The following is a brief history, from a legislative perspective, of the Home Rule Petition at the heart of the political debate over how to replace John Leahy on the Lowell City Council. Relevant links are included, along with a “date listing” of the timeline:

Home Rule Petitions are special acts that only apply to particular municipalities and require the approval of the state legislature.  Correctly written home rule petitions do no amend the general laws or impact other cities and towns.

March 23, 2021: Vesna Nuon filed a motion: Req. City Mgr. Have Law Department Review Council And School Committee Vacancy And Succession Rules Considering The New Voting Systems.

That motion passed without much fanfare or discussion.

The Law Department prepared a Home Rule petition and presented it to the council for the May 25, 2021 meeting.  It passed.  That “home rule” petition read:

SECTION 1. Following the last sentence of Chapter 230 of the Acts of 1954, that the following sentence be added: “In the event that no such candidate exists, the vacancy shall be filled by a joint session of the city council and the school committee through a public application process.” SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

Chapter 230 of the Acts of 1954 was not a home rule petition only pertaining to Lowell but rather an amendment to earlier General Laws regarding all communities with Plan E forms of government and plurality voting.

The sealed copy of the council vote reached the State House sometime around July 1, 2021.  On July 2, 2021, Rep Howard filed the city’s requested language in the House.  That bill became H3940 for the 2021-2022 session. A hearing was held in September 2021 by the Joint Committee on Election Laws.  The Committee sent it to a study due to the issues with the language, effectively rejecting it.

Since all home rule petitions are good for two consecutive sessions, Rep Howard refiled the bill which was given the new bill # of H3721 in January 2023.  In both cases, the bill didn’t just stall or be held up, it was rejected by the committee on Election Laws due to issues with the underlying language and in 2024 because the city had sent over a new home rule petition with a completely different approach to the question of filling vacancies.  The 2021 Home Rule was again sent to a study in the Joint Committee on Election Laws in May 2024,

The City Council never asked about the 2021 Home Rule petition until the spring of 2024 when a new home rule petition was filed. After several discussions in subcommittee including an official vote where the council asked that the city manager communicate that the City of Lowell is no longer pursuing the 2021 home rule, an official vote took place on April 23, 2024 for the current home rule petition (correctly written as a special act only applying to Lowell).  The necessary documentation reached the Massachusetts State House in May 2024 and Senator Kennedy filed it on May 2nd, 2024.  It was given Bill #S2762. The Bill had a hearing from the Joint Committee on Election Laws on May 21st and was reported out favorably and sent to the Senate on May 30th.  Unlike the earlier home rules that were filed in the House and never were before the Senate for action in any way (and actually never made it out of committee).  On May 30th, for the very first time, the question of filling vacancies on the Lowell City Council and School Committee was before the Massachusetts State Senate.    Senate Counsel began its review in early June and sent official response back to the city via the Senator’s office on June 24th.  That response included three minor issues of clarification in order to make sure the final law was the best it could be while staying in line with the city’s wishes.  The three issues were:

1. In section 1(a) and (b), the timeframe for a special election is between 60 and 120 days.  Senate Counsel recommended changing that to be at least 64 days, which would be consistent with the provisions of section 10 of chapter 41 for filling vacancies in boards of selectmen. The rationale is to provide sufficient time for candidates to collect the necessary signatures.
2. For section 1(c), it appears to give the school committee the ability to call for a special election.  It seems like this should be reworded to clarify that the city council is to call for the election if the school committee votes as such.  This section also has the same timing issues as noted above.
3. The only other question was that the language from the city did not contain any references to preliminary elections and that the nomination of candidates and the conduct of the election shall be in accordance with the provisions of the charter and/or general laws.  Senate Counsel wanted to see if the city intended to have preliminary elections in special elections or not and insert clarifying language to that effect.

The city has yet to respond to Senate Counsel’s requests for clarification.

In summary, on the question of special elections: The first time the City of Lowell sent a document to the state legislature asking for a special election process came on May 2nd, 2024.  All earlier home rule petitions would have kept the status quo of existing law in place (next runner up gets the appointment, absent a next place finisher, an appointment would be made). The new Home Rule bill allowing for special elections worked its way through the process at a quick speed, clearing all hurdles that held up the prior home rule petition, and it had reached the final stages of approval in the Massachusetts State Senate, pending responses from the city on three minor clarifications.  The bill has been on hold awaiting on a response from the City of Lowell since June 24th.

• 5/25/2021 – City Council Vote on Special Legislation (RE: Election System) – Approved 9-0/ Vote – LINK: https://www.lowellma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/16102?fileID=32108
• 7/9/2021  – House Bill (H. 3940) – “An Act Amending Chapter 230 of the Acts of 1954″ – Referred to the Committee on Election Law – LINK: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H3940/House/Bill/Text
• 7/15/2021- H. 3940 -Senate concurred
• 9/10/2021 H. 3940 – Joint Hearing scheduled for 09/15/2021 from 12:00 PM-04:00 PM in Virtual Hearing
• 4/19/2022 H. 3940 - House House concurred
• 9/26/2022 H. 3940 - House Accompanied a study order, see H5284
• 4/6/2023 – House Bill (H. 3721) “An Act Amending Chapter 230 of the Acts of 1954” – Referred to the Committee on Election Law – LINK: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H3721/House/Bill/Text
• 4/10/2023 – H. 3721– Senate Concurred
• 6/14/2023 – H. 3721 -Hearing Scheduled for 6/21/23
• 2/12/2024 –  H. 3721 – Reporting date extended to Tuesday May 28, 2024, pending concurrence
• 4/11/2024- H. 3721– Senate Concurred
• 4/23/2024- City Council Vote on Special Legislation (RE: Election System) – Approved 9-2 Vote – LINK: https://www.lowellma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/27496?fileID=55894
• 5/2/2024- Senate Bill (S. 2762) – “An Act relative to vacancies on the city of Lowell city council and school committee” – Referred to the Committee on Election Law – LINK:         https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S2762/Senate/Bill/Text
• 5/2/2024    S. 2762 -     Referred to the committee on Election Laws
• 5/6/2024    S. 2762 -     House concurred
• 5/21/2024   S. 2762 -     Joint Hearing scheduled for 05/21/2024 from 01:00 PM-01:00 PM in Written Testimony Only
• 5/30/2024   S. 2762-     Bill reported favorably by committee and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session
• 6/13/2024   S. 2762-      Read second and ordered to a third reading