We are in the 2nd year of the 194th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which began on January 1, 2025. Nearly 9,900 bills have been introduced in the 2025-2026 Legislative Session to date. Of those bills, the Association are tracking over 500 bills related to the banking industry and submitted over 100 pieces of testimony on the industry’s behalf. As part of our Legislative Program this Session, the Association had 13 bills introduced on behalf of the industry, which you can find a brief summary on each below.
MBA Bill Tracker
MBA’s real-time bill tracker remains the best way to monitor all bills that remain active for the remainder of the 2025-2026 legislative session. Please note, the number of bills in each track is subject to change.
MBA 2025-2026 Hot Button Issues
MBA’s real-time tracker for “2025 – 2026 Hot Button Issues”: Tracking List: 2025 - 2026 Hot Button Issues - InstaTrac, Inc.
MBA Legislative Program - Latest Updates
Bills on the Move
Financial Literacy
Bill H.627– An Act Relative to the Strengthening of Financial Literacy Throughout the Commonwealth
New Draft: H.4670 – An Act Relative to Personal Financial Literacy Education
Update: Passed the House 155-0 on October 29, 2025 and referred to Senate Committee on Ways and Means on October 30, 2025
Sponsor: Rep. John Lawn (D-Watertown)
Summary: We are pleased that our bill was the vehicle the House used to further craft and unanimously pass legislation that would require every school district, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, to provide personal financial literacy instruction for middle and high school students throughout the Commonwealth. The legislation is now before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means for their consideration.
Restricting Patent Trolls
Bill H.401 – An Act to protect innovation and entrepreneurship in the Commonwealth
Sponsor: Rep. Dan Hunt (D‐Boston)
Update: Ordered to a 3rd reading in the House
Summary: The proposed legislation creates a new Chapter 93L, Bad Faith Assertions of Patent Infringement that establishes a private right of action for Massachusetts businesses against patent trolls. The legislation defines a broad range of assertions of patent infringement and creates standards by which the assertion of patent infringement could be found to be in bad faith. These include demand letters that do not include necessary information; the letter requests the payment of a license fee or response within an unreasonably short period of time; or the offers to license the patent for an amount that is not based on a reasonable estimate of the value of the license, among others. The Attorney General is also given enforcement authority for the new Chapter.
RUFADAA
Bill H.1855 – An Act for uniform fiduciary access to digital assets
New Draft: H.4639 – An Act for uniform fiduciary access to digital assets – October 23, 2025
Sponsor: Rep. Jay Livingstone (D‐Back Bay)
Summary: The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) governs access to a person’s online accounts when the account owner dies or can no longer manage the account. Under the legislation, the powers of a fiduciary, such as the executors of a decedent’s estate, trustees, conservators, and agents under a power of attorney, are extended to include management of digital assets. Specifically, the bill allows fiduciaries to manage digital property like computer files, web domains, and virtual currency, but restricts a fiduciary’s access to electronic communications such as email, text messages, and social media accounts unless the original user consent- ed to fiduciary access in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record. More than 40 other states have adopted RUFADAA.
Data Security Standards
Bill H.358 - An Act relative to the security of personal financial information
New Draft: H.4807 - An Act relative to Updating the security of personal information – December 8, 2025
Update: Reported favorably by Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure and referred to Committee on House Ways and Means
Sponsor: Rep. Michael Day (D‐Stoneham)
Summary: This bill imposes strong data security standards modeled on the Gramm‐Leach‐Bliley data security requirements that banks and other financial firms must adhere to on non‐financial entities that use or store sensitive personal financial information. The legislation also deletes the language in Massachusetts law, (Chapter 93 H) that currently prohibits a bank from informing its customers of the nature of the breach, who caused the breach, or the number of residents affected.
Bank Name Protection
Bill H.1102 – An Act amending the banking laws and related statutes
Sponsor: Rep. Daniel Cahill (D‐Lynn)
Update: Reported favorably by Committee on Financial Services and referred to the House Committee on Steering Policy and Scheduling – January 15, 2026
Summary: Revises the Commonwealth’s “Use of Bank Name” statute to reflect changes in technology and customer communications. Proposed language aims to modernize the current prohibitions on unlaw use of bank names to include communications and solicitations in electronic mail, text messages, websites and more.
Bank Modernization Technical Corrections
Bill H.1232 – An Act making changes to certain references in the banking laws of the Commonwealth Sponsor: Rep. John Lawn (D‐Watertown)
Summary: This legislation updates other existing provisions of the General Laws to reflect the proper cites of statutory cross references in the revised banking laws after the enactment of Chapter 482 of the Acts of 2014. Other technical updates and corrections to the General Laws are also included in the bill.
Bills Stalled in Committee
Credit Triggers
Bill H.1122 – An Act promoting consumer choice regarding the use of credit trigger leads
Update: Heard November 18, 2025
Sponsor: Rep. Michael Day (D-Stoneham)
Summary: This bill seeks to regulate the dissemination of consumer loan application information by consumer reporting agencies. It explicitly prohibits these agencies from selling or sharing such information with third parties unless the consumer provides explicit consent. To safeguard consumer rights, the bill requires financial lending institutions to offer clear and prominent notices about the consumer's right to opt into services that involve the sharing of their loan application information. This notice must be conspicuously displayed, using at least ten-point type size, and must clearly inform consumers of their rights under the law. Furthermore, consumers who experience damages due to negligent or intentional non-compliance with these regulations are entitled to compensation.
Electronic Property Recordings
Bill H.1602 – An Act relative to uniform real property electronic recordings
Update: Heard on October 21, 2025
Summary: This piece of legislation aims at implementing the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA) to facilitate electronic lending in the Commonwealth. The Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA) allows local recording offices to accept deeds and other property records in electronic form. The act is technology-neutral and allows for Massachusetts to determine recording standards based on current best practices.
Vulnerable Adults
Bill H.1239 -- An Act protecting vulnerable adults from financial exploitation
Update: Heard on October 7, 2025
Summary: This bill protects vulnerable adults from financial exploitation by making reporting and holding voluntary. Generally, this bill follows the New Hampshire “report and hold” law that was enacted in 2022. Importantly, this bill ensures the authority and oversight of “report and hold” instances remained under the Bank Commissioner’s purview.
Bills Sent to Study
“Mini” Modernization Bill
Bill H.1104 – An Act amending the banking laws and related statutes
Update: Accompanied a study order
Summary: This legislation addresses several issues in its 16 sections. Among the bill’s provisions are:
Bank Robberies and Check Fraud
Bill S.1255/Bill H.1607 – An Act enhancing the safety of bank customers & employees
Sponsors: Sen. Michael Rush (D‐West Roxbury) and Rep. Tackey Chan (D‐Quincy)
Update: S.1255: Accompanied a study order; H.1607: Heard on September 23, 2025
Summary: Establishes new definitions of and increases certain penalties for crimes against banks, including bank robberies, passing fraudulent checks and debit card transactions. This bill expands the definition of bank robbery under Chapter 265 to include note passers. The bill also facilitates the consolidation of check fraud that occurs in multiple court jurisdictions to a single jurisdiction.
Credit Union Field of Membership & Mission
Bill H.1266 – An Act enhancing the mission of credit unions and promoting fair competition among financial institutions
Sponsor: Rep. Frank Moran (D‐Lawrence)
Summary: Over the last several years, Massachusetts credit unions have expanded their powers through changes to state law and federal regulation. In particular, the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) expansive rulemakings regarding membership, business lending and the low‐income designation have encouraged many credit unions to move away from their core mission as member‐driven institutions serving individuals of modest means.
The proposed legislation contains four (4) sections and includes language from H 1065 from the 2019‐ 2020 legislative session that establishes new requirements for credit union membership by‐law amendments. Specifically, the membership vote is increased from a majority to three‐quarters and at least five percent of the credit union’s total membership must participate in the vote. In addition, in most cases membership by‐law amendments must be considered at a credit union’s annual meeting.
To facilitate greater member participation in these votes, the bill also mandates that all state‐chartered cred- it unions with more than 25,000 members provide the option for members to vote by electronic means at any special or annual meeting. The bill also refocuses state‐chartered credit unions on their traditional mission by enhancing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) statute for credit unions and explicitly tying CRA performance to expanded interstate branching powers.
Check Fraud Prevention
Bill S.1103/Bill H.1799 - An Act relative to check fraud prevention
Sponsor: Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxborough) and Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading)
Update: S.1103: Accompanied a study order; H.1799: Heard on September 23, 2025
Summary: This bill addresses the growing problem of check washing in the Commonwealth and creates a new criminal penalty for those accused of participating in a check washing scheme. The bill also tackles jurisdictional issues of check fraud and seeks to facilitate the consolidation of check fraud that occurs in multiple court jurisdictions to a single jurisdiction to show the full scope of these scams.
Check washing, which is a scam involving changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them, is, unfortunately, on a meteoric rise causing angst and financial distress for residents throughout the state. Our members are also directly affected by these fraudulent schemes through added customer service resolution work, customer reassurance efforts, as well as additional compliance and due diligence that is required once the fraud is identified.
Get Involved!
Do you want to get involved with our Advocacy efforts? The Association’s State Legislative Committee meets at least monthly to stay informed of legislative and policy activity, and to provide input on bill amendments, key testimony and more. Members with an interest in having a representative on the State Legislative Committee are welcome to reach out to MBA’s Brad Papalardo, Senior Vice President, Chief of Government Affairs and Counsel at bpapalardo@massbankers.org. Advocacy is among MBA’s top priorities!