What Mass. lawmakers did — and didn't — pass in marathon final day of legislative session

Massachusetts lawmakers remained on Beacon Hill as the sun rose Thursday morning, after pulling an all-nighter to wrap up work before the end of the formal legislative session. While lawmakers were able to pass a handful of last-minute bills, they were unable to reach deals on several major packages, including economic development and clean energy.

Here's what passed — and what negotiations fell apart:

Housing bond bill: This legislation is one of Gov. Maura Healey's key priorities in aiming to address the housing shortage in Massachusetts. The Legislature reached a deal on a $5.16 billion version of Healey's housing bond bill. The bill includes a provision allowing tenants to seal previous eviction records in certain cases, but left out a House proposal to expand the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s water service to more than 20 communities on the North and South shores. A Senate proposal to shift the responsibility for broker's fees from renters to landlords also didn't make the final bill. The housing bill was one of the only major proposals to advance before formal sessions drew to a close.

Parentage: Legislators passed compromise legislation to update the state's legal definition of a parent. The bill clarifies parentage definitions for families who use reproductive technologies to have children, like surrogacy and in vitro fertilization. The legislation is especially important to LGBTQ parents, who often use fertility treatment.

Circus animal protections: Lawmakers came to an agreement on a bill banning the use of large animals in circuses and traveling shows — including elephants, big cats, primates, bears and giraffes. Animal rights advocates have been advocating for this change for years to protect exotic animals from inhumane treatment.

Veterans: Despite some last-minute paperwork issues, the Legislature also sent Healey's sweeping veterans bill back to her desk. The broad bill includes a series of policy changes and tax incentives for veterans — from increased annual payments to disabled vets to eliminating fees for certain specialty veteran license plates.

Economic development: Both chambers had passed different versions of a multi-billion-dollar economic development bond bill aimed at spurring investment in life sciences and climate tech. But the Senate approved roughly half of what the House wanted in incentives for the life sciences industry. The Senate version also included unrelated proposals, including allowing local governments to bring back happy hour and changing zoning to allow for construction of a New England Revolution soccer stadium in Everett.

Clean energy development: Both the House and Senate passed late-session bills to streamline the permitting process for clean energy projects to hit the state’s emission reduction goals. The Senate's bill also included a ban on controversial third-party competitive electric suppliers and limits on gas pipeline development. House and Senate negotiators told reporters that those additional provisions were the main sticking points as the two sides failed to reach a deal.

Health care: A hospital oversight bill and separate legislation addressing drug pricing both failed to pass. The hospital oversight legislation was initially passed in response to Steward Health Care's financial turmoil, which has led to the planned closures of two Massachusetts hospitals (with another five in limbo). The drug pricing legislation aimed to cap or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for some popular medications that treat chronic illnesses and create greater oversight of pharmaceutical industry middlemen.

House Speaker Ron Mariano took the two bills off the negotiating table Wednesday evening, telling the State House News Service that the bills were "too important to get lost in the shuffle and get watered down" in negotiation.

Two other health care bills, focused on maternal health and substance abuse, also fell through. Top House and Senate Democrats said they will try to find paths forward for incomplete bills during the informal sessions that will take place until the next term begins in January.

Reporting from WBUR's Walter Wuthmann and the State House News Service was included in this report.