association members regarding the frequent solicitations they receive from national and state organizations allegedly advocating on behalf of retirees. While there are several excellent well-run organizations working on behalf of retirees, there are others for which there is not much of a public track record to go by. Others appear to make far-fetched claims of their alleged advocacy goals or inflate their involvement in the legislative / public policy process. Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a non-profit association and the only organization representing ALL retired Massachusetts public employees across the entire state. As an advocacy organization, five Association officials are registered lobbyists – a legal requirement for those advocating before a state government. We also have legal counsel and health insurance experts on staff, full-time in our Beacon Hill offices. In addition, all Mass Retirees members have the names and personal home phone numbers of key Association officers – an important aspect of being a membership service organization. Every communication from Mass Retirees will also contain the Association’s logo, which you can see at the top of this post. And finally, Mass Retirees has played a direct role in the creation of every major public retirement and health insurance policy in Massachusetts over the past 57 years. Representatives of our Association routinely serve on special policy commissions and are called upon by state and local officials for our subject matter expertise – including the current Special COLA Commission. Our officers also serve as elected and appointed members across the 104 public retirement systems. And at the local level, we are the only organization with statutory legal authority to appoint local retirees to public employee committees (PECs). As always, Mass Retirees members can find more detailed information on these topics within the Weekly Update email. The Weekly Update is emailed to all members every Friday morning at 6:00 AM. If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed membership is more important than ever. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently an Association member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/ We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/