H 2551 Massachusetts House · 194th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act relative to public health volunteer responders

HD 2073 creates a state registry for volunteer health personnel (like nurses, EMTs, or public health workers) who can be activated during emergencies. The Department of Public Health will verify their licenses, require training, and establish a process to credential volunteers. During declared public health emergencies, state emergencies, or when local resources are exhausted, the commissioner can activate volunteers, granting them employee status for legal protections and benefits (like workers' compensation) under state law during their duty. This directly affects health volunteers who sign up for the registry and the state's emergency response capacity.
Sub-Topics: Public Health
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Oct 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Jun 17, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Oct 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Health Care Financing
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to the committee on Public Health
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Andy Vargas
Andy Vargas
DDemocratic
MA
3rd Essex