By Bob Katzen

Would remove the current requirement that the Legislature review and approve of routine home rule petitions, filed in the Legislature by local cities and towns, that have minimal or no statewide impact, such as liquor license increases, charter changes and individual personnel exemptions from the state civil service law.

“State legislative review of home rule petitions with limited to no statewide impact unnecessarily adds more red tape to established local processes,” said sponsor Sen. Becca Rausch (D-Needham). “It hinders our partners in municipal government from doing the jobs they were elected to do and restricts and confuses community members. Simply put, we just don’t need more confusion or longer wait times to implement what voters want in their own communities. My bill … would streamline the routine home rule process by eliminating state legislative review, thereby uplifting local decision-making so the right solutions for each of our 351 municipalities can be timely implemented.”