BOSTON ― Massachusetts state senators on Thursday voted to circumvent a rule that bars either branch of the Legislature from convening for formal business after the end of the formal session on July 31.

The suspension of the rule, taken unilaterally by the Senate, will be in effect through the end of the year. Under state laws, roll call votes are not taken during informal sessions. Roll call votes are required to pass bills pertaining to bonds and state spending.

The move is meant to advance several key measures still stuck in conference committee.

One of the measures is the Clean Energy Siting Bill, passed 38-2 on Thursday with Republican Senators Ryan Fattman, of Sutton, and Peter Durant, of Spencer, voting against. House members opened an informal session and kept it open as the Senate debated; however questions about whether there was a quorum in the House forced action on the bill to be delayed until Monday.

In a prepared statement about the Senate moves, President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said, “Today the Senate took decisive action to address the climate crisis. While achieving the shared goal of reforming siting and permitting so that we can ensure that clean energy projects get approved and built at the rate necessary to meet our state’s ambitious emissions reduction goals, I’m proud to say that the final bill also contains many provisions that the Senate heard were crucial from those who are on-the-ground leading efforts to fight climate change.”

Included in the measure are incentives to expand electrical vehicle infrastructure while also advancing the shift from fossil fuels to electrical, solar and wind power. The measure also includes provisions to protect ratepayers from shouldering the cost of the shift.

The Senate order allowing roll call votes can be used to address the legislative backlog and ensure that bills that have made it to conference committees for reconciliation can be taken up before the end of the year.

Other bills waiting for action include:

• A bill first filed in March by Gov. Maura Healey that would allow the state to borrow billions to invest in growing businesses and industries. While Healey proposed a $3.5 billion bonding plan, the legislature whittled it down to $2.5 billion, but has yet to act to pass the measure.
• The Hospital Oversight and Reform Bill that would give the state more fiscal oversight of health insurance and health care providers in Massachusetts, especially on decisions regarding cessation or shuttering of essential services.
• A health care-related measure that would address and limit the power of pharmacy benefits managers.
• A plan to address the opioid crisis in the state, with legislators disagreeing on a key provision of a bill that would allow interested communities to implement a pilot program creating supervised use centers, also known as safe injection sites.

House Speaker Ronald Mariano said earlier this month that legislators can work on bills until the end of the year, and indicated that the House could take up issues currently in conference committee.