Known locally as the enabling act, the law essentially created a state-mandated private company that has to operate under public meeting and procurement laws. Talks about changing the enabling act have come up over the Steamship’s 65 years, though only a handful of changes have been made in that time. The Steamship board’s makeup and the Islands’ weighted board votes have been some of the more debated pieces of the enabling act over the years. Falmouth senator Susan Moran attempted to change the enabling act to give the mainland communities more weight in 2021 and 2023. Peter Jeffrey, the Falmouth Steamship board member, has wanted to look at potential amendments to the enabling act in order to shore up funding for the Steamship Authority.