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How I Voted H.4361 & H.4360

  • Writer: State Rep. Mark Sylvia
    State Rep. Mark Sylvia
  • Aug 8
  • 3 min read

H.4361 - An Act relative to benefits for teachers


On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, I voted YES on H.4361 – An Act relative to benefits for teachers. The vote was 158 YAY – 0 NAY, a bipartisan, unanimous vote.


This legislation extends benefits for retired teachers who are then hired to work for the

Massachusetts Executive Office of Education (EOE) and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The bill would allow those employees to retain the status of “teacher” and remain in the Teachers’ Retirement System.


The change that this bill makes applies to teachers who are vested in the Massachusetts Teachers & Retirement System, or in the Boston Retirement System, and are subsequently employed by EOE or DESE. Employees of EOE or DESE who are members of the state employees’ retirement system, and who are reinstated in the Teachers' Retirement System or the Boston Retirement System because of the passage of this bill, would not be deemed to have had an interruption of membership or service. Upon reinstatement, the member must pay into the annuity savings fund of the Teachers' Retirement System or the Boston Retirement System. The bill also mandates that a reinstated member be entered into the state employees’ retirement system as a Group 1 state employee upon retirement.


The bill passed today also establishes a new one-time opportunity to elect to participate in the alternative superannuation retirement benefit program for active or inactive members of the Teachers' Retirement System who: are a teacher or school nurse; became eligible for membership before July 1, 2001; began contributing to the Teachers' Retirement System before July 1, 2001; and did not provide a written election to participate or held a good faith belief that they elected to participate in the alternative superannuation retirement benefit program to the Teachers' Retirement System before July 1, 2001 nor at any other time prior to September 1, 2025.


Having passed the House of Representatives 158-0 the bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.







H.4360 - An Act requiring human trafficking recognition training for certain hospitality workers


On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed H.4360, An Act requiring human trafficking recognition training for certain hospitality workers by a bipartisan vote of 158 YAY – 0 NAY. I voted YES on this bill.


H.4360 requires lodging facilities, such as hotels, motels, lodging houses, and bed-and breakfasts, to require their employees to participate in a human trafficking recognition training program. The bill also requires these facilities to post in plain view in the lobby or common area, and in any public restroom, a written notice developed by the Attorney General, which should include the national human trafficking hotline number.


In 2024, there were 288 signals received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline

from Massachusetts, out of which 91 were from victims or survivors of human trafficking. There were 115 human trafficking cases identified in Massachusetts in

2024, which involved 326 victims, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.


The training program for lodging employees required by this bill must be approved by

the Attorney General and provided by an organization or provider from a list approved

by the AG. The program must include training on: the nature of human trafficking; how human trafficking is defined under Massachusetts or federal law; and how to identify victims of human trafficking.


The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.




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