House schedules multiple bills, suspends Rule 7a to speed consideration

The Massachusetts House of Representatives’ Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling reported several bills for floor consideration and the House voted to suspend Rule 7a to speed consideration.

The committee listed measures that included an act relative to certain licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises in the city of Holyoke (House No. 360); an act relative to partial payment (House No. 362); an act relative to telemarketer disclosures (House No. 438); an act establishing a charter for the city of Cambridge (House No. 4156, local approval received); an act reauthorizing the town of Swansea to issue additional licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises (House No. 4276, local approval received); and an act relative to successor supplier laws and the termination of sales to wholesalers of alcoholic beverages (House No. 4281).

During the session, Mister Gordon of Bedford moved to suspend Rule 7a. The House approved the motion by voice vote and Rule 7a was suspended. The listed bills were read a second time; later the chair announced the bills were audited to a third reading.

The scheduling and suspension were recorded as procedural actions on the floor; no debate or amendment of the listed substantive provisions appears in the provided transcript excerpt. The committee’s report and the House’s suspension of Rule 7a permit the measures to move forward on an accelerated timeline toward third reading and further floor action.

The transcript does not specify committee sponsors for the individual bills, any amendments, or dates for subsequent hearings or votes beyond the audit to third reading.