Here are seven new laws going into effect in the new year

There are new limits on what patient data can be shared, and new requirements for providing abortions.

Governor Maura Healey in August signed into law the state’s new “Shield Act,” Massachusetts’ attempt to protect abortion rights and abortion providers here as Republicans target the procedure.

The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, also mandates that Massachusetts hospitals provide emergency abortions if medically necessary and requires insurance companies limit access to patients’ electronic medical records. It seeks to protect the identities and personal information of those who seek or administer abortion and gender-affirming care in Massachusetts.

It expands on a state law from 2022 and blocks state agencies from sharing information with out-of-state investigations into those who provided or obtained care in Massachusetts. Massachusetts lawmakers passed it as some Republican-led states have passed laws prohibiting abortions and threatening to penalize physicians who perform them. Some Republican lawmakers nationwide have tried to implement measures targeting residents who obtain abortions out of state.

Massachusetts will start collecting more detailed race and ethnicity data.

Massachusetts will now require state agencies to collect more detailed race and ethnicity information on a number of demographic groups, a move the state made in August 2023 that was seen at the time as one of the most sweeping efforts in the country.

Proponents say the new data equity provision, which takes effect this month, will help the state better understand the specific needs of different ethnic communities. Previously, the state categorized residents in broad groups, meaning they did not necessarily speak the same language or face the same challenges.

Now, rather than collecting information on Asian Americans as a whole, for instance, the state will identify and study specific ethnic groups, such as Chinese or Native Hawaiian residents. Agencies will also be required to collect data on Jamaican or Nigerian residents, among others, instead of grouping them together with all residents who identify as Black.

Boaters will be required to take a safety education course — and will face repercussions if they don’t.

Massachusetts lawmakers last year said they would require boaters who wish to operate motorboats or other “personal watercraft” in Massachusetts to comply with new boater safety educational requirements.

The Hanson-Milone Act, signed into law in January 2025, requires that boaters born after Jan. 1, 1989 complete a boating safety education course online, in person, or through local organizations, by April 1. Anyone born before 1989 will have until April 1, 2028 to meet the same requirements.

Boaters without a certificate will face penalties after Sept. 1.

The law also requires that boaters keep their boater safety certificate on the boat being operated at all times. Certain operators, such as merchant mariners and members of the US military qualified to operate motorboats, are exempt from the new requirements.

The state emergency shelter system will be capped at 4,000 families.

Healey in February signed into law several measures designed to reduce the number of families in the state’s strained emergency shelter system and bring down its exorbitant costs, driven by an influx of migrants and the state’s housing crisis.

One of those measures imposes a new cap of 4,000 on the number of families that can be in the system at a given time. That limit went into effect Dec. 31 and will remain in place through the end of 2026.

It’s unclear, however, whether this new cap will change anything in the short term, as the number of families in the shelter system already dropped below 4,000 in 2025. This summer, Healey directed all state hotel shelters to close and ended the state’s two-year state of emergency responding to the state’s overwhelmed shelter system after the number of families in the system dropped.

Massachusetts will allow cannabis cafes to open in the state.

The state agency overseeing cannabis regulation last month opened the door to marijuana lounges in Massachusetts, voting to establish new social consumption licenses that will allow entrepreneurs to create cannabis cafes and host weed-infused events. The regulations, which are expected to take effect on Jan. 2, will make Massachusetts the first state in New England to allow these enterprises.

Supporters celebrated the move as a way to further normalize cannabis consumption and bolster the state’s tourism and hospitality industries. Critics, however, worry that the new businesses could increase impaired driving and risk workers’ health.

The Cannabis Control Commission said it may take anywhere from one year to 18 months for these businesses to open in Massachusetts as the agency creates the new license types and works with local governments to determine where and how they can be issued. Towns and cities will have to pass their own petitions and ordinances if they want to allow social consumption.

Massachusetts added transportation workers to the group of state employees who have specific, additional protections against assault and battery, meaning those who commit offenses against them will face heightened penalties.

The move, which goes into effect March 3, comes as assaults on public transportation operators have increased significantly over the last decade nationally. One local transit workers union said there were 654 assaults on transit workers in the state last year.

Those who assault transit workers — including by using any bodily substance such as saliva or urine — could face a sentence from 90 days to 2½ years and a fine from $500 to $5,000.

Health insurers will be required to cover treatment for Down syndrome.

Lawmakers in late 2024 passed a bill that required Massachusetts health insurers to provide coverage for Down syndrome treatment, including “speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and applied behavior analysis services.” The law takes effect on Jan. 1. Previously, insurers could decline to cover those treatments.

The matter was personal for some: Senate President Karen Spilka’s younger sister, Susie, was born with Down syndrome, and Spilka went on to become her legal guardian. Susie died in 2017, before Spilka became leader of the chamber.

Matt Stout of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.

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