Archaic Laws Bill Summary

On Nov. 5, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed two important pieces of legislation. The first bill is a Home Care bill that you can read about here.

The second bill removed out-of-date and offensive terms related to persons with disabilities. Terms would be amended with “person first” language and include current respectful terminology, such as “person with a disability.” This bill was pending before the committee that I chair, and took a tremendous effort from my staff and legislative partners to get to this point. It was important to ensure that while making these changes, we confirmed with relevant state agencies' that their interpretation and implementation of the law did not change, which could negatively impact access to resources if done incorrectly. 

Removing out-of-date and offensive language from the Massachusetts General Laws to describe people with disabilities is an important step in ensuring that our values are also reflected in our statutes. As legislators, it is our job to help make sure that people with intellectual or developmental disabilities feel included, accepted and embraced for who they are, and this is an important step in doing so. 

Last year, the Massachusetts Legislature renamed the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) as MassAbility, a change that defines the agency’s role in supporting residents with disabilities to live independently. The name change reflects the intention to empower individuals living with disabilities and move away from outdated terminology as the office undergoes broad changes towards a more expansive model for disability employment services and independent living.

The bill passed the House of Representatives 154-0 and now moves back to the Senate for further consideration. A press release can be found here.