Scope and Content: The Council (under the governor except 1775-1780) functioned as the executive counterpart of the upper house of the General Court under the colonial charter, 1629-1686; as the executive (sole) government, 1686-1689; and both as upper house of the General Court and executive body under the revival of colonial government, 1689-1692, under the provincial charter, 1692-1774, and in the later Revolutionary period, 1775-1780.  (There was a rival Council appointed by the English Crown under Gov. Thomas Gage, 1774-1776.)  Under the 1780 Constitution it is an advisory executive body to the governor separate from the General Court.  Legislative records (formerly known as: Court records) document the Council’s legislative function as General Court upper house during the intercharter (1689-1692 only), provincial, and Revolutionary periods.  (For the Constitutional period see below.)
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by date of General Court session
Notes: Records in general are transcripts, some from British State Paper Office made in the 1840s (see finding aid below).  To 1776 many draft originals are in: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), v. 81-86. (For details see finding aid below.  Vol. 70, p. 157-158 includes draft minutes of the Council for Safety of the People and Conservation of the Peace, May 11, 1689.  Additional Massachusetts archives collection holdings not yet determined.)  From Oct. 1780 source document is: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Senate journal ((M-Ar)531)
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Scope and Content: The attorney general of Massachusetts is the Commonwealth’s chief legal officer.  The Executive Bureau, which includes the attorney general and personal staff, is responsible for the overall supervision of the legal services provided by the office, for budgetary and personnel matters, and for the development of a uniform and consistent legal policy for the state.  Series is created by the bureau to review and enable the attorney general to testify regarding legislation pending in the General Court.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by term, thereunder by subject
Notes: Box [1]: Thomas Reilly, 1999-2006
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Scope and Content: The Executive Office of Consumer Affairs was established in 1969 as of 1971, and renamed Executive Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation in 1983.
Arrangement: Arranged in part chronologically, thereunder by subject/bill number
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Scope and Content: In Massachusetts the Executive Office of Manpower Affairs was established in 1969; it was informally renamed Executive Office of Economic Affairs in 1975, and after a period in which it was also known as the Executive Office of Economic Development  and Manpower Affairs, its name was legislatively changed to Executive Office of Economic Affairs in 1987.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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Scope and Content: The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs creates and administers policy for the departments, commissions, and authorities concerned with the natural resources of Massachusetts.  Series is created to track agency input to and progress of proposed legislation in the General Court.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by subject
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Scope and Content: Since 1971 the Executive Office of Human Services (Executive Office of Health and Human Services since 1992) has been responsible through its constitutent agencies for the delivery of a wide range of services to persons with financial, health, social, protective, rehabilitation, and correctional needs. Its role is one of management and fiscal oversight, coordination of interagency planning and program development, and policy analysis.  Series is created to obtain legislation favorable to the goals of the office and its departments.
Arrangement: Arranged generally chronologically
Notes: Records for 1978, 1980-1986 lacking
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Scope and Content: The Governor’s Legislative Office is responsible for coordinating gubernatorial interaction with the legislature.  In fulfilling this function, it solicits and compiles advice, communicates with the General Court and its members, and records gubernatorial action on legislation sent for enactment.  Legislative review files are created to support these activities. –Series currently includes files from terms of Alvan Fuller (1925-1929), Leverett Saltonstall (1939-1945), Endicott Peabody (1963-1965), John Volpe (1965-1969), Francis Sargent (1969-1975), Michael Dukakis (1975-1979), Edward King (1979-1983), Michael Dukakis (1983-1991), William Weld (1991-1997), Argeo Paul Cellucci (1997-2001), Jane Swift (2001-2003), and Mitt Romney (2003-2007); also fragmentary files from 1933, 1935, 1937.
Arrangement: 1975-2000 files Arranged chronologically by year. Arranged thereunder by bill number. Arranged thereunder by chapter number within each
Notes: Fuller and Saltonstall files transferred to Archives from Special Collections, Massachusetts State Library, Feb. 13, 1996. Boxes 13-14 (Sargent) transferred from: Massachusetts. Governor. Subject files ((M-Ar)366X) Sargent, boxes 105-106. Volpe-Sargent files:1965-1967, 1969 lacking. Dukakis (1975-1979) files also known in part as: MSD 2/901-931. Swift-Romney files (2001-2004 only)
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Scope and Content: The Governor’s Office of Educational Affairs, established by Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1983, was intended to serve during his second administration as an official link to all public and private educational constituencies, and to support gubernatorial commitment to improving the quality of public education and delivery of all educational services.  Series was created to track and influence pending legislation and to advise the governor thereon.
Notes: Scheduled as: Legislation files
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Scope and Content: The Hazardous Waste Facility Site Safety Council was an independent Massachusetts state agency responsible in conjunction with the Dept. of Environmental Management and the Dept. of Environmental Protection for overseeing siting of hazardous waste treatment facilities from 1980 to 1996.  Siting process as administered by the council included receiving and reviewing developer’s proposal and facilitating negotiations among developer and affected communities prior to the reaching of a siting agreement declared operative by the council.  Series was created to propose, develop, revise, and announce regulations required for the council and other bodies to implement MGLA c 21D (Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Act); and to monitor and analyze pertinent legislation.
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Scope and Content: Various bodies appointed for each gubernatorial term since 1971, beginning with the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, have been responsible for insuring adequate representation of the concerns of women in the laws governing Massachusetts and in the planning of services to women and children in the Commonwealth.  These subject files were created as part of the process of researching legislation and making recommendations to the governor and the General Court.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by subject
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