2.
3.
SECTION 4. Section 39 of chapter 3 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
inserting after the definition of “Authority” the following
definition:—
“Client”, an individual or business
entity that contracts with another individual or business entity to receive
lobbyist services.
SECTION 5. Said section 39 of said chapter 3,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of
“Legislative agent” the following definition:—
“Lobbyist Entity”, an entity
providing lobbyist services, consisting of at least one legislative or executive
agent, including foreign or domestic corporation, association, sole proprietor,
partnership, limited liability partnership or company, joint stock company,
joint venture or any other similar business formation.
SECTION 6. Said chapter 3 is hereby further
amended by striking section 40, as so appearing.
SECTION 7. Said chapter 3 is hereby further
amended by striking out section 41, as most recently amended by section 3 of
chapter 140 of the acts of 2003, and inserting in place the following
section:—
Section 41. The state secretary
shall keep a docket which may be in the form of an electronic database. All
information required to be filed under this section shall be organized into the
docket and shall be open and accessible for public inspection during normal
business hours.
Each legislative agent, executive
agent and lobbyist entity shall file an annual registration statement with the
state secretary on forms prescribed and provided by the state secretary. The
annual registration shall be completed not later than December 15 of this year
preceding the registration year.
A client retaining the services of
a legislative agent, executive agent or lobbyist entity shall also file an
annual registration statement with the state secretary on forms prescribed and
provided by the state secretary. The annual registration shall be completed not
later than December 15 of the year preceding the registration
year.
A client or lobbyist entity hiring,
employing or agreeing to employ a lobbyist entity, legislative agent or
executive agent after January 1 of the registration year shall, within 10 days
after such employment or agreement, cause the name of the lobbyist entity,
legislative agent or executive agent to be registered with the state secretary
as provided in this section. Notice of termination of such employment shall also
be filed promptly with the state secretary by the client or lobbyist
entity.
The state secretary shall assess
each lobbyist entity an annual filing fee of $1,000 to register the entity on
the docket. The state secretary shall assess each legislative agent and
executive agent an annual filing fee of $100 upon entering the agent’s name on
the docket. The state secretary shall assess each client an annual filing fee of
$100 for each lobbyist entity hired by them upon entering the name upon the
docket. The state secretary may, in his discretion and upon written request,
waive the filing fees not a not-for-profit client or a lobbyist entity which
registers to exclusively represent not-for-profit clients.
Upon registration, the state secretary shall issue to each legislative agent and executive agent, a nontransferable identification card that shall include the person’s name and photograph. Out-of-state legislative agents and executive agents shall submit 3 passport-sized photographs to the state secretary upon registration.
SECTION 8. Clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of
chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is
hereby amended by inserting after subclause (n) the following 2
subclauses:—
(o) the home address and home
telephone number of an employee of the judicial branch, an unelected employee of
the general court, an agency, executive office, department, board, commission,
bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of a political subdivision
thereof or of an authority established by the general court to serve a public
purpose, in the custody of a government agency which maintains records
identifying persons as falling within those categories; provided that the
information may be disclosed to an employee organization under chapter 150E, a
nonprofit organization for retired public employees under chapter 180, or a
criminal justice agency as defined in section 167 of chapter
6.
(p) the name, home address and home
telephone number of a family member of a commonwealth employee, contained in a
record in the custody of a government agency which maintains records identifying
persons as falling within the categories listed in subclause
(o).
SECTION 9. Section 79 of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting before the word “it”, in line 36, the following words:— in conjunction with the executive office of health and human services,.
SECTION 10. Section 135 of chapter 6 of the
General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph, added by
section 7 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003.
SECTION 11. Section 136 of said chapter 6 is
hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph, added by section 8 of said
chapter 26.
SECTION 12. Chapter 6 of the General Laws as most recently amended by section 1 of chapter 46 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out section 172A and inserting the following new section:—
Section 172A. The criminal
history systems board shall assess a fee of $30 for each request for criminal
offender record information. A fee shall not be assessed for a request from a
victim of a crime, a witness or a family member of a homicide victim, all as
defined in section 1 of chapter 258B, from a governmental agency, or from such
other persons as the board shall exempt. Certified agencies that provide
services to the elderly, children, victims of crime, medically infirm persons,
or the physically or mentally challenged shall be assessed a fee of $5 in
addition to the agency’s fee rate on
SECTION 13. (a) The purpose and intent of this section is to enhance available notification procedures to warn members of the general public of the likelihood they will encounter a level 3 sex offender in the community by allowing police departments to post certain information about such offenders on the internet as part of level 3 community notification plans, which the general court hereby finds to serve a substantial public safety interest.
(b) Section 178K of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the word “however,” in line 152, and inserting in place thereof the following:— that such active dissemination may include publication of such information on the internet by the police department at such time and in such manner as the police or the board deem reasonably necessary; and provided further,.
SECTION 14. Chapter 6 of the General Laws, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 184, the following
section:—
Section 184A. There shall be in the
executive office of public safety a forensic sciences advisory board,
hereinafter called the board, which shall advise the secretary on all aspects of
the administration and delivery of criminal forensic sciences in the
commonwealth. The board shall consist of the undersecretary of public safety for
forensic sciences, who shall also serve as chair of the board, the attorney
general, the colonel of the state police, the president of the Massachusetts
chiefs of police association, the president of the Massachusetts urban chiefs
association, the president of the Massachusetts district attorney’s association,
a district attorney designated by the Massachusetts district attorney’s
association and the commissioner of the department of public health or their
respective designees. The members shall serve without compensation. The board
shall meet no less than quarterly and as otherwise convened by the
undersecretary. The board shall coordinate its responsibilities with the
medico-legal investigation commission and shall not infringe upon the
commission’s authority as established in section 184 of this chapter.
At the direction of the board, the
undersecretary for forensic sciences shall advise the board on the
administration and delivery of forensic services in the Commonwealth. The
undersecretary shall include in his report such information as the board
requests, including but not limited to the volume of forensic services required
for each county, including costs and the length of time from submission for
testing or procedures and return of results; the capacity of the Commonwealth’s
forensic services and funding requirements; the accreditation of forensic
facilities and training of personnel; facilities expansion, including location
and funding for a new state police crime lab; and partnerships with other public
and private forensic services. The undersecretary shall make recommendations for
the allocation of resources and expansion of services, and on an annual basis,
submit budget recommendations to the secretary of public safety and the
board.
SECTION 15. Said chapter 6A is hereby amended
by inserting after Section 16B, as so appearing, the following
section:—
Section 16B½ (a) Notwithstanding
any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of the executive
office of health and human services, in consultation with the secretary of
administration and finance and the secretary of public safety shall develop a
coordinated, aggregate prescription drug procurement plan to manage and
administer the disbursement, payment and reimbursement of prescription drugs,
including claims processing, adjudication and client services for all pharmacy
benefit plans funded or subsidized, in whole or in part by the commonwealth. The
aggregate procurement plan shall separately manage any and all benefits, rules
and functions regarding drug utilization and cost for programs subject to
Section 1927(a)(1) of the Social Security Act, Title XIX. This plan shall
maximize cost savings, efficiencies, enhance affordable access to prescriptions
and be designed to improve health outcomes, benefits and coverage in said
pharmacy benefit plans.
(b) Notwithstanding any general or
special law to the contrary, as part of the aggregate procurement plan, the
secretary shall seek competitive bids from third party pharmacy benefits
managers who are interested in providing procurement services to the
commonwealth. The secretary shall consider those pharmacy benefits managers with
experience in the administration of publicly-funded health benefit plans and who
are qualified to assess and manage the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness
of the pharmacy benefit plans on behalf of the commonwealth. Nothing in this
section shall preclude a not-for-profit entity from participating in the
competitive bid process; provided, that during such competitive bid process, a
not-for-profit pharmacy benefit manager shall demonstrate the capacity to
provide the same level of service quality, assessment and ability to manage the
clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness of the administration of such aggregate
procurement plan as that of a for-profit pharmacy benefit manager, provided
further, that the secretary may establish an inter-governmental service
agreement between or among agencies of the commonwealth for the provision of
pharmacy benefit management services if said not-for-profit pharmacy benefit
manager is selected for the provision of such services, and provided further,
that the secretary may request the aggregate pharmacy benefit manager plan to
disclose information regarding its marketing practices.
(c) A contract currently in
existence with any agency or pharmacy benefits management company shall not be
renewed or extended in a manner inconsistent with this section, but, a contract
in existence with any agency or pharmacy benefits management company shall not
be terminated before its expiration date if the termination would cause
substantial financial cost or service interruption to the
commonwealth.
(d) The secretary shall ensure that
the aggregate procurement plan employs clinically-based tools to maximize cost
savings, efficiencies, affordability, and to improve health outcomes and access
to pharmacy benefits and coverage and effectively manage the pharmacy plans of
the commonwealth.
(e) The Secretary shall implement
the aggregate procurement plan not later than
(1) cost savings achieved during
the previous fiscal year; (2) administrative costs relating to the management of
the program for the previous fiscal year; (3) any recommendations for enhancing
the benefits provided by each plan, savings costs, reducing inefficiencies and
improving access and quality; and, (4) a cost-benefit analysis of the inclusion
of other governmental entities, including but not limited to county, municipal
and quasi-governmental entities within the aggregate pharmaceutical procurement
plan.
SECTION 16. Section 16G of chapter 6A of the
General Laws, as appearing in section 550 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is
hereby amended by striking out subsections (d) and (e) and inserting in place
thereof the following 2 subsections:—
(d) The following state agencies
shall be within the department of labor: the division of industrial accidents,
the division of conciliation and arbitration, the labor relations commission,
the joint labor-management committee, and the division of occupational
safety.
(e) The following state agencies
and funds shall be within the department of workforce development: the one stop
career centers, the state workforce investment board, the division of apprentice
training, the commonwealth corporation, the workforce training fund, and the
division of unemployment assistance. The division of unemployment assistance
shall include the medical security trust fund and the unemployment insurance
trust fund.
SECTION 17. Said chapter 6A is hereby
amended by inserting after section 16G, as so appearing, the following section:—
Section 16H. The secretary of
health and human services shall convene interagency children’s services teams to
establish effective means of collaboration among and between human service
agencies for the provision of supports and services to children and to determine
which agency or agencies within the jurisdiction of the secretary shall provide
or contract for appropriate services to a child in cases when disputes arise
among human service agencies over the delivery of services to a child or when
the services are not being provided to a child. For purposes of this section,
“agency” shall mean a department, office, commission, board, institution or
other agency of the commonwealth within the executive office of health and human
services. The teams shall be created on a local or regional basis in accordance
with regulations to be developed by the secretary.
The secretary or his designee shall
chair the local or regional interagency children’s services teams and preside
over meetings. The interagency teams shall also include the commissioner or
chief executive officer, or his designee, of the following agencies: the
department of public health, the department of social services, the department
of transitional assistance, the department of mental retardation, the department
of mental health, the commission on the deaf and hard of hearing, the
Massachusetts rehabilitation commission, the commission for the blind or any
other agency within the executive office of health and human services which in
the opinion of the secretary has a mission relevant to the child’s needs, the
legal obligations and budgetary capacity to ensure delivery of appropriate and
needed human services to a child.
The interagency teams shall review
the cases on a local or regional basis; seek to identify the assessments and
services that might be provided to a family by agencies within the executive
office of health and human services; provide opportunities to receive testimony
and evidence from the child, the child’s family, or the representative of the
child or family as to the type of services or placements they feel would best
serve their child’s needs, and the types of services or placements they would
not accept; provide opportunities
to receive testimony and evidence from the representative or other employee of
an agency; designate an agency to act as a lead agency for the purpose of
service coordination with a
detailed plan developed by the
interagency team for collaboration between multiple agencies which takes into
account the available resources in each agency; and, if necessary, designate an agency to
provide or contract for such services; and direct the designated agency to
accept responsibility for the child and provide or contract for the
services.
Students may be referred to the
local or regional interagency team by a parent, guardian, surrogate parent,
other service provider of the child, educational advocate or legal advocate
representing the child, who have been rejected for services by multiple agencies
of the commonwealth, or by agencies or departments within the executive office
of health and human services which have been unable to agree on proper
jurisdiction and fiscal responsibilities. Written consent of the parent or
guardian shall be required before said child is subject to the provisions of
this section and before any sharing of information concerning a child. All
federal and state laws and regulations regarding consent, confidentiality, and
privilege shall apply. The parent, guardian, surrogate parent, educational
advocate or legal advocate of a child shall be provided notice in their primary
language of their rights pursuant to this section, including notice of any
referral by agencies within the jurisdiction of the executive office of health
and human services, the requirement for parental consent to the release of
information and records, and copies of all writings produced by the team; shall
be part of the interagency team and shall be invited to interagency team
meetings and participate actively in its work as it affects the
child.
The interagency teams shall have
full access to, and the agencies shall provide all information relevant to the
cases if the appropriate consent is provided by parents or students, as may be
established by applicable statutes or regulations. All confidential information
shall be returned to its originating source upon completion of the team’s work
and shall not be retained by the interagency team or a member thereof and a
member of the interagency team shall not disseminate confidential information to
another individual or entity.
The interagency team shall keep a
written record concerning the work of the interagency team with respect to each
child referred to it, including information as to the services or placement
sought, alternatives considered, conclusions reached, and further
recommendations and the membership of the team. The parents and all relevant
agencies shall be promptly informed of the results of the interagency team’s
work. Upon written request, a parent, legal guardian, surrogate parent and
educational advocate and legal advocate of a student shall have the right to
review and obtain access to, copies of the written record maintained by the
interagency team. The written record maintained by the interagency team shall be
kept by the secretary, shall be kept confidential and shall not be disseminated
by a team member.
Nothing herein shall be construed
to alter individual education plan development processes, service provision or
placement processes applicable to school districts or to alter existing due
process rights and procedures under state or federal law. Further, the child and
the parent, legal guardian, or educational surrogate of the child shall retain
all applicable rights to consent or not to consent to an offered service that
might be offered or recommended by the interagency team. Nothing herein shall be
construed to require presentation of an issue to the interagency team before
using any of the remedies under federal and state law including complaints to
the department of education and hearings and mediations before the bureau of
special education appeals.
If no collaborative plan is
developed and no decision is agreed upon by a majority of the interagency team,
the secretary shall designate and require an agency or multiple agencies in
collaboration to provide appropriate and needed services to the child, provided,
that the agency or agencies are authorized by statute or regulation to provide
such services, and funding exists to pay for said services. If a designated
agency fails to provide services to a child in a manner consistent with the
decision of the team, the secretary shall review the matter. If the secretary
finds that the decision of the interagency team is reasonable and within the
jurisdiction of the designated agency, he shall direct the agency to provide
services in accordance with the decision of the interagency team and shall take
any other action consistent with state law to ensure that appropriate services
are provided to the child; provided, that the agency or agencies are authorized
by statute or regulation to provide such services, and funding exists to pay for
said services.
The secretary shall promulgate
regulations as to the operation of the interagency teams. These regulations
shall mandate that the entire team process, including notification to all
parties of the team’s decision, shall be completed in no less than 30 working
days. The regulations shall set forth an appeal pursuant to chapter 30A to a
hearing officer appointed by the secretary.
For purposes of this section,
“child” shall mean a person under the age of 18, or under the age of 22 if the
person is disabled or has special needs.
The secretary shall issue an annual
report no later than February 1 of each year summarizing the activities of the
teams during the preceding fiscal year. Said report shall be filed with the
house and senate clerks, the chairs of the house and senate ways and means
committees, and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on human
services and elder affairs.
SECTION 18. Said chapter 6A is hereby amended
by striking out section 18½, as amended by section 22 of chapter 26 of the acts
of 2003 and inserting in place thereof the following
section:—
Section 18½. The secretary shall,
subject to section 3, appoint 4 undersecretaries. Each person appointed as an
undersecretary shall have experience and shall know the field or functions of
such position, shall receive such salary as the secretary shall determine and
shall devote his full time to the duties of the office.
One undersecretary shall be the
undersecretary for law enforcement and administration and shall oversee the
functions and administration of the following boards and agencies: the
department of state police, the department of inspection and regulation, the
emergency telecommunications board, the criminal history systems board, the
automated fingerprinting identification system, the municipal police training
committee, the committee on criminal justice, the registry of motor vehicles,
the merit rating board, the governor’s council on highway safety, the division
of inspection and the architectural access board.
One undersecretary shall be the
undersecretary of criminal justice and shall oversee the functions and
administration of the following boards and agencies: the sex offender registry
board, the department of corrections, including the parole board and all other
agencies within said department.
One undersecretary shall be the
undersecretary of homeland security and shall oversee the functions and
administration of the following boards and agencies: the emergency management
agency, the department of fire services, the military department and the nuclear
safety department.
One undersecretary shall be the
undersecretary for forensic sciences. The undersecretary shall work in
conjunction with law enforcement authorities and shall coordinate all forensic
science resources, appropriations and grants; shall oversee the functions and
administration of the office of the chief medical examiner, the state police
crime laboratory and such other forensic entities as the secretary shall assign
from time to time; and shall convene the forensic science advisory board
consistent with the duties set forth in section 184A of chapter
6.
Each undersecretary shall
coordinate the functions and the programs of the agencies as directed by the
secretary. Each undersecretary shall conduct studies of the operations of each
agency and work with each agency in effecting procedures and programs which
promote efficiency and improvements in the administration of the agency. Each
undersecretary shall assist the secretary in reviewing and acting upon budgetary
and other financial matters concerning those agencies in accordance with
sections 2C, 3, 3A, 4, 9B and 29 of chapter 29.
SECTION 19. Said chapter 6A is hereby further
amended by striking out section 18H, inserted by section 1 of chapter 239 of the
acts of 2002, and inserting in place thereof the following section:—
Section 18H½. (a) The department of
telecommunications and energy shall promulgate rules providing for the recovery
by telecommunications companies of expenses that have been, are, or will be,
until
(b) Each telecommunication company
shall remit the surcharge revenues collected from its subscribers to the state
treasurer for deposit in the Wireline Enhanced 911 Fund established in section
35W½ of chapter 10. The surcharge revenues shall be used by the board for the
recovery by the board and telecommunications companies of expenses that have
been, are or will be incurred in complying with sections 18A to 18F, inclusive,
of this chapter and sections 14A and 15E of chapter 166.
SECTION 20. Section 4A of chapter 7 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding the following 4 paragraphs:—
In the event a new governmental
mandate effective on or after “special education” as defined in
section 1 of chapter 71B, the governmental unit shall negotiate a contract
amendment with the contractor to increase the maximum obligation amount or unit
price to offset the material adverse financial impact of the new governmental
mandate, provided that the contractor furnishes substantial evidence to the
governmental unit of such material adverse financial impact along with a request
to renegotiate based on a new governmental mandate.
For the purposes of this section, a
“new governmental mandate” shall mean a statutory requirement, administrative
rule, regulation, assessment, executive order, judicial order or other
governmental requirement that was not in effect when the contract was originally
entered into and directly or indirectly imposes an obligation upon
the contractor to take any action or to refrain from taking any action in order
to fulfill its contractual duties.
For the purposes of this section, a
“material adverse financial impact” shall mean: (a) an increase in the
reasonable costs to the contractor in performing the contract of the lesser of:
(i) 3 per cent of the maximum obligation amount or unit price of the contract;
or (ii) $5,000, in the aggregate as a result of all such mandates in effect
during the contract year; or (b) an action that affects the core purpose and
primary intent of the contract.
Any contractor aggrieved by a
decision of a governmental unit denying or failing to negotiate a contract
amendment to remedy a material adverse impact of a new governmental mandate
pursuant to this section may appeal such adverse decision to the division of
administrative law appeals in accordance with the section 4H for a hearing and
decision de novo on all issues. A contractor’s request for contract amendment
shall, for purposes of appeal, be deemed to have been denied if a determination
is not received within 30 days of the governmental unit’s receipt of the
request. A contractor or
governmental unit may appeal an adverse decision of the division of
administrative law appeals to the superior court,
A
contractor or governmental unit may appeal an adverse decision of the division
of administrative law appeals to the superior court, Suffolk division, pursuant
to chapter 30A.
SECTION 21. The first paragraph of section 54
of said chapter 7, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following paragraph:—
(1A) The agency shall prepare a
written statement that the services proposed to be the subject of the
privatization contract shall not be provided by labor based or employed outside
of the
SECTION 22. Chapter 8 of the General Laws is
hereby amended by striking out section 9, as amended by section 32 of chapter 26
of the acts of 2003, and inserting in its place the following
section:—
Section 9. The superintendent shall
have charge of the care and operation of the state house, subject to rules as
the committee on rules of the 2 branches acting concurrently may adopt, the John
W. McCormack state office building, the Leverett Saltonstall state office
building, the Springfield office building, the Pittsfield office building, the
Erich Lindemann building, the Charles F. Hurley building and all state parking
areas related thereto, and any other state properties designated by law, to be
the responsibility of the superintendent of state office buildings, and shall
see that the chambers and lobbies of the general court and of its committees are
kept clean and in good order; shall superintend all ordinary repairs thereof and
shall have charge of the current expenses for the care and preservation of the
state house, and for the ordinary repairs of the furniture and fixtures therein.
He shall take proper precautions against damage thereto, or to the furniture,
fixtures or other public property therein; provided, however, that security in
the state house shall be the responsibility of the director of the division of
urban parks and recreation in consultation and coordination with the speaker of
the house of representatives and the president of the senate. The director shall
utilize the members of the urban park rangers program, established pursuant to
section 34B of chapter 92, to maintain security; provided, further, that the
commissioner shall carry out the responsibility subject to rules as the
committee on rules of the 2 branches acting concurrently may adopt and shall not
be subject to the authority of the superintendent. There shall be maintained an
adequate passageway for foot passengers from north to south through the east
wing or extension of the state house, to be kept open during the hours as the
superintendent shall fix. The state house and all facilities located therein,
including hearing rooms, shall be accessible to, functional for and safe for use
by physically handicapped persons; provided further that the state shall make
available a certain number of designated handicapped parking spaces for the
general public; provided, however, that no construction required for the
accessibility, functionality and safety shall commence until the superintendent
of state buildings has completed the study required in section
2.
SECTION 23. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is
hereby amended by striking out section 28, as appearing in the 2002 Official
Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following
section:—
Section 28. The right of any person
to a prize drawn is not assignable except under the following limited
circumstances:
(1) Payment of any prize drawn may
be paid to the estate of a deceased prize winner or to the IV-D agency under
chapter 119A.
(2) Payment of any prize drawn may
be made to any person under an appropriate judicial order.
(3) The commission may, by
regulations adopted under section 24, permit assignment of prizes for purposes
of paying estate and inheritance taxes, or to a trust the beneficiaries of which
are the prize winner, his mother, father, children, grandchildren, brothers,
sisters or spouse.
(4) Payment of any prize drawn may
be made to a person under a voluntary assignment of the right to receive future
prize payments, in whole or in part, if the assignment is made to a person or
entity named as the assignee in an appropriate judicial order of a court of
competent jurisdiction, which shall be the superior court sitting within and for
the county in which the commission is situated or in which the assignor resides.
Under this paragraph, a court may issue an order approving a voluntary
assignment and directing the commission to make prize payments in whole or in
part to the designated assignee, if the court finds that all of the following
conditions have been met:
(A) The assignment is in writing,
executed by the assignor and, by its terms, subject to the laws of the
commonwealth;
(B) The court finds that the
assignor:
(i) is of sound mind and not acting
under duress,
(ii) has been advised regarding the
assignment by his independent legal counsel and independent certified financial
planner. For purposes of this clause, “independent” shall mean unrelated to,
unassociated with, and not compensated by the assignee or the assignee’s
affiliates;
(iii) irrevocably agrees that he is
subject to state income tax with respect to a gain or income which the assignor
will recognize in connection with the transfer or assignment;
and
(iv) understands and agrees that
with regard to the assigned payments, the commonwealth, the commission, and the
director shall have no further liability or responsibility to make said payments
to the assignor.
(v) In making the findings under
clauses (i), (ii, (iii), and (iv), absent a showing of special circumstances or
hardship, the court shall require the personal appearance and in-court
affirmation of the assignor. For purposes of this section, “special
circumstances or hardship” shall mean the assignor resides outside of the
commonwealth or a health or other condition makes a court appearance unduly
costly, dangerous, or burdensome, in which case the court may, in its
discretion, take evidence by way of telephonic testimony, video deposition, or
written affidavit.
(C) At the time he executed the
assignment contract, the assignor was provided with a written disclosure
statement setting forth, in bold type of not less than 14 points, the payments
being assigned, by amounts and payment dates; the purchase price being paid; the
rate of discount to present value, assuming daily compounding and funding on the
contract date; and the amount, if any, of closing, administrative or other fees
or charges that will be charged to him or her; but, the disclosure statement
shall be in a form approved by the commission.
(D) The assignor was advised in
writing, at the time he signed the assignment contract, that he had the right to
cancel the contract, without any further obligation, within 10 calendar days
following the date the contract was executed, upon return of any payment
received in consideration for the contract.
(E) The assignment contract shall
provide that delinquent child support obligations of the assignor and debts owed
to a state agency by the assignor, as of the date of the court order, shall be
paid in full, at closing.
(F) If the court determines at the
time of the hearing set forth in subparagraph (B) that the assignment is not in
compliance then the court shall have discretion to void the assignment without
recourse or obligation to the proposed assignor or
assignee.
(5) In the case of a voluntary
assignment for consideration made under a judicial order pursuant to paragraph
(4), the assignee shall withhold 5.3 per cent of the purchase price and pay that
withheld amount to the commonwealth as state income tax withholding to credit
the account of the assignor, within 10 days of closing the assignment
transaction.
(6) In the case of a voluntary
assignment for consideration made under paragraph (4), delinquent child support
obligations of the assignor and debts owed to a state agency by the assignor
that are not paid in full, at closing of the assignment contract shall be offset
by the commission first against remaining payments or portions thereof due the
prize winner and then against payments due the assignee.
(7) The commonwealth, the
commission, the director, and the agents and employees of the commission shall
be discharged of all further liability upon payment of a prize in full to the
parties identified in a court order entered under paragraph (4), less any amount
offset under paragraph (6).
(8) Soliciting to buy or offering
to sell rights to lottery prize winnings, either by assignment or through pledge
as collateral for a loan, shall not be deemed selling or offering for sale
lottery tickets or shares under this chapter.
(9) The director may establish a
reasonable fee, payable by the assignee, to defray administrative expenses
associated with assignments made under this section, including the cost to the
commonwealth of a processing fee that may be imposed by a private annuity
provider. The fee amount shall reflect the direct and indirect costs to the
commonwealth associated with processing the assignments and shall be no greater
than $1,000 per transaction.
(10) Written notice of a proposed
assignment under paragraph (4) and a court hearing concerning the proposed
assignment shall be provided to the commission at least 10 days before a court
hearing. The commission is not required to appear in or be named as a party to
the action seeking judicial confirmation of an assignment under this section,
but may intervene as of right in the proceeding. A certified copy of a court
order approving a voluntary assignment shall be provided to the commission not
later than 14 days before the date on which the payment is to be
made.
(11) Nothing in this chapter shall
exempt an assignee or person acting as broker, agent, or intermediary for an
assignee, from the licensure requirement and other rules and restrictions
imposed under section 96 of chapter 140.
(12) A court order obtained under
paragraph (4), together with any other order issued in connection with any 1
prize drawn, shall not require the commission to divide payments among more than
3 different persons or entities.
(13) No business entity may seek or
obtain an order approving a voluntary assignment of lottery prize payments under
this section unless and until the business entity has first filed a written
disclosure and registration statement with the state lottery and paid the
registration fee specified in clause (iv) of this paragraph. The disclosure and
registration statement shall list and disclose, under penalty of perjury under
the laws of the commonwealth, the following:
(i) the registrant’s name, mailing
address, and telephone number;
(ii) the name and address of the
registrant’s agent for service of process in the
commonwealth;
(iii) claims by a lottery winner, a
state lottery, a consumer protection agency or a state, federal, or local
prosecutor or enforcement agency against the registrant or its affiliates in a
state or federal court within the past 5 years, and the status and disposition
of the claims;
(iv) the registrant’s privacy,
“do-not-call” and non-harassment policies.
The registration and disclosure
shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee in the amount of $2,500 payable to
the commission by the registrant. All registrations and disclosures shall be
maintained on file with the commission and shall be made available to a member
of the public upon request.
(14) An assignment in violation of
this section shall be invalid. The commonwealth, the commission, the director,
and the agents and employees of the commission shall not be liable to make
payments pursuant to an invalid assignment.
(15) This section shall prevail
over section 9-405 of chapter 106.
SECTION 24. Said chapter 10 is hereby amended
by inserting after section 35W, as so appearing, the following
section:—
Section 35W½. There is hereby
established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be
known as the Wireline Enhanced 911 Fund. There shall be credited to the fund
revenues received by the commonwealth from surcharges imposed under section 18H½
of chapter 6A; from appropriations; from gifts, grants, contributions and
bequests of funds from any department, agency or subdivision of federal, state
or municipal government, and any individual foundation, corporation, association
or public authority; revenue derived from the investment of amounts credited to
the fund; and federal funds made available for emergency telecommunication
services. The fund shall be used solely for the purposes described in said
section 18H of said chapter 6A. Amounts credited to the fund shall be available
for expenditure by the statewide telecommunications board, without further
appropriation.
SECTION 25. Chapter 10 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:—
Section 35Z. There is hereby established a separate fund to be known as the Counsel for Indigent Salary Enhancement Trust Fund. There shall be credited to said fund all revenues collected pursuant to an initial filing fee of $15 for any private application for a criminal complaint for a misdemeanor by any party, not being a law enforcement officer or prosecutor, in any court of the Commonwealth, from grants, gifts, contributions from any entity public or private and any revenue derived from the investment of amounts credited to said fund. The chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services shall expend funds, without further appropriation, solely for hourly rate enhancements for private bar advocates for the indigent. No expenditures from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency at the end of a fiscal year. The chief justice for administration and management, in consultation with the comptroller and the chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, shall report monthly to the house and senate committees on ways and means on the status of the fund. In the event that the chief justice for administration and management, in consultation with the chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services determines that the receipts for that fiscal year will be insufficient to pay hourly rate enhancements previously authorized, said chief counsel shall adjust hourly rate enhancements to ensure that the trust fund will have a positive balance at the end of the fiscal year.
On October 15 of each year the chief justice for administration and management, in consultation with the comptroller, shall certify and report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services the amount of trust fund receipts for the first quarter of the fiscal year and shall estimate total receipts for the fiscal year. No funds shall be expended from the trust prior to the submission of said report. Upon receipt of the report, the chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services shall determine the hourly rate enhancement to be paid for that fiscal year, including retroactive payments for hours billed on or after July 1 of that fiscal year. Not more than $12,000,000 shall be expended from the trust fund in any fiscal year. Hourly rate enhancements funded from this trust shall not be construed as a funding obligation in the general appropriation Act or supplemental appropriation Acts. Any amounts received in excess of $12,000,000 in any fiscal year shall be credited to the General Fund.
SECTION 26. Said chapter 10 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 35AA, added by section 23 of this act, the following section:-
Section 35BB. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund to be used, without appropriation, by the department of housing and community development for the purpose of making payments to communities under section 10 of chapter 40R. Available revenues from the sale of state surplus lands, as provided for in law, appropriations from the General Fund and monetary sanctions imposed by the department of housing and community development under subsection (c) of section 7 of chapter 40R shall be deposited into the trust fund. All monies deposited into the fund shall be expended exclusively for the purpose set forth in this section. No expenditure from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency at the close of a fiscal year.
SECTION 27. Said chapter 10 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:
Section 73. (a) There is hereby established a Water Supply Protection Pilot Program to be administered by and through a separate trust to be known as the Water Supply Protection Trust. Monies in said trust shall be deposited with the state treasurer in such manner as will secure the highest interest rate available consistent with safety of the trust and with the requirement that all amounts on deposit be available for immediate use.
(b) There shall be a board of trustees of the trust, which shall consist of the executive director of the Massachusetts water resources authority, the secretary of the executive office of environmental affairs or his appointee, a member appointed by the Speaker of the House, a member appointed by the President of the Senate, and a member jointly selected by the North Worcester County Quabbin Anglers and the Quabbin Fishermen’s Association.
(c) The board of trustees
shall meet on or before
Any provisions in the memorandum, as it may be amended from time to time, regarding the operation and governance of the trust shall be consistent with this section. In the event of an inconsistency between that memorandum and the terms and conditions of this section as they relate to the operation and governance of the trust, the terms and conditions of this section shall be dispositive.
(d) There shall be credited to the trust the following:
(1) all assessments against the authority established pursuant to section 11 of chapter 92A½, except for amounts to be paid in trust by the authority to the division of water supply protection for application to payments in lieu of taxes pursuant to chapter 59 of the General Laws, and against any other public or private entity by the commissioner of the department for the purpose of supporting the watershed and water supply activities set forth in subsection (e);
(2) all revenues generated by the department’s division of water supply protection required to be offset from assessments against the authority pursuant to section 11 of said chapter 92A½, which shall include, but not be limited to, the sale of hydroelectricity, recreational or permits fees, and shall also include any access fees established pursuant to chapter 436 of the acts of 1990;
(3) all revenues from the sale of wood products harvested on those watershed lands under the management of the division of water supply protection;
(4) all payments from the authority for debt service under section 12 of said chapter 92A 1/2 ;
(5) all interest earned on monies in the trust; and
(6) gifts, grants, donations, or other contributions made for the purpose of supporting the watershed and water supply activities set forth in subsection (e).
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law or other restriction to the contrary, expenditures from the trust shall not be subject to appropriation and balances remaining at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund, and expenditures from the trust shall be made only for the purposes set forth in the memorandum and annual work plan as approved by the board pursuant to subsection (c), including:
(1) the maintenance and operating costs of the department’s division of water supply protection, as established in sections 1 to 20, inclusive, of chapter 92A½, including the costs of capital improvements necessary to ensure the safety and purity of the water supply and protection of watershed lands pursuant to state and federal standards, capital costs, and the costs of the purchase or leasing of vehicles and all other equipment as considered necessary by the division, and other authorized charges of the division of water supply protection, as set forth in the Annual Work Plan’s operating plan, operating budget, and capital budgets prepared jointly by the department and authority, and reviewed and approved by the board of trustees pursuant to subsection (c), provided that no expenditure may be made for operating, maintenance, and capital costs of the department’s division of water supply protection that were previously budgeted as expenses of the former department of environmental management that were non-reimbursable by the authority;
(2) department salaries, staffing levels, other employee expenses, operational expenses, acquisition of capital equipment, and all other expenses, as set forth in the Annual Work Plan’s operating plan, operating budget, and capital budgets prepared jointly by the department and authority, and reviewed and approved by the board of trustees pursuant to subsection (c); and
(3) debt service payments for bonds authorized by the general court for the acquisition of fee simple, development, and other rights or interests in land in the areas regulated by said division of water supply protection, if the bonds were authorized and bonded indebtedness incurred before the establishment of the trust.
(f) For the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the trust’s receipt of revenues and related expenditures, the trust may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify payments from the trust in anticipation of trust receipts; but, the board of trustees shall annually certify to the comptroller that expenditures for the previous fiscal year did not exceed related assessments and trust receipts. No expenditures from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency at the close of a fiscal year.
(g) The board of trustees
shall not enter into any agreement to acquire, purchase, or transfer any assets
and/or property the title of which is vested in the Commonwealth, and/or
considered to be watershed property by
SECTION 28. Section 1E of chapter
15 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby
amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the
following sentence:- There shall be in the department a board of education, in
this section and in sections 1F and 1G called the board, which shall consist of
the chairman of the student advisory council established under this section; the
chancellor of higher education; the commissioner of early education and care; 1
representative of a labor organization selected by the governor from a list of 3
nominees provided by the Massachusetts State Labor Council,
SECTION 29. Section 4 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 683 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following:—
The board of higher education, hereinafter referred to as the board, shall be composed of 11 voting members, consisting of the commissioner of education, ex officio, the commissioner of early education and care, ex officio, and 6 members appointed by the governor reflecting regional geographic representation, and 3 members chosen to represent public institutions of higher education.
SECTION 30. Section 5 of said chapter 15A of
the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended
by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the
following paragraph:—
The board shall coordinate activities among the public institutions of higher education and shall engage in advocacy on their behalf, which advocacy shall include a sustained program to inform the public of the needs, importance, and accomplishments of the public institutions of higher education in the commonwealth.
SECTION 31. Section 7A of Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (f) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:—
(f) The board shall use accountability objectives, performance measures and each institution’s mission implementation plan to conduct annual evaluations of the performance of each institution. If an institution fails to meet a reasonable number of the accountability objectives, as determined by the performance measures, within a given year, the institution's board of trustees shall develop and implement a performance improvement plan and timetable to be approved by the board of higher education. Each plan shall be submitted to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education, arts and humanities. If the institution fails to achieve the agreed to targeted improvements and timeline, funds appropriated for the institution in the following fiscal year shall be disbursed by the board of higher education to the institution’s board of trustees subject to the board's approval. The board shall not be prevented from amending the institutional allocation of any such institution.
SECTION 32. Section 9 of said chapter 15A, as
most recently amended by section 52 of said chapter 26, is hereby further
amended by adding the following paragraph:—
Notwithstanding any general or
special law to the contrary, for the purpose of determining eligibility for
in-state tuition rates and fees at public institutions of higher education,
except the University of Massachusetts Medical School, an individual, other than
a non-immigrant alien within the meaning of paragraph 15 of subsection (a) of
Section 1101 of Title 8 of the United States Code, who has attended high school
in the commonwealth for 3 or more years and has achieved graduation from a high
school in the commonwealth or attained the equivalent thereof, shall be eligible
for in-state tuition rates and fees at the University of Massachusetts, or any
commonwealth state or community college upon determination by the board of
higher education that no person qualified for in-state tuition rates and fees
under chapter 15A shall be denied such in-state tuition and fees upon the
granting of eligibility under this paragraph; but, in the case of an individual
who is not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, the individual
shall provide the University of Massachusetts, or the state or community college
with an affidavit stating that the individual has filed an application to become
a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, or shall file an
application at the earliest opportunity the individual is eligible to do
so.
SECTION 33. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out section 15F and in inserting in place thereof the following section:—
Section 15F. It is hereby
declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to encourage public community
college training opportunities in order to promote workforce development,
minimize the shortage of skilled workers and raise economic opportunity through
a matching incentive grant program to be known as the community college
workforce training incentive program. Subject to appropriation, the board of
higher education shall establish guidelines for the distribution of community
college workforce training incentive grants; provided, however, that said
guidelines shall provide: (i) allowable incentive grant awards which shall not
exceed $200 for every $1,000 in eligible revenues; (ii) minimum requirements for
the level of not-for-credit vocationally-oriented instruction which shall be
provided by incentive grant recipients in the fiscal year in which such grant is
awarded. Each community college
which is eligible for grant awards in a fiscal year shall, subject to
appropriation, receive not less than $50,000 from the total amount appropriated
for the incentive program to fund the salary of a workforce training coordinator at each
such campus. For the purposes of this section, eligible revenues shall be
defined as revenues received by a community college for one of the following
purposes: tuition and fees paid by students enrolled in not-for-credit
vocationally-oriented courses; tuition and fees paid by Massachusetts employers
on behalf of employees enrolled in not-for-credit vocationally-oriented courses;
and revenues from service contracts with Massachusetts employers to provide not
for-credit vocationally-oriented training. Revenues from contracts with public
agencies, public grants or private gifts shall not be considered eligible
revenues for the purposes of this section. Incentive grants shall be expended
for the following purposes: to expand not-for-credit vocationally oriented
course offerings; to expand not-for-credit vocationally-oriented instruction
provided through contracts with
SECTION 34. Section 24A of said chapter 15A, as
appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in
line 6, the words “in the commonwealth.”
SECTION 35. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 15C the following new chapter:-
Chapter 15D – Department of Early Education and Care
Section 1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to assure every child a fair and full opportunity to reach his full potential by providing and encouraging services which maximize a child's capacity and opportunity to learn, which strengthen family life, and which support families in their essential function of nurture for a child's physical, social, educational, moral, and spiritual development.
Section 2. There shall be a department of early education and care, in this chapter called the department, which shall serve as the lead agency for the administration of all public and private early education and care programs and services. The department shall be the state agency responsible for compliance with early education and care services under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-193), or any successor federal statute. The department shall be the state education agency for the purposes of early education and care services under federal law. The department shall seek, apply for and encourage the use of any federal funds for early education and care services, and shall facilitate the coordination of federal, state, and local policies concerning early education and care. The department shall be under the supervision and control of a board of early education and care.
Section 3. (a) There shall be a board of early education and care, hereinafter referred to as the board. The board shall set policies and establish regulations related to early education and care programs, and services. The Board shall oversee and supervise the administration of a high-quality system of public and private early education and care. The board shall oversee the development and implementation of a program of voluntary, universally accessible high-quality early childhood education to all preschool-aged children in the commonwealth, subject to appropriation. The board shall oversee the development and management of an educationally sound kindergarten readiness assessment for pre-school children and a comprehensive evaluation of early education and care programs, including the establishment of baseline data to inform the design and implementation of a universally accessible, high-quality early education and care program for all pre-school age children. The board shall oversee the development and implementation of a workforce development system designed to support the education, training and compensation of the early education and care workforce, including all center, family child care, infant, toddler, preschool and school-age providers.
(b) The Board shall consist of 9 members, and shall include: the secretary of health and human services, ex-officio; the commissioner of the department of education, ex-officio; the chancellor of higher education, ex-officio; and 6 members appointed by the Governor. Of the members appointed by the Governor, 1 shall be a representative of the business community with a demonstrated commitment to education; 1 shall be an early education and care teacher, selected from a list of 3 nominees jointly provided by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers; 1 shall be a parent or guardian of a child receiving early education and care services or a family childcare provider; 1 shall be a provider of early education and care services with practical experience in the management and administration of early education and care programs; 1 shall be a person with expertise in the evaluation and assessment of successful pre-school education programs; and 1 shall be a pediatrician with a focus on child development or a person nationally recognized for research in the field of educational psychology.
In making the appointments, the governor shall seek to appoint persons who are from geographically diverse regions of the commonwealth, who are familiar with the differing interests, perspectives and needs of urban, rural and suburban regions, and who reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the commonwealth’s children. In appointing members from urban areas of the commonwealth, the governor shall seek to appoint people who are familiar with the particular issues of urban areas with high concentrations of low-income families. Each of the members chosen shall have a demonstrated interest in and commitment to early education and care and a commitment to maximizing family choice by preserving a mixed system of high-quality public and private programs.
Five members shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of 5 members shall be necessary for any action taken by the board.
Appointed members shall serve for terms of five years. No member shall be appointed to serve more than two consecutive full terms. Upon expiration of the term of office of an appointed member, a successor shall be appointed in like manner. If an appointed member is absent from any four regularly scheduled meetings, exclusive of July and August, in any calendar year, his office as a member of said board shall be deemed vacant. The chairperson of the board shall forthwith notify the governor that such vacancy exists.
No appointive member of said board shall be employed by or receive regular compensation from the department of early education and care. The governor shall appoint a chairperson to the board. Not more than 2 appointive members of the board shall be employed on a full-time basis by an agency of the commonwealth. The members of the board shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The board shall meet not fewer than 10 times annually at the call of the chairman.
No member of the board shall be found to be in violation of section 6 of chapter 268A for conduct which involves his participation, as a member of the board, in a particular matter before the board which may affect the financial interest of an early education and care program with which the member is affiliated; provided, however, that the member, his or her immediate family or partner has no personal and direct financial interest in the particular matter; and provided, further, that the affiliation is disclosed to the board and recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the board.
(c) The purposes of the board are as follows:
(1) to consolidate and coordinate resources and public funding streams for early education and care in order to assure the sound and coordinated development of all early education and care services to children;
(2) to encourage family choice by ensuring a mixed system of high-quality public and private programs, with local points of entry, staffed by well-qualified professionals;
(3) to assure parents a decisive role in the planning, operation, and evaluation of programs which aid families in the care of children;
(4) to provide consumer education and accessibility to early education and care resources;
(5) to advance the quality of early education and care programs in order to support the healthy development of children and preparation for their success in school;
(6) to develop a seamless service delivery system of early education and care programs administered by local, state and federal agencies, with local points of entry;
(7) to develop and manage an effective data collection system to support the necessary functions of a coordinated system of early education and care in order to enable accurate evaluation of its impact;
(8) to respect and draw upon family values and cultural heritage;
(9) to establish the administrative framework for and promote the development of early education and care services in order to provide that such services, staffed by well-qualified professionals, shall be available in every community for all families which express a need for them;
(10) to assure that family foster care or other residential care is provided only when the family itself or the resources available to the family are unable to provide the necessary care and protection to insure the rights of any child to sound development; and
(11) to assure that every child shall in all circumstances be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty, abuse, and exploitation.
(d) The board shall review and approve federal grant applications for early education and care programs and may develop guidelines as needed for the disbursement of such funds in accordance with law. The board shall be the approving authority for all federal grants that are applied to public and private early education and care programs in the commonwealth.
(e) The board shall submit an annual report to the governor, the clerks of the House Representatives and Senate, and the joint committee on education, arts and humanities, describing its progress in achieving the goals and implementing the programs authorized in this chapter. The report shall evaluate the progress of the commonwealth in moving toward a system of universal early education and care for 3, 4 and 5-year-old pre-school children.
Section 4. The board of early education and care shall by a two-thirds vote of its members appoint a commissioner of early education and care, in this chapter called the commissioner, and may in its discretion by majority vote of its members remove the commissioner. The commissioner shall be the secretary to the board and its chief executive officer. The commissioner shall receive a salary to be determined by the board.
Subject to the approval of the board of early education and care, the commissioner may apply for and accept on behalf of the commonwealth, any federal, local, or private grants, bequests, gifts, or contributions to aid in the financing of any of the programs or policies of the department. Such funds shall be received by the state treasurer on behalf of the commonwealth and deposited in a separate account and shall be expended under the direction of the commissioner, with the approval of the board of early education and care. Federal funds paid as reimbursement to the commonwealth shall be deposited in the General Fund.
Section 5. The board shall develop and annually update an implementation plan for a workforce development system designed to support the education, training and compensation of the early education and care workforce, including all center, family child care, infant, toddler, preschool and school-age providers. The board shall solicit input from organizations and agencies that represent a diverse spectrum of expertise, knowledge and understanding of broader workforce development issues and of the professional development needs of the early childhood and care workforce. In order to inform the plan, the board shall conduct:
(1) An inventory and assessment of the current resources and strategies available for workforce and professional development in the commonwealth, including but not limited to Head Start trainings, community-based trainings, higher education programs, child care resource and referral agency trainings, state and federally funded workforce development trainings/programs, public school system trainings/credentialing, and other trainings that address the needs of those who work with children and make recommendations for coordinating the use of those existing resources and strategies;
(2) Analyses using current data on the status of the early education and care workforce, including work experience, certifications, education, training opportunities, salaries, benefits and workplace standards; and
(3) An assessment of the workforce capacity necessary to meet the state's early education and care needs in the future.
In the development of the plan, the board shall consider:
(1) Core competencies, a common and shared body of knowledge, for all those working in the early education and care fields;
(2) Streamlined and coordinated state certification, credentialing, and licensing within the early education and care fields including teacher and provider certification and licensing, the child development associate, public school teacher certification, and other program standards as appropriate for director, teacher and provider credentialing requirements;
(3) A mandatory and regularly updated professional development and qualification registry;
(4) Agreements among higher education institutions for an articulated system of education, training, and professional development in early education and care;
(5) Approval of early education and care training programs and academic coursework, incentives for associates and bachelors programs to meet best practices and to modify curricula to reflect current child development research, and certification of trainers and teachers;
(6) Coordination of existing workforce resources among public agencies, including establishing regional workforce support resources in coordination with child care resource and referral agencies;
(7) A range of professional development and educational opportunities that provide appropriate coursework and degree pathways for family child care as well as center-based providers at all levels of the career ladder that are available in locations, days, and times that are accessible;
(8) Credit for prior learning experiences, development of equivalencies to 2 and 4 year degrees, and the inclusion of strategies for multiple pathways for entry into the field of early education and care;
(9) Recruitment and retention of individuals into the early education and care workforce who reflect the ethnic, racial, linguistic, and cultural diversity of Massachusetts families based on the current census data;
(10) Incentives and supports for early education and care professionals to seek additional training and education, such as scholarships, stipends, loan forgiveness connected to a term of service in the field, career counseling and mentoring, release time and substitutes;
(11) Guidelines for a career ladder or career lattice representing salaries and benefits that suitably compensate professionals for increases in educational attainment and with incentives for advancement, including a salary enhancement program;
(12) Public and private resources to support the workforce development system;
(13) A data collection and evaluation system to determine whether the workforce and professional development activities established pursuant to this chapter are achieving recruitment, retention and quality of the workforce goals; and
(14) Ways to recognize and honor advancements in educational attainment among early education and care professionals.
SECTION 36. Section 14 of Chapter 19A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking the definition “abuse”, and replacing it with the following new definition:—
“Abuse”, an Act or omission which results in serious physical or emotional injury to an elderly person or financial exploitation of an elderly person; or the failure, inability or resistance of an elderly person to provide for him or herself one or more of the necessities essential for physical and emotional well-being without which the elderly person would be unable to safely remain in the community; provided, however, that no person shall be considered to be abused or neglected for the sole reason that such person is being furnished or relies upon treatment in accordance with the tenets and teachings of a church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof.
SECTION 37. Section 4 of chapter 19D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following paragraph:—
Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous paragraph, no fees, including minimum fees, for initial certification or certification renewal shall be due from any provider for assisted living units created under the HUD Assisted Living Conversion Program.
SECTION 38. Section 8 of chapter 21A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “include”, in line 103, the following words:— the office of law enforcement,.
SECTION 39. Section 13 of said chapter 21A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the sixth sentence the following sentence:— The department shall not require an inspection of a system for the treatment and the disposal of sanitary sewage below the ground surface if the transfer is of residential real property, and is between the following relationships: (a) between current spouses; (b) between parents and their children; (c) between full siblings; and (d) where the grantor transfers the real property to be held in a revocable or irrevocable trust, where at least one of the designated beneficiaries is of the first degree of relationship to the grantor.
SECTION 40. Subsection (d) of section 18 of
said chapter 21A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following 2
clauses:—
(6) Notwithstanding the
requirements of clauses (1) to (4), inclusive, the department and a permit
applicant may agree upon appropriate fees, related funding and schedules for
projects meeting the criteria in clauses (1) and (2) or for projects determined
by the commissioner to be of significant environmental interest to the
commonwealth or that are consistent with sustainable development principles.
With input from the advisory committee the department shall establish guidelines
for the implementation of this subsection, including ensuring consideration of
the allocation of department permitting resources and whether the project serves
a significant public interest, and offers opportunities to restore, protect,
conserve or enhance natural resource. All amounts received by the department for
these projects shall be deposited in the fund established in clause (7) and may
be expended by the department in accordance with the requirements of clause
(7).
(7) There shall be established and
set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate trust to be know as the
Special Projects Permitting and Oversight Fund. There shall be credited to the
fund all amounts received by the department from permit applicants for projects
identified in clause (6). All amounts credited to the fund may be expended by
the department without further appropriation for the purpose of permitting,
technical assistance, compliance, other related activities associated with said
projects, including all direct and indirect costs of department personnel or
contractors. With agreement of the project applicants, any amount credited to
the fund in excess of the amount expended to complete the department’s
permitting, technical assistance, compliance, or other related activities
associated with said projects, may be retained in the fund. The funds may be
expended by the department to support projects in economically distressed areas.
An economically distressed area is an area or municipality that has been
designated as an economic target area, or that would otherwise meet the criteria
for such designation under section 3D of chapter 23A. The department’s
expenditure of the funds shall be in accordance with relevant state law
applicable to the expenditure and record keeping of state funds and shall be
subject to audit by the state auditor.
SECTION 41. Chapter 21A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:—
Section 21. The department of environmental
protection shall ensure that all dental clinics install, use and maintain
advanced filtration technology, ISO 11143 certified amalgam separators at each
dental office in
SECTION 42. Section 3B of chapter 21E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:—
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department may, by regulation, establish annual compliance assurance fees for sites or vessels, payable by all persons, excluding agencies of the commonwealth, who are, or are required to be, performing response actions at such sites or vessels, or who have been notified by the department that they are potentially liable for such sites or vessels pursuant to section 5, for each year or fraction thereof in which such response actions are performed or required to be performed, from the time that notice is first required to be given to the department, pursuant to section 7, until the time that a level of no significant risk has been achieved in accordance with subsection (g) of section 3A; provided, however, that such fees shall not apply to sites or vessels for which a level of no significant risk has been achieved within a short duration in response to a sudden release or threat of release of oil or hazardous material. Such fees shall be based on the department’s cost for inspection, auditing, enforcement and compliance activities.
SECTION 43. Said section 3B of said chapter 21E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 49, the words “carrying out such response action” and inserting in place thereof the following:— owing such fee.
SECTION 44. Said section 3B of said chapter 21E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 74 and 75, the words “for those response actions at or.”
SECTION 45. Section 5 of Chapter 21J of the General Laws, as it presently appears, is hereby amended by adding the words “five hundred thousand”, following the word “million” in each of the two places in which said word “million” appears in subsection (a) thereof.
SECTION 46. The first sentence of section 3 of
chapter 22E of the General Laws, as amended by section 1 of chapter 107 of the
acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out the words “shall, within 1 year
of such conviction or adjudication, submit a
SECTION 47. Section 9J of chapter 23 of the
General Laws, as most recently amended by section 555 of chapter 26 of the acts
of 2003, is hereby further amended by striking out the first sentence and
inserting in place thereof, the following 2 sentences:— The secretary, in
consultation with the director of workforce development, may adopt, amend, alter
or repeal, and shall enforce, all rules, regulations and orders necessary for
the administration and enforcement of chapter 151A. The secretary shall seek the
approval of the director of workforce development if the changes may affect the
operations of the free public employment offices.
SECTION 48. Section 11E of said chapter 23, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting
in place thereof the following sentence:— There shall be in the department of
workforce development an apprenticeship council, to consist of 8 members, 6 of
whom shall be appointed by the director of workforce development with the
approval of the governor, 1 of whom shall be the director of workforce
development or his successor, ex officio, and 1 of whom shall be the associate
commissioner of career and technical education or his successor, in the
department of education, ex officio.
SECTION 49. Section 11H of said chapter 23, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition “Director” and
inserting in place thereof, the following definition:—
“Director”, the director of
workforce development.
SECTION 50. Said section 11H of said chapter
23, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition
“Division” and inserting in place thereof, the following
definition:—
“Division”, the division of
apprentice training in the department of workforce
development.
SECTION 51. Section 3 of chapter 23H of the
General Laws, as appearing in section 571 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is
hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof
the following sentence:— Within the department, there shall be the following
agencies and divisions: a division of apprentice training, which shall
administer sections 11E to 11W, inclusive, of chapter 23; a division of career
services, which shall administer section 6 of this chapter; a division of
unemployment assistance that shall administer chapter 151A; and other divisions
as the director considers necessary to administer and enforce the department’s
other obligations.
SECTION 52. Section 6 of said chapter 23H, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in
place thereof the following subsection:—
The director of workforce
development shall administer the system of free public employment offices
established in sections 160 to 168A, inclusive, of chapter 149, through the
division of career services.
SECTION 53. Said chapter 23H is hereby amended
by adding the following section:—
Section 8. The director of
workforce development shall administer and enforce the unemployment insurance
system and the medical security trust as established in chapter 151A. The
director, with the approval of the secretary, may assign personnel,
responsibilities and duties under federal law to any office or division within
the department in order to maximize efficiency of resources and service
delivery.
SECTION 54. Chapter 25A of the General Laws is
hereby amended by inserting after section 11G, as appearing in the 2002 Official
Edition, the following section:—
Section 11H. (a) The division of
energy resources may make an assessment against each electric and gas utility
company doing business in the commonwealth. This section shall not apply to
municipally owned electric and gas companies.
(b) The assessments shall be made
to finance activities undertaken by the division in accordance with section 11G
related to oversight and coordination of ratepayer funded programs for energy
efficiency, energy conservation, and demand reduction
programs.
(c) The assessment shall be made at
a rate determined and certified annually by the commissioner as sufficient to
reimburse the commonwealth for funds appropriated by the general court for
activities of the division related to the oversight and coordination of programs
for energy efficiency, energy conservation, and demand reduction. From
SECTION 55. Said chapter 25A is hereby amended
by inserting at the end thereof the following new
section:—
Section 13. (a) Notwithstanding any
general or special law to the contrary, the division may apply for, receive,
retain, redeem, sell or transfer any energy conservation credits, renewable
energy certificates or credits, emissions credits, or energy reduction
allowances earned or received by the commonwealth including but not limited to
allowances awarded through the public benefit set-aside provisions of the NOx
Allowance Trading Program implemented by the department of environmental
protection.
(b) There shall be established upon
the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Division of
Energy Resources Credit Trust Fund. There shall be credited to said fund all
amounts received through the redemption or sale of such certificates, credits
and allowances specified in this section and any income derived from the
investment of amounts credited to the fund. All amounts credited to the fund
shall be held in trust and shall be available for expenditure, subject to
appropriation, by the division of energy resources for activities of the
division related to the development, oversight and implementation of programs
for energy reliability, renewable energy, public procurement of energy and
energy efficiency, and climate change. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the
close of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall be available for
expenditure in the following fiscal year; provided however, that the fund shall
not be in deficit at the end of any state fiscal year.
SECTION 56. Chapter 29 is hereby amended by
inserting after section 2
Section 2JJJ. There shall be
established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as
the State Mental Health Facilities Disposition Fund to be expended, subject to
appropriation, by the department of mental health. Notwithstanding section 548 of chapter
28 of the acts of 2003, the fund shall consist of 25 per cent of monies derived
from the sale, lease, sublease, granting of easements or other conveyances
related to any state mental health facility, excluding the former Medfield State
Hospital parcels and other facilities for which a reuse plan has been developed,
declared to be a surplus by the division of capital asset management and
maintenance. Monies deposited into
the fund shall be expended exclusively by the department for one-time
improvements to decent, safe,
sanitary and supported housing for individuals who are clients of the department
of mental health. The books and
records of the State Mental Health Facilities Disposition Fund shall be subject
to a biennial audit by the state auditor.
No expenditure from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency
at the close of a fiscal year.
SECTION 57. Chapter 29 is hereby amended by
inserting after section 2
Section 2KKK. There shall be
established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as
the State Mental Retardation Facilities Disposition Fund to be expended, subject
to appropriation, by the department of mental retardation. Notwithstanding section 548 of chapter
28 of the acts of 2003, the fund shall consist of 25 per cent of monies derived
from the sale, lease, sublease, granting of easements or other conveyances
related to any state mental retardation facility, excluding facilities for which
a reuse plan has been developed, declared to be a surplus by the division of
capital asset management and maintenance. Monies deposited into the fund shall
be expended exclusively by the department for one-time improvements to decent,
safe, sanitary and supported housing for individuals who are clients of the
department of mental retardation.
The books and records of the State Mental Retardation Facilities
Disposition Fund shall be subject to a biennial audit by the state auditor. No
expenditure from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency at the
close of a fiscal year.
SECTION 58. Section 7H of said chapter 29, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “decreased”, in line 53, the following words:— , or that appropriations or statutory amendments that would provide funding to support recommended levels of appropriations have materially changed.
SECTION 59. Section 9B of said chapter 29 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 18, as so appearing, the word “fifteen” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:— 60.
SECTION 60. Section 27B of said chapter 29, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “four”, in line 7, the following words:— , and at least 30 days written notification has been given to the house and senate committees on ways and means.
SECTION 61. Section 29E of said chapter 29, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence, the following sentence:— The comptroller shall notify, in writing, the house and senate committees on ways and means 60 days prior to entering into any contract authorized pursuant to this section.
SECTION 62. Chapter 30 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after section 9I, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, the following section:—
Section 9J. In the event that the functions performed by employees in one department or agency are transferred to another department or agency, the employees performing such functions shall be transferred to the receiving department or agency without impairment of wages, seniority, collective bargaining, civil service or other rights enjoyed at the time of the transfer. Nothing in this section shall prohibit any reduction in workforce otherwise permitted under collective bargaining agreements or civil service rules or regulations.
SECTION 63. Section 59 of chapter 30, as so
appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “him”, in line 26, the
following words:—
, subject to the provisions of section 15 of chapter 32. The employer of any person so suspended shall immediately notify the retirement system of which the person is a member of the suspension and shall notify the retirement board of the outcome of any charges brought against the individual.
SECTION 64. Section 65 of said chapter 30, added by section 173 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:—
(c) Instead of making the certificate under clause (1) of subsection (a), the governor’s chief legal counsel may, upon written request by the head of any department, agency, board or commission, with the written approval of the head thereof and with the voluntary written consent of the attorney who is a state employee, provide specific legal services for the requesting department, agency, board or commission for a period not exceeding 3 months but subject to renewal with the voluntary written consent of the attorney. Such an assignment shall be subject to any applicable collective bargaining agreement. The certification required of the comptroller by the fourth paragraph of section 31 of chapter 29 shall not be required in instances of such an assignment by the governor’s chief legal counsel.
SECTION 65. Section 1 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Accumulated additional deductions” the following new definition:—
“Accumulated assumed actuarial deductions”, the sum of the amount of the regular deductions and the actuarial assumed interest thereon that would have been credited to any member’s account in the annuity savings fund of any system had actuarial assumed interest been credited rather than regular interest.
SECTION 66. Said section 1 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of
“Accumulated total deductions” the following new definition:—
“Actuarial assumed interest”,
interest that would be credited to a member’s account in the annuity savings
fund of any system or to his account in the special fund for military service
credit, as provided in subdivision (6) of section 22, except that for any
calendar year beginning after
SECTION 67. Said section 1 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking the definition of
“Actuarial equivalent” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:—
“Actuarial equivalent”, any benefit
of equal value when computed upon the basis of a mortality table to be selected
by the actuary and an interest rate determined by the
actuary.
SECTION 68. Sections 3 and 4 of said chapter
32, as so appearing, are hereby amended by striking out the words “accumulated
regular deductions” wherever they occur and inserting in place thereof the
following:— ½ of the accumulated assumed actuarial
deductions.
SECTION 69. Said sections 3 and 4 of said
chapter 32, as so appearing, are hereby amended by striking out the words
“regular interest” wherever they occur and inserting in place thereof the
following:— ½ of the actuarial assumed interest.
SECTION 70. Section 5 of said chapter 32, as so
appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following
subdivision:—
(5)(i) Notwithstanding this chapter
or any other general or special law to the contrary, there shall be an
alternative superannuation retirement benefit program for members of the
Massachusetts Port Authority Employees’ Retirement System. Participation in the
program shall be an alternative retirement option at the time of hiring for all
employees hired on or after
(5)(ii) Any member who elects to so
participate shall be required to make a minimum of 5 years of contributions at
10 per cent from of regular compensation pursuant to section 22; provided,
however, that if the member elects to retire before he has made the five years
of contributions at 10 per cent, the member shall pay, in 1 sum or in
installments as the board may prescribe, an amount equal to that which would
have been withheld as regular deductions at the rate of 10 per cent from his
regular compensation for such 5-year period based on his last 12 months of
regular compensation less contributions made during the member’s last 5 years of
creditable service; provided, however, that any inactive member who elects to
retire before he has made 5 years of contributions at 10 per cent, said member
shall pay, in 1 sum or in installments as the board may prescribe, an amount
equal to that which would have been withheld as regular deductions at the rate
of 10 per cent from his regular compensation for such 5-year period based on the
last 12 months of regular compensation which would have been paid to the
inactive member check such said member continued in the position from which he
is currently inactive less contributions made during the member’s last 5 years
of creditable service. Any schedule permitting an acceleration of contributions
shall be consistent with the plan qualification requirements of the Internal
Revenue Code and shall, where necessary to meet the requirements of the Internal
Revenue Code, provide for an actuarial reduction of benefits by the actuary
appointed by the commission in accordance with section 21. Any member who elects
to participate in the alternative superannuation retirement benefit program and
pays additional contributions pursuant to this section and does not complete 30
years of creditable service shall, upon termination from membership in or
retirement from the system, be reimbursed such additional contributions, plus
regular interest, as determined by the Massachusetts Port Authority Employees’
Retirement System.
(5)(iii) The normal yearly amount
of retirement allowance for an eligible employee who has completed 30 years of
creditable service and has paid the full amount of regular deductions on the
total amount of regular compensation as determined under paragraph (a) of
subdivision (2), shall be based on the average annual rate of regular
compensation as determined under said paragraph (a) of said subdivision (2) and
shall be computed according to the table contained in said paragraph (a) of said
subdivision (2) titled group 2, based on the age of such member and his number
of years and full months of creditable service at the time of his retirement
with the percentage of salary average in such computation to be increased by 2
per cent per year for each full year of service in excess of 24 years of
creditable service; provided, however, that a member shall have served for at
least 25 years as an employee of the Massachusetts Port Authority in order to be
eligible to receive the benefit provided under this subsection. For any member
who retires prior to age 55 his age factor shall be determined in accordance
with subdivision (1) of section 10. For any member who retires before completing
30 years of service, such member shall receive a retirement allowance equal to
the retirement allowance that the member would have been eligible for had he not
participated in the alternative superannuation retirement benefit
program.
(5)(iv) The total normal yearly amount of the retirement allowance, as determined in accordance with this subdivision, of any employee who retires and receives an additional benefit under the alternative superannuation retirement benefit program shall not exceed 4/5 of the average annual rate of his regular compensation received during any period of 3 consecutive years of creditable service for which the rate of compensation was the highest or of the average annual rate of his regular compensation received during the periods, whether or not consecutive, constituting his last 3 years of creditable service preceding retirement, whichever is greater.
SECTION 71. Section 7 of said chapter 32, as so
appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “eighteen”, in line 88,
and inserting in place thereof the following words:— 18, or, if over said age
and under age 22, is a full-time student at an accredited educational
institution,.
SECTION 72. Said section 7 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the word
“twenty-one”, in line 97 and inserting in place thereof the figure:—
22.
SECTION 73. Section 9 of said chapter 32, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “eighteen”, in line 55,
and inserting in place thereof the following:— 18, or are over said age and
under age 22 and full-time students at accredited educational
institutions,.
SECTION 74. Said section 9 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the word “eighteen”,
in line 60, and inserting in place thereof the following:— 18, or is over said
age and under age 22 and is a full-time student at an accredited educational
institution,.
SECTION 75. Said section 9 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended in paragraph (c) of subdivision (2)
by inserting at the end of said paragraph (c) the following new
sentences:—
The words “full-time student” shall
mean a child who is in full-time attendance in an accredited educational
institution offering full-time courses of study equivalent to or higher than
secondary school study. The words “accredited educational institution” shall
mean any school, college, or university that is licensed, approved or
accredited, as the case may be, in the state in which it is
located.
SECTION 76. Said section 9 of said chapter 32,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the word
“twenty-one”, in each of lines 73 and 79, and inserting in each place thereof
the figure:— 22.
SECTION 77. Subdivision (1) of section 12 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence, as amended by section 17 of chapter 306 of the Acts of 1996, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Any member who is retired for disability under the provisions of section six, section seven or who is retired under the provisions of subdivision (2) of section twenty-six, may elect to have his allowance paid in accordance with the terms of option (a), option (b), or option (c), provided, however, that, in the event that the surviving eligible beneficiary of said member, under said option (c), is eligible for a benefit under section nine, said beneficiary shall elect to receive either a benefit pursuant to option (c) or a benefit pursuant to said section nine, but in no event shall said beneficiary be eligible for both benefits.
SECTION 78. Section 12B of said chapter 32, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “twenty-one”, in lines
36 and 37, and inserting in place thereof the figure:— 22.
SECTION 79. Section 15 of said chapter 32, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:—
(5) If the attorney general or any
district attorney becomes aware of a final conviction of a member of a
retirement system under circumstances which may require forfeiture of said
member’s rights to a pension, retirement allowance, or a return of his
accumulated total deductions pursuant to this chapter, sections 58 or 59 of
chapter 30 or section 25 of chapter 258A, he shall immediately notify the
commission of such conviction.
SECTION 80. The first paragraph of
subsection (1) of section 22C of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as amended by
section 176 of said chapter 26, is hereby further amended by striking out the
third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— The first
such funding schedule shall be filed by said commissioner not later than
SECTION 81. Subsection (1) of section 22C of chapter 32 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by striking out the last paragraph, as amended by section 179 of said chapter 26, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:—
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, appropriations or transfers made to the commonwealth’s pension liability fund in fiscal years 2005 to 2007, inclusive, shall be made in accordance with the following funding schedule: $1,216,936,000 in fiscal year 2005, $1,274,675,000 in fiscal year 2006, and $1,335,176,000 in fiscal year 2007.
SECTION 82. Section 23 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 3 of chapter 502 of the Acts of 2002, is hereby further amended by adding after subdivision (5) the following subdivision:
(6) Confidentiality of certain records. Any documentary material or data made or received by any person of the state investment (PRIM) board, which consists of trade secrets or commercial or financial information that relates to the investment of public trust or retirement funds, shall not be disclosed to the public if disclosure is likely to impair the government’s ability to obtain such information in the future or is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person or entity from whom the information was obtained. The provisions of the open meeting law shall not apply to the PRIM Board when it is discussing the information described in this paragraph. This subdivision shall apply to any request for information covered by this subdivision for which no disclosure has been made by the effective date of this subdivision.
SECTION 83. Section 26 of said chapter
32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby
amended by striking out the word “eighteen”, in line 51, and inserting in place
thereof the following:— 18, or, if over said age and under age 22, who is a
full-time student at an accredited educational
institution,.
SECTION 84. Said section 26 of said chapter
32, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the word
“twenty-one”, in line 57, and inserting in place thereof the figure:—
22.
SECTION 85. Section 91A of Chapter
32 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the words “cease and shall
in no event be reinstated” as they appear in lines 14 and 15 of the 2002
Official Edition and inserting in place thereof the word “terminate”.
SECTION 86. Said section 91A of said chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following new sentence:-
A member shall not be
entitled to recover a retirement allowance for any period during which the
member’s rights in and to his retirement allowance were terminated for failure
to submit a statement to the commission under this section. After written notice and opportunity to
be heard by the board, termination of a member’s rights in and to a retirement
allowance for failure to submit a statement to the commission shall be
considered by the board to be effective as of the date that such statement was
due to be submitted to the board.
If a retirement allowance was paid to a member for any period during
which such member’s rights in and to a retirement allowance were terminated for
failure to submit a statement to the commission, such member shall refund the
portion of his retirement allowance attributable to such period.
SECTION 87. Section 100 of said chapter 32, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “twenty-one”, in line
32, and inserting in place thereof the figure:— 22.
SECTION 88. Said chapter 32 is hereby further
amended by adding the following new section:—
Section 105. (a) Any member retired
under the provisions of section 5 or section 10 shall be eligible to be
reinstated in a retirement system established under this chapter, if the retired
member repays to the system from which he retired an amount equal to the total
amount of any retirement allowance received by the retired member, together with
actuarial assumed interest thereon. Such payment shall be made in one lump sum
or in installments as the board shall prescribe. Upon such reinstatement,
regular deductions shall be made from regular compensation pursuant to
paragraphs (b) and (b½) of subdivision (1) of section 22, for the purposes of
which, the member’s date of entry into service shall be the date such member
waived his retirement allowance or the date of reinstatement, whichever occurs
earlier. Upon completion of such payment, the member shall be entitled to
creditable service for all periods of service for which deductions were made
from the member’s regular compensation. For purposes of this section, the term
“reinstatement service” shall mean a member’s period of full-time employment
after reinstatement in a retirement system under this
section.
(b) If the member shall have less
than 5 years reinstatement service, upon retirement, said member shall receive a
refund of the payments actually made to the system under this section. The
member shall not be entitled to any creditable service for the reinstatement
service, nor shall said member be eligible to establish any additional
creditable service under any provision for make up payments or other payments.
(c) If the member shall have 5
years or more of reinstatement service, the member shall be entitled to
creditable service resulting from his reinstatement service, upon the completion
of payments required under subsection (a) and payment of regular deductions
under section 22 for the reinstatement service. In the event that a retirement
allowance becomes effective for the member before the completion of payments
under subsection (a), the member shall be entitled to credit for that proportion
of reinstatement service as the board shall prescribe, in addition to any credit
for service rendered prior to the date of reinstatement; provided that the
member would have otherwise been eligible for said prior
service.
SECTION 89. Section 19 of chapter 32A of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
striking out, in lines 1 to 3, inclusive, the words “The commission is hereby
authorized to pay to any active or retired employee of the commonwealth who is
insured by the commonwealth as of June first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three”
and inserting in place thereof the following words:— Effective July first of
each year the commission is hereby authorized to pay to any active or retired
employee of the commonwealth who has been continuously insured by the
commonwealth for the prior 6 months.
SECTION 90. Section 11 of chapter 32B of the
General Laws as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
inserting after the second paragraph the following 2
paragraphs:—
Notwithstanding any charter or
ordinance to the contrary, the appropriate public authority of the cities of
Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Quincy, Revere and
Somerville may notify the appropriate public authority of the city of Boston of
its election to participate in the schedule of benefits made available by the
city of Boston for its employees and, subject to the approval of the appropriate
public authority of the city of Boston and under such terms and conditions and
rules and regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the appropriate
public authority of the city of Boston, the employees of the city so applying
shall become insured at the earliest practicable date as participants in a city
of Boston group health or life benefit plan. The withdrawal of each individual
cities’ employees from each individual cities’ group health or life benefit plan
and the subsequent inclusion of that cities’ employees in the city of Boston’s
group health life benefit plan will coincide with annual open enrollment
periods. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit the appropriate public
authority of the city of Boston from prohibiting participation by applying
cities in certain benefit programs made available by the city of Boston for its
employees. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a participating city from
withdrawing from participation upon reasonable notice provided by the
appropriate public authority of the participating city to the appropriate public
authority of the city of Boston. A city granted approval to participate in the
city of Boston’s schedule of benefits that incurs costs by so joining or exiting
including but not yet limited to paying for claims which have been incurred but
not yet paid may amortize such costs over a period of not more that 10 years
from the date of such approval or exit.
Nothing in this section shall
abrogate any provision of chapter 150E or any collective bargaining agreement
with respect to health benefits or impact adversely the rights and benefits of
public employees pursuant to any collective bargaining
agreement.
SECTION 91. The third sentence of subsection
(a) of section 6A of said chapter 40J, as appearing in section 18 of chapter 141
of the acts of 2003, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “appoint” the
following words:— “not less than”.
SECTION 92. . The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 40Q the following chapter:—
CHAPTER 40R.
Section 1. It is the purpose of this chapter to encourage smart growth and increased housing production in Massachusetts. Smart growth is a principle of land development that emphasizes mixing land uses, increases the availability of affordable housing by creating a range of housing opportunities in neighborhoods, takes advantage of compact design, fosters distinctive and attractive communities, preserves open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas, strengthens existing communities, provides a variety of transportation choices, makes development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective and encourages community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
Section 2. As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:
“Affordable housing,” housing affordable to and occupied by individuals and families whose annual income is less than 80 percent of the area-wide median income as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Affordability shall be assured for a period of no less than 30 years through the use of an affordable housing restriction as defined in section 31 of chapter 184.
“Approved smart growth zoning district,” a smart growth zoning district that has been adopted by a city or town and approved by the department in accordance with this chapter and the regulations of the department, so as to be eligible for the receipt of financial and other incentives. The department may revoke its approval if the obligations of the city or town are not met.
“Approving authority,” a unit of municipal government designated by the city or town to review projects and to issue approvals under section 11.
“Comprehensive housing plan,” a plan to be prepared by each city or town that provides an assessment of the housing needs within a city or town and describes specific strategies to address these needs, in accordance with regulations of the department.
“Density bonus payment,” a one-time payment to a municipality from the trust fund established in section 35BB of chapter 10 for each housing unit of new construction that is created in a smart growth zoning district.
“Department,” the department of housing and community development.
“Developable land area,” that area within an approved smart growth zoning district that can be feasibly developed into residential or mixed use development determined in accordance with regulations of the department. Developable land area shall not include: (1) land area that is already substantially developed, including existing parks and dedicated, perpetual open space within such substantially developed portion, (2) open space designated by the city or town as provided in section 6, or (3) areas exceeding one-half acre of contiguous land that are unsuitable for development because of topographic features or for environmental reasons, such as wetlands.
It shall include the land area occupied by or associated with underutilized residential, commercial, industrial or institutional buildings or uses that have the potential to be recycled or converted into residential or mixed use developments as determined in accordance with regulations of the department.
“Eligible locations,” (1) areas near transit stations, including rapid transit, commuter rail, and bus and ferry terminals; (2) areas of concentrated development, including town and city centers, other existing commercial districts in cities and towns, and existing rural village districts; or (3) areas that by virtue of their infrastructure, transportation access, existing underutilized facilities, and/or location make highly suitable locations for residential or mixed use smart growth zoning districts.
“Historic district,” a district in a city or town characterized by the unique historic quality of the buildings within the district, and in which exterior changes to all buildings and the construction of new buildings are subject to special architectural and design guidelines as voted by the city or town pursuant to state law.
“Letter of eligibility,” a letter to a city or town to be issued by the department within 60 days of receiving a complete and approvable application from a city or town for approval of a smart growth zoning district.
“Mixed use development,” a development containing a mix of some or all of multi-family residential, single-family residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, and other uses, all conceived, planned, and integrated to create vibrant, workable, livable and attractive neighborhoods.
“Multi-family housing,” apartment or condominium units in buildings which contain or will contain more than 3 such units.
“New construction,” construction of new housing units, the substantial rehabilitation of existing buildings or the conversion to residential use of existing buildings to create additional housing units, to the extent those units could not have been constructed or converted under the underlying zoning.
“Open space,” shall include, but not be limited to, land to protect existing and future well fields, aquifers, and recharge areas, watershed land, agricultural land, grasslands, fields, forest land, fresh and salt water marshes and other wetlands, ocean, river, stream, lake and pond frontage, beaches, dunes, and other coastal lands, lands to protect scenic vistas, land for wildlife or nature preserve and land for recreational use.
“Project,” a proposed residential or mixed-use development within a smart growth zoning district.
“Smart growth zoning district,” a zoning district adopted by a city or town under this statute that is superimposed over 1 or more zoning districts in an eligible location, within which a developer may elect to either develop a project in accordance with requirements of the smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law, or develop a project in accordance with requirements of the underlying zoning district.
“Smart growth zoning district certificate of compliance,” a written certification by the department in accordance with section 7.
“Trust fund,” the smart growth housing trust fund established by section 35BB of chapter 10.
Section 3. In its zoning ordinance or by-law, a city or town may adopt a smart growth zoning district in an eligible location and may include adjacent areas that are served by existing infrastructure and utilities, and that have pedestrian access to at least one destination of frequent use, such as schools, civic facilities, places of commercial or business use, places of employment, recreation or transit stations. A smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law, or any amendment to or repeal of such ordinance or by-law, shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of chapter 40A.
In creating such a district, a city or town may include qualifying areas within development districts approved by the economic assistance coordinating council pursuant to chapter 40Q or any area approved by a city or town as an urban center housing tax-increment financing zone pursuant to section 60 of chapter 40. In smart growth zoning districts, a city or town shall zone for primary residential use as of right and may also permit business, commercial or other uses consistent with primary residential use.
Section 4. (a) Upon application by a city or town, the department shall make a preliminary determination, before the city or town votes on a proposed smart growth zoning ordinance or bylaw, whether the district would be eligible for the financial incentives and the priorities for state expenditures set forth in section9. The department’s determination shall be communicated to the city or town in a letter of eligibility. If the department denies the application, it shall inform the applicant of the deficiencies in its submission. A city or town may re-apply for approval after addressing any deficiencies in a prior application. If the department does not act upon a complete and approvable application within 60 days of receipt, the application shall be deemed approved.
(b) After issuance of a letter of eligibility, and upon application of the town with proof of adoption of the smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law included in the application for a letter of eligibility, with any amendment required by the department in the letter of eligibility, the department shall confirm its approval within 30 days of receipt of the application.
Section 5. The chief executive of a city or town desiring to adopt a smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law must submit the necessary materials to the department for a preliminary determination of eligibility for approval. The information in the application must:
(a) identify and describe the boundaries of the proposed smart growth zoning district;
(b) identify and describe the developable land area within the proposed smart growth zoning district;
(c) identify and describe other residential development opportunities for infill housing and the residential re-use of existing buildings and under-utilized buildings within already developed areas;
(d) include a comprehensive housing plan, as set forth in section 8;
(e) include a copy of the proposed smart growth district ordinance or by-law;
(f) by narrative and exhibits, establish the elements set forth in section 6.
Section 6. (a) A proposed smart growth zoning district must satisfy the following minimum requirements:
1. The proposed district shall be located in an eligible location.
2. The zoning for the proposed district shall provide for residential use to permit a mix of housing such as for families, individuals, persons with special needs, or the elderly.
3. Housing density in the proposed district shall be at least 20 units per acre for multi-family housing on the developable land area; 8 units per acre for single-family homes on the developable land area; and 12 units per acre for 2 and 3 family buildings on the developable land area.
4. The zoning ordinance or by-law for each proposed district shall provide that not less than 20 percent of the residential units constructed in projects of more than 12 units shall be affordable, as defined in section 2, and shall contain mechanisms to ensure that not less than 20 percent of the total residential units constructed in each district shall be affordable.
5. A proposed district shall permit infill housing on existing vacant lots and shall allow the provision of additional housing units in existing buildings, consistent with neighborhood building and use patterns, building codes, and fire and safety codes.
6. A proposed smart growth zoning district shall not be subject to limitation of the issuance of building permits for residential uses or a local moratorium on the issuance of such permits.
7. A proposed district shall not impose restrictions on age or any other occupancy restrictions on the district as a whole. This provision does not preclude the development of specific projects that may be exclusively for the elderly, the disabled, or for assisted living. Not less than 25 percent of the housing units in such a project shall be affordable housing as defined in this chapter.
8. Housing in a smart growth zoning district shall comply with federal, state and local fair housing laws.
9. A proposed district may not exceed 15 percent of the total land area in the city or town. Upon request, the department may approve a larger land area if such an approval serves the goals and objectives of the chapter.
10. The aggregate land area of all approved smart growth zoning districts in the city or town may not exceed 25 percent of the total land area in the city or town.
11. Housing density in a proposed district shall not over burden infrastructure as it exists or may be practicably upgraded in light of anticipated density and other uses to be retained in the district.
12. A proposed smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law shall define the manner of review by the approving authority in accordance with section 11 and shall specify the procedure for such review in accordance with regulations of the department.
(b) A city or town may modify or eliminate the dimensional standards contained in the underlying zoning in the smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law in order to support desired densities, mix of uses, and physical character. The standards that are subject to modification or waiver may include, but are not limited to, height, setbacks, lot coverage, parking ratios and locations, and roadway design standards. Modified requirements may be applied as-of-right throughout all or a portion of the smart growth zoning district, or on a project specific basis through the smart growth zoning district plan review process as provided in the ordinance or by-law. A city or town may designate certain areas within a smart growth zoning district as dedicated perpetual open space through the use of a conservation restriction as defined in section 31 of chapter 184 or other effective means. The amount of such open space shall not be included as developable land area within the smart growth zoning district. Open space may include an amount of land equal to up to 10 percent of what would otherwise be the developable land area if the developable land would be less than 50 acres, and 20 percent of what would otherwise be the developable land area if the developable land area would be 50 acres or more.
(c) The zoning for the proposed district may provide for mixed use development.
(d) A smart growth zoning district may encompass an existing historic district or districts. A city or town, with the approval of the department, may establish a historic district in an approved smart growth zoning district in accordance with chapter 40C, so long as the establishment of the historic district meets requirements for such a historic district and does not render the city or town non-compliant with this chapter, as determined by the department. The historic districts may be coterminous or non-coterminous with the smart growth zoning district. Within any such historic district, the provisions and requirements of the historic district may apply to existing and proposed buildings.
(e) A city or town may require more affordability than required by this chapter, both in the percentage of units that must be affordable, and in the levels of income for which the affordable units must be accessible, provided that affordability thresholds do not unduly restrict opportunities for development.
(f) With respect to any city or town with a population of fewer than 10,000 persons, as determined by the most recent federal decennial census, for hardship shown, the department may, pursuant to regulations adopted under this chapter, approve zoning for a smart growth zoning district with lower densities than provided in this chapter, if the city or town satisfies the other requirements set forth in this section, provided however that such approval shall not be withdrawn solely because, in a future census, the population of the city or town exceeds 10,000.
(g) Any amendment or repeal of the zoning for an approved smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law shall not be effective without the written approval by the department. Each amendment or repeal must be submitted to the department with an evaluation of the effect on the city or town’s comprehensive housing plan described in section 8. Amendments shall be approved only to the extent that the district remains in compliance with this chapter. If the department does not respond to a complete request for approval of an amendment or repeal within 60 days of receipt, the request shall be deemed approved.
(h) Nothing in this chapter shall affect a city or town’s authority to amend its zoning ordinances or by-laws under chapter 40A, so long as the changes do not affect the smart growth zoning district.
Section 7. (a) On or before October 1 of each year after the year of approval of a district by the department, the department shall send a smart growth zoning district certificate of compliance to each city or town with an approved district. In order to receive such a certificate, the city or town must verify within the time specified by the department:
1. that the city or town has adopted an approved a smart growth zoning district;
2. that the certification has not been revoked by the department;
3. that the district is being developed in a manner that reasonably complies with the minimum requirements set forth in section 6 for housing density and affordability;
4. that the approving authority has not unreasonably denied plans for projects, or has only denied plans for projects in a manner consistent with its smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law, the city or town’s comprehensive housing plan and this chapter.
(b) If the department is unable to certify compliance, the department shall hold a public hearing subject to chapter 30A. If the department concludes that the city or town is in material non-compliance with the requirements set forth in this section, the department may revoke certification. A revocation of certification shall be recorded with the registry of deeds or land court registry district for the county or district within which the city or town is located, indexed in the grantor index under the name of the city or town. Any revocation of certification or other sanctions imposed by the department shall not affect the validity of the smart growth zoning ordinance or by-law, or the application of such ordinance or by-law to land, development, or proposed development within the smart growth zoning district.
Section 8. A city or town shall prepare a comprehensive housing plan to be submitted for review and approval to the department before or concurrently with the city or town’s application for a letter of eligibility. The plan shall include an estimate of the projected number of units of new construction that could be built in the proposed smart growth zoning district. If a city or town has already completed a comprehensive housing plan, the city or town shall submit with its application to the department a description of how the proposed smart growth zoning district relates to and will further the goals of its comprehensive housing plan, as well as an estimate of the projected number of units of new construction that could be build within the district.
Section 9. Each city or town with an approved smart growth zoning district shall be entitled to payments as described below.
(a) Within 10 days of confirmation of approval by the department of a smart growth zoning district, the commonwealth shall pay from the trust fund a zoning incentive payment, according to the following schedule:
Projected Units of New Construction Payment
Up to 20 $10,000
21 to 100 $75,000
101 to 200 $200,000
201 to 500 $350,000
501 or more $600,000
The projected number of units shall be based upon the zoning adopted in the smart growth zoning district, and consistent with the city or town’s comprehensive housing plan.
(b) The commonwealth shall pay from the trust fund a one-time density bonus payment to each city or town with an approved smart growth zoning district. This payment will be $3,000 for each housing unit of new construction that is created in the smart growth zoning district. The amount due shall be paid on a unit-by-unit basis, within 10 days of submission by a city or town of proof of issuance of a building permit for a particular housing unit or units within the district.
(c) The executive office of environmental affairs, the executive office of transportation, the department of housing and community development and the secretary of administration and finance shall, when awarding discretionary funds, use a methodology of awarding such funds that favors cities or towns with approved smart growth zoning districts, or other approved zoning policies or initiatives that encourage increased affordable housing production in the commonwealth, including but not limited to inclusionary zoning.
Section 10. A city or town may adopt, in accordance with the regulations of the department, design standards applicable to projects undergoing review by the approving authority, to ensure that the physical character of development within the smart growth zoning district is complementary to adjacent buildings and structures, is consistent with the comprehensive housing plan, and any applicable master plan or plans for the city or town. Such standards may address the scale and proportions of buildings, the alignment, width, and grade of streets and sidewalks, the type and location of infrastructure, the location of building and garage entrances, off street parking, the protection of significant natural site features, the location and design of on-site open spaces, exterior signs, and buffering in relation to adjacent properties. The standards shall provide for high-density quality development consistent with the character of building types, streetscapes and other city or town features traditionally found in densely settled areas of the city or town or in the region of the city or town.
A design standard shall not be adopted if it will add unreasonable costs to residential or mixed-use developments. A design standard shall not unreasonably impair the economic feasibility of proposed projects. The department may disapprove a request for the determination of eligibility for a smart growth zoning district on account of a design standard adding such unreasonable costs or unreasonably impairing such feasibility.
Section 11. (a) A city or town may incorporate provisions within the smart growth district zoning ordinance or by-law that prescribe contents of an application for approval of a project. The ordinance or by-law may require the applicant to pay for reasonable consulting fees to provide peer review of the applications for the benefit of the approving authority. Such fees shall be held by the municipality in a separate account, used only for expenses associated with the review of the development application by outside consultants, and any surplus remaining after the completion of such review, including any interest accrued, shall be returned to the applicant forthwith. The smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law may provide for the referral of the plan to municipal officers, agencies or boards other than the approving authority for comment. Any such board, agency or officer shall provide any comments within 60 days of its receipt of a copy of the plan and application for approval.
(b) An application to an approving authority for approval under a smart growth zoning ordinance or by-law shall be governed by the applicable zoning provisions in effect at the time of the submission, while the plan is being processed, during the pendency of any appeal, and for 3 years after approval. If an application is denied, the zoning provisions in effect at the time of the application shall continue in effect with respect to any further application filed within 2 years after the date of the denial except as the applicant may otherwise choose.
(c) An application for approval under this section shall be filed by the applicant with the city or town clerk and a copy of said application including the date of filing certified by the town clerk shall be filed forthwith with the approving authority. The approving authority shall hold a public hearing for which notice has been given as provided in section 11 of chapter 40A. The decision of the approving authority shall be made, and a written notice of the decision filed with the city or town clerk, within 120 days of the receipt of the application by the city or town clerk. The required time limits for such action may be extended by written agreement between the applicant and the approving authority, with a copy of such agreement being filed in the office of the city or town clerk. Failure of the approving authority to take action within said 120 days or extended time, if applicable, shall be deemed to be an approval of the plan. The applicant who seeks approval of a plan by reason of the failure of the approving authority to act within such time prescribed, shall notify the city or town clerk, in writing within 14 days from the expiration of said 120 days or extended time, if applicable, of such approval and that notice has been sent by the applicant to parties in interest. The applicant shall send such notice to parties in interest by mail and each such notice shall specify that appeals, if any, shall be made pursuant to this section and shall be filed within 20 days after the date the city or town clerk received such written notice from the applicant that the approving authority failed to act within the time prescribed.
(d) The approving authority shall issue to the applicant a copy of its decision containing the name and address of the owner, identifying the land affected, and the plans that were the subject of the decision, and certifying that a copy of the decision has been filed with the city or town clerk and that all plans referred to in the decision are on file with the approving authority. If 20 days have elapsed after the decision has been filed in the office of the city or town clerk without an appeal having been filed or if such appeal, having been filed, is dismissed or denied, the city or town clerk shall so certify on a copy of the decision. If the plan is approved by reason of the failure of the approving authority to timely act, the clerk shall make such certification on a copy of the application. A copy of the decision or application bearing such certification shall be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county and district in which the land is located and indexed in the grantor index under the name of the owner of record or recorded and noted on the owner’s certificate of title. The fee for recording or registering shall be paid by the owner or applicant.
(e) The project shall be approved by the approving authority subject only to those conditions that are necessary (1) to ensure substantial compliance of the proposed project with the requirements of the smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law, or (2) to mitigate any extraordinary adverse impacts of the project on nearby properties. An application may be denied only on the grounds that (i) the project does not meet the conditions and requirements set forth in the smart growth zoning district ordinance or by-law, (ii) the applicant failed to submit information and fees required by the ordinance or by-law and necessary for an adequate and timely review of the design of the project or potential project impacts, or (iii) it is not possible to adequately mitigate significant adverse project impacts on nearby properties by means of suitable conditions.
(f) Any court authorized to hear appeals under section 17 of chapter 40A shall be authorized to hear an appeal from a decision under this section by a party who is aggrieved by such decision. Such appeal may be brought within 20 days after the decision has been filed in the office of the city or town clerk. Notice of the appeal, with a copy of the complaint shall be given to such city or town clerk so as to be received within such 20 days. Review shall be based on the record of information and plans presented to the approving authority. To avoid delay in the proceedings, instead of the usual service of process, the plaintiff shall within 14 days after the filing of the complaint, send written notice thereof, with a copy of the complaint, by delivery or certified mail to all defendants, including the members of the approving authority, and shall within 21 days after the entry of the complaint file with the clerk of the court an affidavit that such notice has been given. If no such affidavit is filed within such time, the complaint shall be dismissed.
(g) A complaint by a plaintiff challenging the approval of a project under this section shall allege the specific reasons why the project fails to satisfy the requirements of this chapter or other applicable law and allege specific facts establishing how the plaintiff is aggrieved by such decision. The approving authority’s decision in such a case shall be affirmed unless the court concludes the approving authority abused its discretion under subsection (e) in approving the project. The applicant and all members of the approving authority shall be named as defendant parties.
(h) A plaintiff seeking to reverse approval of a project under this section shall post a bond in an amount to be set by the court that is sufficient to cover twice the estimated (i) annual carrying costs of the property owner (or a person or entity carrying such costs on behalf of the owner) for the property, as may be established by affidavit, plus, (ii) an amount sufficient to cover the defendants’ attorneys fees, all of which shall be computed over the estimated period of time during which the appeal is expected to delay the start of construction. The bond shall be forfeited to the property owner in an amount sufficient to cover the property owner’s carrying costs and legal fees less any net income received by the plaintiff from the property during the pendency of the court case in the event a plaintiff does not substantially prevail on its appeal.
(i) An applicant for plan approval who appeals from a project denial or conditional approval shall identify in its complaint the specific reasons why the approving authority’s decision fails to satisfy requirements of this chapter or other applicable law. The approving authority shall have the burden of justifying its decision by substantial evidence in the record.
(j) The land court department, the superior court department and the housing court department shall have jurisdiction over an appeal under this section and shall give priority to such an appeal.
(k) The first paragraph of section 16 of chapter 40A shall not apply to applications for projects within a smart growth zoning district.
(l) A project approval shall remain valid and shall run with the land indefinitely provided that construction has commenced within two years after the decision is issued, which time shall be extended by the time required to adjudicate any appeal from such approval and which time shall also be extended if the project proponent is actively pursuing other required permits for the project or there is other good cause for the failure to commence construction, or as may be provided in an approval for a multi-phase project.
Section 12. The department shall be responsible for the administration, review, and reporting on the smart growth zoning district program as provided in this chapter. The department shall undertake or cause to be undertaken an annual review and the preparation of a report on the program set forth in this chapter and may require data to be provided by cities and towns with smart growth zoning districts. The report shall be prepared on the basis of such data and shall be made available to the general public and submitted to the general court annually no later than November 15 of each year, and shall cover the status of the program through the end of the prior fiscal year. The report shall identify and describe the status of cities and towns that are actively seeking letters of eligibility. It shall identify approved smart growth zoning districts and the amounts and anticipated timing of one-time density bonus payments during the prior and current fiscal year. It shall summarize the amount of land areas zoned for particular types of projects in both proposed and approved districts, the number of projects being reviewed by cities and towns under section 11, including the number and type of proposed residential units, the number of building permits issued, the number of completed housing units and their type, and it shall set out the one-time density bonus payments made to each city or town. For the then current and the immediately succeeding fiscal years it shall make estimates for the (i) number and size of proposed new districts, (ii) the potential number of residential units to be allowed in new districts, and (iii) anticipated construction activity.
Section 13. A city or town may apply to the department for approval of an existing zoning district as a smart growth zoning district if it meets the requirements for such a district, including the affordability requirements and the density requirements. The application shall be the same as for a new smart growth zoning district. Upon approval, a city or town with an existing district will become entitled to the one-time density bonus payments upon the construction of new units within the smart growth zoning district and preference of capital expenditure funds, as provided in section 9, from the date of approval, but shall not be eligible for zoning incentive payments.
Section 14. The department shall require the cities
and towns, if within 3 years no construction has been started within the smart
growth zoning district, to repay to the department all monies paid to the city
or town under this chapter for said smart growth zone. The 3 years shall commence on the date
of the payment of the zoning incentive payment for said smart growth zoning
district. All monies returned to
the department under this section shall be returned to the trust fund.
SECTION 93. Section 108L of chapter 41 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding the following 10 paragraphs:—
Only graduates of: (1) criminal
justice or law enforcement programs that meet or exceed the guidelines for
criminal justice and law enforcement programs, as set forth by the board of
higher education and implemented on
The president of a New England
Association of Schools and Colleges accredited institution or board of higher
education approved institution shall submit a letter of intent to seek approval
of its criminal justice degree program to the chancellor of the board of higher
education by May 1 of the year in which the institution intends to submit an
application. The letter of intent shall include a statement of commitment to
implement Standard D, Admission and Articulation, for all students enrolling in
a criminal justice or law enforcement program after May 1 of the calendar year
in which the letter is submitted. All programs shall meet the guidelines for
criminal justice and law enforcement program as approved by the board of higher
education.
Applications for approval as a
police career incentive pay program participating institution shall be developed
by the board of higher education and shall include the following: (1) a profile
of the program; (2) demonstration of the program’s fulfillment of the standards
as stated in the guidelines; and (3) an application fee to cover the evaluation
costs of the review process. Applications are to be submitted according to the
timetable established by the board of higher education.
Each institution shall pay an
evaluation fee to the board of higher education’s police career incentive pay
program quality assurance trust fund to cover the costs of review of its
program. In addition to the fee, the institution shall pay for travel, room,
board and other normal expenses of the external evaluation committee. If the
committee requires subsequent visits, the board of higher education shall charge
for further expenses at its discretion. Evaluation fees will be determined by
the total number of degrees awarded to all students enrolled in the criminal
justice and law enforcement program being reviewed based on an average of the 3
years immediately prior to the submission of the
application.
Fees shall be determined by the
total number of degrees awarded to all students in the criminal justice and law
enforcement program being reviewed in the following manner: $1,000 for
institutions awarding fewer than 20 criminal justice or law enforcement degrees
per year, $1,500 for institutions awarding between 20 and 50 criminal justice or
law enforcement degrees per year, $2,000 for institutions awarding between 51
and 100 criminal justice or law enforcement degrees per year, $2,500 for
institutions awarding between 101 and 150 criminal justice or law enforcement
degrees per year, $3,000 for institutions awarding between 151 and 200 criminal
justice or law enforcement degrees per year and $3,500 for institutions awarding
over 200 criminal justice or law enforcement degrees per
year.
Once an application is submitted,
the following timetable shall apply: (1) within 30 business days, board staff
shall determine whether or not the application is complete and notify the
institution; (2) within 30 business days of notification to the institution that
the application is complete, an external evaluation committee will be appointed
in accordance with the guidelines; (3) within 30 business days of completing the
evaluation of a program’s application, the external evaluation committee shall
submit a report to board staff; (4) within 30 business days of receipt of the
report, board staff shall send the committee’s report to the institution with a
response required; (5) the institution may request an extension, if needed, to
respond adequately to the Committee’s report; (6) within 30 business days of
receiving the institution’s response, the staff of the board will evaluate
materials submitted by the institution, the committee’s written report, the
written response from the institution, and any additional information submitted
by the institution, including a request for a delay; (7) based on its review,
board staff shall make a recommendation to the board for deferral, approval, or
disapproval, and the board shall take action by formal vote; and (8) if the
board’s determination is to disapprove the institution’s request, the board
shall provide a statement of reasons for the decision.
Programs approved by the board of
higher education shall be included on an approved program list for 5 years. The
institutions shall annually submit a status report on its approved programs to
the board. Programs receiving deferrals from the board shall receive specific
conditions that must be met and a timetable for coming into compliance. Programs
not approved by the board may not re-apply for at least 1 calendar year
following the board’s determination.
When, in the judgment of the board
staff, a review or inspection of a degree program is necessary, the board, in
consultation with the applicant institution, shall select and appoint an
external evaluation committee to serve in the following manner: (1) the
committee shall review the materials submitted by the program, visit the
institution, and submit a report to the board containing recommendations
regarding the programs request for approval; (2) the number of reviewers on the
committee shall be determined by size, number and level of the program being
reviewed and shall under no instance have fewer than 2 academicians; (3) to be
eligible to serve as an evaluator, individuals shall have earned at least a
master’s degree in criminal justice or a closely related discipline and academic
team members shall have professional experience in college-level teaching,
research, administration or other relevant activities with institutions of
higher education, and practitioners shall have at least 5 years of full-time
supervisory or administrative experience as a criminal justice practitioner, as
well as specific knowledge of or experience in criminal justice education; (4)
no person shall serve as an evaluator who is employed by an institution
considered by the board to be in direct competition with the institution under
review; (5) no person shall serve as an evaluator who has a present or recent
official or unofficial connection with the institution under review, or who the
board has reason to believe has independent or pecuniary interest in the outcome
of the board’s final action; provided, however, that external evaluators shall
have a disinterested professional commitment to the task of rendering objective
finding and recommendations based upon empirical evidence and informed
judgments; (6) each committee shall have a chairperson who shall be responsible
for providing leadership to the committee, for being the committee’s liaison
with the institution and for preparing with other committee members, the
committee’s report; (7) the committee shall submit a written report, including
recommendations to the board, and board staff shall forward a copy of the report
to the institution to correct factual errors and respond to the content and
recommendations within the report; (8) evaluators shall be given an honorarium
by the board of higher education and all expenses shall be paid by the
institution under review; and (9) evaluators shall be provided an orientation
before conducting reviews.
Annually, each approved institution
shall submit 2 copies of a report to the board reviewing the status of the
institution’s criminal justice and law enforcement program. This report shall
certify that the criminal justice program is being maintained and operated
within the provisions and guidelines set forth by the board of higher education
guidelines for criminal justice and law enforcement programs. If at any time, in
the judgment of the board staff, there is a reasonable probability of
non-compliance with the board’s guidelines by a particular institution, the
board may review the institution to determine if continued approval of the
institution is proper.
An institution that is in objection
of an adverse decision may appeal the board’s determination. The appeal shall be
heard by a review panel appointed by the board of higher education and the
findings and recommendations of the panel shall be received by the board whose
decision shall be final.
SECTION 94. The General Laws are hereby
amended by inserting after chapter 43C the following
chapter:—
CHAPTER 43D.
Expedited
Permitting.
Section 1. This chapter shall apply in a city or
town upon its acceptance under section 4 of chapter 4. Sections 2 to 5,
inclusive, shall be adopted together, but collectively may be adopted without
section 6. If section 6 is adopted, then sections 2 to 5, inclusive, shall also
be adopted. The adoption of any portion of this chapter shall be considered to
be an amendment to any contrary laws, local charters or laws having the force of
charters.
Section 1A. The secretary of
administration and finance shall collaborate with the commissioner of the
department of revenue and the state treasurer to develop incentives that
expedite local permitting and zoning consistent with the provisions set forth
herein. Said incentives may include, but shall not be limited to, use of
payments pursuant to section 25A of chapter 58 to cities and towns, or other
forms of fiscal incentives. Said secretary shall report to the house and senate
committees on ways and means not later than
Section 2. The following words
shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires
otherwise:
“Issuing authority”, a local board,
commission, department or other municipal entity that is responsible for issuing
permits, granting approvals or otherwise involved in land use
development.
“Municipality”, the locality acting
through the relevant issuing authority as it pertains to actions required or
allowed by this chapter.
“Office”, the municipal office of
permit coordination provided for in subsection (b) of section
3.
“Permit”, a permit formal
determination, order of conditions, license, certificate, authorization,
registration, plan approval, zoning relief or other approval or determination
with respect to the use or development of land or structures required by any
issuing authority including but not limited to those under statutory authorities
contained in chapter 40A, sections 81A to 81J, inclusive and sections 81X to
81GG inclusive, of chapter 41, sections 40 and 40A of chapter 131, sections 26
to 32, inclusive of chapter 111, chapter 40C, sections 13 and 14 of chapter 148,
chapter 772 of the acts of 1975, or otherwise under state law or local by-law or
ordinance adopted under home rule authority, and all associated regulations,
bylaws and rules, but not including building permits or approvals pursuant to
sections 81O to 81W, inclusive, of chapter 41. “Permit” shall not include the
licensing of an individual to engage in a profession or the decision of an
agency to dispose of property under its management or control. “Permit” shall
also not include predevelopment reviews conducted by the municipal office of
permit coordination or a technical review team. Permits and approvals shall not
include permits and approvals granted by the Massachusetts water resources
authority under its authority or under authority delegated from an agency
otherwise covered by this chapter. Permits and approval actions taken pursuant
to a federal delegation shall be excepted only to the extent that the terms of
such delegation are inconsistent with this chapter.
“Technical review team”, an
informal working group consisting of representatives of the various issuing
authorities designated by the head of their issuing authority, to review
requests submitted under the procedures established pursuant to sections 3 to 6,
inclusive. The technical review team shall not include members of the zoning
board of appeals.
Section 3. (a) The municipality
shall, within 180 days of acceptance of any of the provisions of sections 2 to
6, inclusive, amend where necessary, rules and regulations on permit issuance to
conform with those sections and may adopt guidelines consistent with this
chapter. The municipality shall collect and ensure the availability of, and the
issuing authorities shall memorialize and ensure the availability of, all
governing statutes, local ordinances, by-laws, regulations, procedures and
protocols pertaining to each permit. The municipality is encouraged to compile a
comprehensive permitting process guidebook and to provide other informational
assistance relative to permitting through a single point of contact established
pursuant to subsection (b).
(b) A city or town shall establish,
or designate an existing office or staff member to serve as, a single point of
contact for the purposes of coordinating and facilitating the land use
permitting process. The office or staff member so designated shall be the
municipal office of permit coordination, hereinafter referred to as the office.
In fulfilling the functions established in this chapter, the office shall
consult with the authorities having substantive jurisdiction over the issuance
of permits. To the greatest extent possible, the office shall fulfill the
procedural responsibilities of the municipality.
(c) The municipality, to the
greatest extent possible, shall establish a procedure for coordinated and
concurrent review of all permit reviews required for a single project and, where
feasible, shall coordinate municipal review with state review. Nothing in
sections 2 to 6, inclusive, shall be construed to alter the substantive
jurisdictional authority of issuing authorities.
(d) The municipality, through the
office, shall establish a procedure whereby the municipality shall identify,
based upon submission by the applicant of a form provided by the municipality
all permits, reviews and predevelopment reviews required for a project; all
required scoping sessions, public comment periods and public hearings; and all
additional specific applications and supplemental information required for
review, including, where applicable, the identification of potential conflicts
of jurisdiction or substantive standards with abutting municipalities. The
municipality shall notify the applicant of such requirements in writing within
20 business days from receipt of the completed form. The municipality may
provide for pre-application conferences to facilitate this
process.
The office and the applicant may
publish an early notice in a local paper, and a statewide paper or the
Environmental Monitor, with a description of the project and scope of review
preliminarily suggested by the office. The early notice shall be in addition to
any required notice for required public hearings and may, at the municipality’s
option, direct inquiries to either the office or the
applicant.
The failure of a municipality to
notify an applicant of a requirement of a public hearing or comment period shall
not waive the legal requirement for any such requirement. If, at any time, an
issuing authority determines that a permit or other predevelopment review is
required which it did not previously identify, it shall immediately notify the
applicant by certified mail and shall, where public notice and comment or
hearing are not required, complete action on the application filed for the
previously unidentified permit within 35 days of receipt of the completed
application or not later than the latest required decision date for a pending
permit, whichever is later. Where public notice and comment or hearing are
required for the previously unidentified permit, the required action date shall
be not later than 35 days from the later of the close of the hearing or comment
period, which shall be scheduled to commence as quickly as publication
allows.
(e) The municipality shall
establish a procedure, following the notification of the required submissions
for review as set forth in subsection (d), for determining the completeness of
the submission by the applicant of all materials required for the review of the
project, which shall be not later than 10 business days after receipt of the
application materials. If the municipality fails to send notification that an
application is not complete within that time period, the application shall be
considered complete. If the municipality determines the application is not
complete, the written notice shall include a concise statement regarding the
reasons why the application is incomplete. The resubmission of the application
or the submission of such additional information required by the municipality
shall commence a new period for review of the additional information for
purposes of determining completeness. A finding that the application is complete
shall not prevent the municipality from requesting additional information during
the course of project review.
(f) The municipality shall, within
180 days after acceptance of any provision of sections 2 to 6, inclusive,
establish time periods within which all permit reviews shall be conducted and
completed. The timelines shall begin to run upon issuance of the notice that the
application materials are complete pursuant to subsection (e). The timeline
shall not exceed 90 days for reviews which do not require public hearings and
120 days for reviews which require a public hearing. The procedure shall provide
for the consolidation of public hearings and public notices. Public notices
shall appear in a local newspaper and the Environmental Monitor at least twice
before the hearing date. At the written request of 10 citizens, an additional
public hearing shall be held, if the 120-day time period for review, established
under this section, has not been exceeded. Where appropriate, the municipality
may establish general permits and permits by rule which shall consist of
standards of performance specified by the issuing authority and shall be
authorized after a written filing by the applicant.
(g)(1) If the issuing authority
fails to act within the time period established by the municipality pursuant to
subsection (f), the relief requested shall be considered granted by operation of
law. In that event, within 14 days from the date of expiration of the time
period, the applicant shall file an affidavit with the city or town clerk,
attaching the application, setting forth the facts giving rise to the automatic
approval and stating that notice of the automatic grant has been mailed, by
certified mail, to all parties to the proceedings and all person entitled to
such notice of hearing in connection with the application. Appeals from the
automatic grant, if any, shall be filed by an aggrieved person within 20 days
after the date the city or town clerk received the affidavit in accordance with
section 17 of chapter 40A. A plaintiff shall provide written notice of the
action with a copy of the complaint to all parties on the administrative record
within 10 business days after filing the complaint and an affidavit of the
notice shall be filed with the court. If the affidavit is not filed within that
time, the complaint shall be dismissed. The court shall advance any action so
that it may be heard and determined as soon as possible. The court shall hear
all evidence and determine the facts, and upon the facts determined, shall issue
a decree as justice and equity may require.
(2) An automatic grant of approval
shall not occur where: (i) the city or town has made a timely determination that
the application is not complete in accordance with its regulations; (ii) the
final application contained false or misleading information; or (iii)
substantial changes to the project which affect the information required to
process the permit application have occurred since the filing of the
application.
(3) A time period specified in this
section may be waived or extended for good cause by written request of the
applicant with the consent of the municipality or by the written request of the
head of the issuing authority with the consent of the applicant. A time period
specified by this section shall be extended when the issuing authority
determines in writing either: (i) that action by another federal, state or
municipal government agency is required before the issuing authority may act;
(ii) that judicial proceedings affect the ability of the issuing authority or
applicant to proceed with the application; or (iii) that enforcement proceedings
which could result in revocation of an existing permit for that facility or
activity and denial of the application have been commenced. When the reason for
the extension is no longer applicable, the issuing authority shall immediately
notify the applicant, and shall complete its decision within the time periods
specified in this section, beginning the day after the notice is issued. Any
time period specified in this section may be extended by the head of the issuing
authority where significant public comment has been received which would, on its
face, appear to constitute grounds for the issuing authority to deny the permit
or significantly modify the permit. An extension of a time period shall be filed
by the issuing authority with the city or town clerk before the end of the
otherwise applicable time period.
(4) An issuing authority may not
use lack of time for review as a basis for denial of a permit if the applicant
has provided a complete application in accordance with sections 2 to 5,
inclusive and section 6, where applicable.
(h) The municipality shall
establish an informal procedure to allow permit applicants to obtain advisory
review by a technical review team of any issue of law, policy, procedure, or
classification that the applicant claims is in dispute between the applicant and
the issuing authority which has affected or will affect the ability of the
applicant to obtain timely review of the permit application. Procedures shall
provide for filing by the applicant of a request for review, representation by
the permit issuing authority on the technical review team, and a period not to
exceed 30 days for issuance of a decision. Invocation of this procedure shall
toll the review time periods. An advisory determination or ruling made pursuant
to a procedure established in this section shall not constitute a decision or
final action and shall not be subject to any right of administrative or judicial
review.
In addition to any fees that may be
assessed by an issuing authority pursuant to sections 53 and 53G of said chapter
44, the office may establish an additional and separate fee for the carrying out
of its duties under any provision of sections 2 to 7, inclusive, and may deposit
the fees in a special account. The account shall be established by the municipal
treasurer in the municipal treasury and shall be kept separate and apart from
other monies. The special account, including accrued interest, if any, shall be
expended at the direction of the office or another office designated to serve as
that office, without further appropriation; provided, however, that the funds
shall be expended by it only in connection with carrying out its
responsibilities under any provision of sections 2 to 7, inclusive. At the sole
discretion of the office, an annual surplus in fees may be used for the
development of the regional plans, subject to matching funds by the municipal
legislative body.
Section 4. An administrative appeal
from a permitting decision shall be filed within 21 days after the issuing
authority renders a decision. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
create rights of appeal where a statutory form of administrative review or
appeal is not otherwise provided.
Section 5. (a) Permits shall
transfer automatically to successors in title, except for permits where
financial ability to meet permit requirements, posting of a bond or the
qualifications of an applicant are a condition or requirement for obtaining the
permit, and the permit expressly requires approval of the issuing authority
before transfer. Within 180 days of the acceptance of sections 2 to 6,
inclusive, the municipality shall publish in a local newspaper and in a
statewide newspaper or the Environmental Monitor a list of all permits which
require the approval of the authority before transfer.
(b) Issuing authorities having
substantive jurisdiction over permit issuance, in consultation with the office,
may develop procedures for simplified permit renewals and annual reporting
requirements. If the procedures are not developed, renewals of permits shall be
governed by the same procedures and timelines as specified in sections 2 to 5,
inclusive, and section 6, where applicable.
(c) Permit modification requests
shall be reviewed by an issuing authority within time frames set forth in this
paragraph. An issuing authority shall inform an applicant within 15 business
days of receipt of a request whether the modification is approved, denied,
determined to be substantial or additional information is required by the
issuing authority in order to issue a decision. If additional information is
required, the issuing authority shall inform an applicant within 15 business
days after receipt of the required additional information whether the
modification is approved or denied or that additional information is still
required by the issuing authority in order to render a decision. In cases in
which the issuing authority determines that a requested modification is
substantial, the original time frames for permit categories as set forth in
subsection (f) of section 3 shall apply.
(d) Permits issued pursuant to
sections 2 to 5, inclusive, shall expire 2 years from the date of the expiration
of the applicable appeal period unless exercised sooner. Where permits cover
multiple buildings, commencement and continuation of construction of 1 building
shall preserve the permit validity. Nothing in this section shall limit the
effectiveness of section 6 of chapter 40A.
Section 6. (a) A municipality which
also accepts this section shall adopt procedures in this section for the
designation and development of priority development sites.
(b) For the purposes of this
section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the
context clearly requires otherwise:
“Priority development site”, a
privately or publicly owned, municipally designated property which, at the
request of the owner, is entitled to proceed with state and local permitting
processes based upon a master plan of building sizes, categories of use and
other relevant land use issues, including brownfields. There may be several
different parcels or projects within a single priority development
site.
“Priority master plan”, a master
plan for a priority development site which contains all information necessary to
conduct a review of a priority development site for the purposes of state and
municipal land use permits and reviews.
“Priority proposal”, a document
containing all information related to an actual proposed development project
within a priority development site.
(c) To be eligible for designation
as a priority development site, the property shall (1) be commercially or
industrially zoned; and (2) be eligible under applicable zoning provisions,
including special permits or other discretionary permits, for the construction
of a building of 90,000 square feet of gross floor area or more. Municipalities,
with advice and consent of the Massachusetts office of business development, may
designate a property which does not meet these criteria if they determine that a
proposed property presents an important opportunity for a commercial or
industrial use.
(d) To have a property designated
as a priority development site, the owner of the property shall file a request
with the office. The request shall include a description of the property and
buildings and evidence of compliance with the eligibility criteria in this
section. The municipality shall issue a decision within 20 days. Each
municipality shall establish a procedure for reviewing requests and making
designations and shall weight favorably plans which are consistent with existing
or proposed area growth management and planning documents.
(e) If designated, the owner shall
consult with the Massachusetts office of business development and the executive
office of environmental affairs, which shall designate a high-level
representative to coordinate this process, to develop the scope of information
required for a priority profile.
(f) Any required reviews
established under sections 61 to 62H, inclusive, of chapter 30 or sections 26 to
27C, inclusive, of chapter 9 shall be conducted concurrently and shall conclude
within 120 days of a state determination of completeness of required review
materials, as shall be established by the executive office of environmental
affairs. The secretary of environmental affairs and the state secretary shall
establish time frames for all required filings and additional filings by the
applicant in order to comply with this subsection. In the event an applicant
fails to comply with all relevant timeframes, the time shall be tolled until the
applicant files the required documents.
(g) Notwithstanding any law to the
contrary, a public notice or hearing necessitated by a proposed project on a
priority development site shall be consolidated into a single hearing by the
office and the commonwealth.
(h) A developer of a project within
a priority development site shall file a priority
proposal.
(i) The municipality and the
executive office of environmental affairs shall prepare a form for priority
proposals for priority development sites and shall designate one representative
to review priority proposals. Municipal and state agencies shall render permit
decisions within 60 days of issuance of receipt of a completed priority proposal
which falls within the priority profile or which falls within 10 per cent
differential of the priority profile, and within 90 days for all other priority
proposals.
(j) Permits and approvals issued
relative to a priority development site shall expire 5 years from the date of
issuance unless exercised sooner. A project or parcel for which a priority
proposal has been filed within the 5-year period shall be eligible for this
process. Changes in the law subsequent to the issuance of permits based upon the
priority proposal shall not invalidate the permits or review
certificates.
(k) A priority development site
shall also be eligible for the following benefits:
(1) priority consideration for
Community Development Action Grants and Public Works Economic Development
Grants;
(2) accelerated consideration for
other state resources such as quasi-public financing and training
programs;
(3) brownfields remediation
assistance; and
(4) enhanced marketing of the site
by the Massachusetts office of business development.
(l) This section shall not apply
where the municipality and commonwealth determine that the priority master plan
or any required submissions have omitted requested or relevant information or
contained false or misleading information.
Section 7. If any part of sections
1 to 6, inclusive, shall be found by a court of law to be unconstitutional,
invalid or in conflict with federal or state requirements which are a condition
precedent to the allocation of federal or state funds to a municipality or with
the delegation of a federal or state permitting program, the remainder of these
sections shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 95. Section 1 of chapter 44 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
inserting, after the definition of “Majority vote”, the following
definition:—
“Municipal finance oversight
board”, a board composed of the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state
auditor, and the director of accounts in the department of revenue, or their
designees.
SECTION 96. Clause (8) of section 8 of said
chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words “a
board composed of the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state auditors,
and the director of accounts, or their designees”, inserted by section 25 of
chapter 46 of the acts of 2003, and inserting in place thereof the following
words:— the municipal finance oversight board
SECTION 97. Clause (8A) of said section 8 of
said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words “a
board composed of the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state auditor,
and the director of accounts, or their designees”, inserted by section 26 of
said chapter 46, and inserting in place thereof the following words:— the
municipal finance oversight board
SECTION 98. Said section 8 of said chapter 44
of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out
clause (15), inserted by section 27 of said chapter 46, and inserting in place
thereof the following clause:—
(15) For the construction of
sewers, sewerage systems and sewage treatment and disposal facilities, or for
the lump sum payment of the cost of tie-in to such services in a contiguous city
or town, for a period not exceeding 30 years; provided, however, that either (i)
the city or town has an enterprise or special revenue fund for sewer services
and that the accountant or auditor or other officer having similar duties in the
city or town shall have certified to the treasurer that rates and charges have
been set at a sufficient level to cover the estimated operating expenses and
debt service related to the fund, or (ii) the issuance of the debt is approved
by a majority of the members of the municipal finance oversight
board.
SECTION 99. The first paragraph of section 10
of said chapter 44, as amended by section 32 of said chapter 46, is hereby
amended by striking out the words “a board comprised of the attorney general,
the state treasurer, the state auditor, and the director of accounts, or their
designees” inserting in place thereof the following words:— the municipal
finance oversight board.
SECTION
100. Section 1 of chapter 44A of the
General Laws, as amended by section 37 of said chapter 46 of the acts of 2003,
is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of
“Board.”
SECTION
101. Said section 1 of said chapter 44A
is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of “Distributable aid”, as
appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, the following
definition:—
“Municipal finance oversight board”
or “Board” shall mean a board composed of the attorney general, the state
treasurer, the state auditor, and the director of accounts in the department of
revenue, or their designees.
SECTION
102. Section 9A of chapter 55 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
striking out, in line 6, the words “said contributor’s” and inserting in place
thereof the following words:— the contributor’s employer, or the
contributor’s.
SECTION
103. Said section 9A of said chapter 55,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “the”, in
line 15, the second time it appears, the following:— contributor’s employer, or
the.
SECTION
104. Section 13 of chapter 58 of the
General Laws is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 14 and 15, as so
appearing, the words “environmental management” and inserting in place thereof
the following words:— conservation and recreation.
SECTION 105. The forty-first clause of section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 926 to 939 inclusive, the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
Any amount of money annually appropriated by the commonwealth for the purpose of reimbursing cities and towns for taxes abated under this clause, clause Forty-first B, clause Forty-first C, and clause Forty-first C½ shall be distributed as hereinafter provided. The commissioner of revenue shall divide said sum by the number of exemptions under this clause, clause Forty-first B, clause Forty-first C and clause Forty-first C½ granted in the preceding fiscal year and distribute to each city and town a pro rata share of said sum based upon the number of such exemptions granted in each city and town. If a city or town has elected to grant exemptions under clause Forty-first B, clause Forty-first C or clause Forty-first C ½ in lieu of this clause, the number of exemptions granted in such city or town, for purposes of this computation, shall not exceed the number of exemptions granted under this clause in such city or town in the most recent fiscal year in which such exemptions under this clause were granted. If a city of town has elected to grant exemptions under clause Forty-first C½ in lieu of this clause, the value of exemptions granted, for purposes of this exemption, shall not be greater than $500 per residence for which an exemption is granted.
SECTION 106. Section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after clause Forty-first C the following clause:—
Forty-first C½, Real property, of an amount equal to 5 per cent of the average assessed value of all Class One parcels within such city or town of the principal residence of a taxpayer as used by the taxpayer for income tax purposes of a person who has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an exemption is sought and occupied by the person as his domicile, or of a person who owns the same jointly with his spouse, either of whom has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an exemption is sought and occupied by them as their domicile, or for a person who has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an exemption is sought who owns the same jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not his spouse and occupied by him as his domicile; provided: (A) that such person (1) has been domiciled in the commonwealth for the preceding 10 years, (2) has so owned and occupied such real property or other real property in the commonwealth for 5 years, or (3) is a surviving spouse who inherits such real property and has occupied such real property in the commonwealth 5 years and who otherwise qualified under this clause; and (B) that such taxpayer’s gross receipts from all sources do not exceed the dollar amount calculated to be the income limits on a taxpayer’s total income for a single individual who is not the head of a household for the purposes of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 for the most recently completed state tax year, as determined by the commissioner.
A city, by vote of its council and approval of its mayor, or a town, by vote of town meeting, may adjust the following factors contained in these provisions by: (1) increasing the amount of the exemption to as much as 20 per cent of the average assessed value of all Class One parcels within such city or town; (2) reducing the requisite age of eligibility to any person age 65 years or older; and (3) reducing the residency requirements to not less than 5 years.
This clause shall take
effect in any city or town upon its acceptance by such city or town for fiscal
years commencing on or after
SECTION 107. Section 57 of Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 52 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence of the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following new sentence:- A real estate tax bill sent out for fiscal year 2006 or any subsequent period pursuant to this section shall contain a statement that there exists a delinquency if any tax, betterment assessment or apportionment thereof, water rater, annual sewer use, or other charge which may constitute a lien is overdue more than 90 days.
SECTION 108. Section 57C of Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 54 of Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
Section 57C. The provisions of this section shall be applicable in any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section for the purpose of establishing quarterly tax payments or semi-annual tax payments, notwithstanding the provisions of section 57. Except as otherwise provided, a notice of preliminary tax for real estate and personal property shall be sent out no later than July 1 of each year. In the case of cities and towns with quarterly tax payments, the preliminary tax shall be due and payable in 2 installments, the first installment due on August 1, the second installment on November 1, after which dates if unpaid, they shall become delinquent and subject to interest as provided herein, and in the case of cities and towns with semi-annual tax payments, the preliminary tax shall be due and payable on October 1, after which date if unpaid, it shall become delinquent and subject to interest as provided herein. The preliminary tax shall in no event exceed 50 per cent of 102 ½ per cent of the tax payable during the preceding fiscal year and of the amount by which such tax would have increased if any referendum question submitted to the voters under the provisions of paragraph (g), (i1/2), (j) or (k) of section twenty-one C and approved for the fiscal year had been approved for the preceding fiscal year.
SECTION 109. Said section 57C of said chapter 59, as so amended, is hereby further amended by and inserting in the second sentence of the second paragraph after the words "July first" the following words:- by cities and towns with quarterly tax payments.
SECTION 110. Said section 57C of said chapter 59, as so amended, is hereby further amended by adding at the end of the second paragraph the following sentence: Any notice of preliminary tax mailed after July 1 by cities and towns with semi-annual tax payments shall be due and payable October 1 after which date if unpaid, it shall become delinquent and subject to interest as provided herein; provided, however, that in the event that such notice is mailed after August 1, the notice shall be due and payable November 1, or 30 days after the date of mailing, whichever is later.
SECTION 111. Said section 57C of said chapter 59, as so amended, is hereby further amended by deleting the eighth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
In the event that actual tax bills are not mailed by December 31, then the full balance of the actual tax bill issued upon establishment of the tax rate for the fiscal year, after credit is given for the preliminary tax payments previously made, shall be due and payable on May 1, or 30 days after the date of mailing, whichever is later.
SECTION 112. Said section 57C of said chapter 59, as so amended, is further amended by and inserting in the first sentence of the ninth paragraph after the words "December 31" the following words- by cities and towns with quarterly tax payments.
SECTION
113. Section 6I of chapter 62 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 53,
the word “five” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
10.
SECTION
114. Said section 6I of said chapter 62,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 54, the
figure “2005”and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
2010.
SECTION
115. Section 21 of chapter 62C of the
General Laws, as most recently amended by section 1 of chapter 9 of the acts of
2003, is hereby further amended by inserting after clause (20) the following
clause:— (21) the disclosure to the commissioner of probation of information as
the commissioner may require for use in determining whether a person who has
requested the appointment or assignment of counsel pursuant to chapter 211D is
eligible for the services.
SECTION
116. Section 6A of chapter
62F of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 203 of chapter 26
of the acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by adding, in the first sentence
of the second paragraph, after the words “Commonwealth Stabilization Fund,” the
second time they appear in that sentence, the following words:- at the end of
the fiscal year.
SECTION
117. Section 31H of chapter 63 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
striking out, in line 55, the word “five” and inserting in place thereof the
following figure:— 10.
SECTION
118. Said section 31H of said chapter
63, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 56, the
figure “2005” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
2010.
SECTION
119. Subsection (c) of section 1 of
chapter 63A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is
hereby amended by adding the following subparagraph:—
(3) An organization which is
located within the boundaries of a Massachusetts army or air national guard base
that serves as social club for members of the Massachusetts army or air national
guard.
120.
SECTION
121. Subsection (a) of section 14
of chapter 64C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition,
is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place
thereof the following sentence:-- In addition to other remedies provided by law,
the commissioner shall assess against any retailer or wholesaler that violates
this subsection a civil administrative fine of not more than $5,000 for a first
offense, a civil administrative fine of not more than $15,000 for a second
offense, and a civil administrative fine of not more than $30,000 with a report
by the commissioner to the appropriate licensing authority or authorities for
disciplinary action concerning the retailer’s or wholesaler’s license for a
third or subsequent offense.
SECTION 122. Section 12 of chapter 64D of the General Laws, as appearing in 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:—
There shall be established within the executive office for administration and finance a county government finance review board, hereinafter referred to as the “board”, consisting of the secretary for administration and finance or his designee, the commissioner of revenue or his designee, the secretary of public safety or his designee, the state auditor or his designee and a former Massachusetts sheriff, as appointed by majority vote of the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association. The secretary of administration and finance or his designee shall serve as chairperson of the board.
SECTION
123. Section 6 of chapter 64H of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, after the word
“ninety-three” , in line 366, the following clause:— ; meals served on the
premises of an organization which is located within the boundaries of a
Massachusetts army or air national guard base that serves as social club for
members of the Massachusetts army or air national guard.
SECTION 124. Subsection (d) of section 10 of chapter 66 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
The home address and home
telephone number of law enforcement, judicial, prosecutorial, department of
youth services, department of social services, department of correction and any
other public safety and criminal justice system personnel, and of unelected general court personnel,
shall not be public records in the custody of the employers of such
personnel or the public employee retirement administration commission or any
retirement board established under chapter 32 and shall not be disclosed, but
such information may be disclosed to an employee organization under chapter
150E, a nonprofit organization for retired public employees under chapter 180 or
to a criminal justice agency as defined in section 167 of chapter 6. The name
and home address and telephone number of a family member of any such personnel
shall not be public records in the custody of the employers of the foregoing
persons or the public employee retirement administration commission or any
retirement board established under chapter 32 and shall not be disclosed. The
home address and telephone number or place of employment or education of victims
of adjudicated crimes, of victims of domestic violence and of persons providing
or training in family planning services and the name and home address and
telephone number, or place of employment or education of a family member of any
of the foregoing shall not be public records in the custody of a government
agency which maintains records identifying such persons as falling within such
categories and shall not be disclosed.
SECTION
125. Section 1I of chapter 69 of General
Laws is hereby amended by striking out the tenth paragraph, as amended by
section 19 of chapter 65 of the Acts of 2004, and inserting in place thereof the
following paragraph:—
Annually, the principal of each
school, jointly with the school council established pursuant to this section,
shall adopt student performance goals for the schools consistent with the school
performance goals established by the department of education pursuant to state
and federal law and regulations and, consistent with any educational policies
established for the district shall assess the needs of the school in light of
those goals and formulate a school plan to advance the goals and improve student
performance. The school’s plan to support improved student performance shall
include, but not be limited to, the same components required for district
improvement plans and shall conform to department and district specifications to
ensure that the school improvement plans meet state and federal law
requirements. Each school improvement plan shall be submitted to the
superintendent and the school committee for review and approval not later than
July 1 of the year in which the plan is to be implemented, according to a plan
development and review schedule established by the district
superintendent.
SECTION 126. Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 1M the following section:-
Section 1N. (a) The department of education.
hereinafter referred to as the department, shall establish a grant program,
subject to appropriation, to be known as the alternative education grant program
for the purpose of providing, grants to assist school districts, and Horace Mann
and commonwealth charter schools with the development and establishment of
alternative education programs and services to students suspended or expelled
from school. The grants shall support the development of alternative education
programs which would: (1) allow school districts to coordinate efforts to
establish interdistrict regional alternative education collaboratives to provide
educational services to suspended or expelled students: or (2) establish a
district based alternative education program for those students. The grants may
also be used to encourage the use of technology in alternative education
programs. The grants shall also encourage voluntary expansion of existing
alternative education programs in the commonwealth, and shall be used to provide
alternative education programs for students who are at risk of educational
failure due to truancy, or dropping out of school. Grants may also be used to
assist in developing, programs that provide a range of approaches to address
behavior issues, such as behavior specialists, in-school suspension rooms and
crisis centers, in addition to out-of-school alternative
settings.
Programs designed under the grants
shall be developed at the middle and high school levels and shall afford
students the opportunity to earn a high school diploma in accordance with
section 1D, and to be taught to the same academic standards and curriculum
frameworks established for all students in accordance with sections 1D and 1E.
The programs shall make use of existing resources in school districts,
educational collaboratives, community colleges, and other agencies, service
providers, and organizations. Programs shall be designed as placements that, at
a minimum, educate students to the same academic standards and curriculum
frameworks as taught to all students, address behavioral problems, utilize small
class size, address individual needs and learning styles, provide engaging
instruction and a supportive environment, and, where appropriate, utilize
flexible scheduling. The programs shall also provide a comprehensive array of
social services to support a student’s remediation of issues that cause school
failure, excessive absenteeism, truancy and school dropout. Grant recipients
shall develop remediation plans for students that address both academic and
behavioral issues. Grants may also be made available for in-school regular
education programs that include self-improvement, behavior management and life
skills training to help provide students with tools to better manage their lives
and attitudes, to support programs that use family-based approaches, and to
assist students and teachers during the transition of students back into regular
education classrooms.
A grant awarded pursuant to this
subsection, shall require that recipients undertake ongoing program evaluations
that document the effectiveness of the program in helping students to achieve
academically to the same academic standards and curriculum frameworks required
for all students, to develop self-management skills, and to reintegrate and
remain in regular education classrooms. In awarding grants, priority shall be
given to programs that employ interventions that have been empirically
validated.
The department shall establish
guidelines governing the alternative education grant program. The guidelines
shall include, but not be limited to, a requirement that when a student is
transferred to an alternative education program a representative of the school
district shall meet with the student and the student’s parents or legal guardian
to develop an agreement that specifies the responsibilities of the school, the
student and the student’s parents or legal guardian. The agreement shall, at a
minimum, include:
(1) a remediation plan to address
both academic and behavioral issues:
(2) a plan for frequent evaluations
and assessments of the student’s adjustment, and academic achievement and
progress:
(3) a requirement that the parents
or legal guardian of the student attend specified meetings or conferences with
teachers, or utilize such other means of communication as determined necessary
to facilitate communication, to review and assist in the student’s progress:
(4) timetable for reintegrating the
student into a regular education classroom:
(5) the student’s and the parents’
or legal guarcdian’s acknowledgement that they understand and accept the
responsibilities imposed by the agreement.
(b) The department shall establish
a grant program, subject to appropriation, to assist school districts with the
development and establishment of in-school regular education programs and
services to address within the regular education school program the educational
and psycho-social needs of children whose behavior interferes with learning,
particularly those who are suffering from the traumatic effects of exposure to
violence. As used in this subsection, students suffering from the traumatic
effects of exposure to violence shall include, but not be limited to, those
exposed to abuse, family or community violence, war, homelessness or any
combination thereof. The grants shall support the development of school based
teams with community ties that (1) collaborate with broadly recognized experts
in the fields of trauma and family, community violence and with battered women
shelters: (2) provide ongoing training to inform and train teachers,
administrators, and other school personnel to understand and identify the
symptoms and trauma: and (3) evaluate school policy and existing school and
community programs and services to determine whether and to what extent students
identified as suffering from exposure to trauma can receive effective supports
and interventions that can help them to succeed in their public school programs,
and where necessary be referred quickly and confidentially to appropriate
services.
Grants may also be awarded to
assist school districts in development comprehensive programs to help prevent
violence in schools, from whatever causes, and to promote school safety. The
programs shall be designed to meet the following objectives: creating a school
environment where students feel safe and that prevents problems from starting:
helping students to take the lead in keeping the school safe: ensuring that
school personnel have the skills and resources to identify and intervene with
at-risk students: equipping students and teachers with the skills needed to
avoid conflict and violence: and helping schools and individuals to reconnect
with the community and share resources.
The department shall develop
guidelines governing the implementation of the grant program authorized by this
subsection. A grant awarded pursuant to this subsection, shall require that
recipients undertake ongoing evaluations of the effectiveness of the program. In
awarding grants, priority shall be given to programs that are based on
empirically validated interventions.
The department of education, in
consultation with the department of public health and the department of mental
health, shall establish an advisory committee to assist in implementing the
grant program and in assisting public schools in addressing the learning and
behavior problems of students who manifest trauma-related symptoms or classroom
behavior that interferes with learning. Members of the advisory committee shall
include but not be limited to: 3 educators, 1 of whom shall serve as the chair,
appointed by the commissioner of the department of education; 2 leaders in the
field of trauma and its relationship to school learning and behavior appointed
by the commissioner of the department of public health, 2 leaders in mental
health with expertise in family and/or community violence appointed by the
commissioner of mental health: 1 leader in battered women’s services appointed
by the commissioner of public health: 1 leader in the area of homelessness and
its impact on children appointed by commissioner of mental health; and, 3
parents, 1 each appointed by the commissioner of education, the commissioner of
public health, the commissioner of mental health. The advisory committee, at its
discretion, may select additional members with relevant experience including but
not limited to child advocates, medical doctors and representatives of juvenile
and probate court.
(c) The commissioner shall evaluate
annually the effectiveness of programs established under this section including
the potential for replicating such programs throughout the commonwealth. The
annual evaluation shall also examine whether students in alternative education
programs funded under this section are being taught to the same academic
standards required for all students, how much time students are spending in the
programs, the racial profile of expelled or suspended students. and the
percentages of the students who are in special education or bilingual education.
The commissioner shall also provide technical assistance to school districts
seeking to replicate programs funded under this section, and shall provide
training for teachers in the development of effective remediation plans for
students in alternative education, and in the development of skills, techniques,
and innovative strategies to assist the students. In evaluating programs funded
under subsection (b), the commissioner shall consult with the department of
public health. the department of mental health, and the advisory committee
established pursuant to said subsection (b).
SECTION
127. Section 59C of Chapter 71 of the
General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the fifth paragraph, as appearing
in section 82 of chapter 46 of the Acts of 2003, and inserting in place thereof
the following paragraph:—
The principal of each school,
jointly with the school council established pursuant to this section, shall on
an annual basis, in conformity with section 1I of chapter 69, develop and submit
for approval by the district superintendent and school committee a plan for
improving student performance. The plan shall be prepared in a manner and form
prescribed by the department of education and shall conform to any policies and
practices of the district consistent with the plan. If the school improvement
plan is not reviewed by the school committee within 30 days after the school
committee receives the school improvement plan, the plan shall be deemed to have
been approved by the school committee.
SECTION 128. Subsection (c) of section 5A of chapter 71B, as amended by chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out, in the fourth sentence, the word “current” and inserting in place thereof the following word:— “previous.”
SECTION 129. Section 5A of chapter 71B of the General Laws, as amended by sections 215 to 217, inclusive, of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by striking out subsections (f) and (g) and inserting in place thereof the following subsections:—
(f) Reimbursements shall be made based on the previous year's per pupil instructional costs, as pursuant to subsection (c), in compliance with department of education audits and procedures. Reimbursements shall be made in 4 quarterly payments to coincide with the distribution of funds made available pursuant to said chapter 70. Each quarterly payment shall be equal to 25 percent of the estimated reimbursements for the previous years submissions, subject to appropriation.
(g) Notwithstanding the
foregoing, the commonwealth shall continue to pay to approved private
residential schools sums authorized by this section on a direct payment basis at
the request of a district and the private residential school to which that
district sends a student whose tuition is partly reimbursable pursuant to this
section.
SECTION
130. Section 8A of chapter 74 of the
General Laws, as amended by section 84 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2003, is
hereby further amended by adding the following sentence:— The school committee
of the city or town in which the student resides, or the regional vocational or
county agricultural school district, city, town, independent school, or
collaborative providing the approved vocational-technical program to which the
student has been admitted under section 7, shall, subject to appropriation, and
upon voting to provide transportation to the student, be eligible for state
reimbursement to the maximum extent of 50 per cent of the amounts so expended;
but, applicants for the reimbursement shall not charge fees for more than 50 per
cent of the cost of said transportation.
SECTION 131. Chapter 75 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 34 the following section:—
Section 34A. If tuition for
the medical school is set at a lower amount for residents of the commonwealth, a
resident shall be deemed to be a person who has resided in the commonwealth for
7 consecutive years or more prior to enrollment or a person whose immediate
family has resided in the commonwealth for 7 consecutive years or more prior to
his enrollment.
SECTION
132. Section 40E of chapter 82 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3 the
figure “500” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
1,000.
SECTION
133. Said section 40E of said chapter
82, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 4 the
figure “1,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
5,000.
SECTION
134. Said section 40E of said chapter
82, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 4 the
figure “5,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:—
10,000.
SECTION
135. Section 1 of chapter 83 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word
“drainage”, in line 6, the following words:— stormwater treatment and
disposal,.
SECTION
136. The first paragraph of said section
1 of said chapter 83, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the
second sentence the following sentence:— The works for drainage may include a
stormwater treatment facility or measure of treating, or removing sediment or
contaminants from, stormwater discharges.
SECTION 137. Said first paragraph of said
section 1 of said chapter 83, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by
adding the following sentence:— For the purposes of this chapter, the word
‘stormwater’ shall mean surface runoff from precipitation.
SECTION
138. Section 10 of said chapter 83, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by adding after the first sentence the following
sentence:— A city, town, sewer district, or a district established for the
purpose of managing stormwater, pursuant to section 1A of chapter 40, may from
time to time prescribe rules and regulations for the use of main drains and the
management of stormwater to prevent the discharge of sediment and pollutants
therein which may tend to degrade wetlands, streams, other surface water bodies,
and groundwater and to inspect the facilities for the collection and
infiltration of stormwater in order to reduce flooding and improve the quality
of and decrease the quantity of stormwater runoff; for the connection of estates
and buildings with main drains; for the construction, alteration, and use of all
connections entering into such main drains; and for the inspection of all
materials used therein; and may prescribe civil penalties, not exceeding $5,000
for each day of violation of a rule or regulation.
SECTION
139. Section 16 of said chapter 83, as
so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “sewers”, in line 3,
the following words:— and main drains and related stormwater
facilities.
SECTION
140. Said section 16 of said chapter 83,
as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following 3 sentences:—
In establishing quarterly or annual charges for the use of main drains and
related stormwater facilities, the city, town, or district may either charge a
uniform fee for residential properties and a separate uniform fee for commercial
properties or establish an annual charge based upon a uniform unit method; but,
the charge shall be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. The annual charge
shall be calculated to supplement other available funds as may be necessary to
plan, construct, operate and maintain stormwater facilities and to conduct
stormwater programs. The city, town or district may grant credits against the
amount of the quarterly or annual charge to those property owners who maintain
on-site functioning retention/detention basins or other filtration structures as
approved by the stormwater utility, conservation commission, or other
governmental entity with appropriate authority.
SECTION
141. Section 1 of Chapter 90 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition
of “Owner” and inserting in place thereof the following
definition:—
“Owner”, a person, other than a
lien holder, having title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to
the use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another
person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security and a
bailee of any description; but, the term shall include the commonwealth and its
political subdivisions for the purpose of registering a vehicle that is on loan
from the United States or from a motor vehicle manufacturer or
distributor.
SECTION
142. Chapter 90 of the General Laws is
hereby amended by inserting after section 19J, as so appearing, the following
section:—
Section 19K. For the purposes of
this section, the term “hitching mechanism” shall be defined as the lift
cylinder and the lift arm. Nothing in this section shall apply to state, county
or municipally owned or operated vehicles. Between May 15 and October 15 of each
year, any vehicle with a gross weight of less than 26,000 pounds which is
equipped with a plow shall be required to have removed the plow and hitching
mechanism used with the plow. Vehicles equipped with an apparatus that allows
the hitching mechanism to be folded flat leaving no protruding surfaces, shall
only be required to have the plow itself removed; if the hitching mechanism is
in the folded flat position while the vehicle is in operation. If snowfall
occurs before October 25 or after May 15 vehicles subject to this act may be
re-equipped with the plow and any apparatus necessary for clearing snow.
Vehicles shall be required to abide by this section within 72 hours of the
conclusion of snowfall.
Any individual found operating a
motor vehicle in violation of this section shall be issued a warning for the
first offense, shall be fined $250 for the second offense and $500 and
revocation of the vehicle’s registration for the third offense. The revocation
of a vehicle’s registration due to a third offense shall remain in effect until
the time as the vehicle is in compliance with this section. This section shall
not apply to hitching mechanisms which are permanently affixed through welding
or other means, before the effective date of this section. However, it shall be
unlawful, and punishable by the fines and revocations, for any person to
permanently affix through welding or other means a hitching mechanism governed
under this section after the effective date of this
section.
The registry of motor vehicles
shall, within 180 calendar days of the effective date of this act, develop a
list of makes and models of hitching mechanisms that fold flat leaving no
protruding surfaces. The registry of motor vehicles shall promulgate and
implement regulations governing a system of verification whereby the registry of
motor vehicles can ensure a motor vehicle’s compliance with this section
following a third offense.
SECTION 143. Chapter 90B of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 3 the following section:—
Section 3A. In addition to
the fee established in section 3, there shall be an additional fee of $5 to be
paid into the general fund.
SECTION
144. Section 2 of chapter 90D of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word
“ninety”, in line 3, the following words:— : provided, that a vehicle on loan
from the United States or from a motor vehicle manufacturer or distributor to
the commonwealth or a political subdivision thereof, may be registered by the
commonwealth or political subdivision, or by an agency of the commonwealth or a
political subdivision that the loaned vehicle has been re-assigned to, without
the need to apply for a certificate of title, if the registrant is in possession
of a written agreement evidencing the vehicle loan and the agreement is signed
by an authorized employee of the United States government agency or motor
vehicle manufacturer or distributor providing the vehicle, or if re-assigned
from an agency of the commonwealth or a political subdivision, it is signed by
an authorized employee of the agency or political subdivision of the
commonwealth which received the vehicle from the United States or motor vehicle
manufacturer or distributor and re-assigned it to the
registrant.
SECTION
145. Section 10C of chapter 91 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 24,
the word “division” and inserting in place thereof the following word:—
office.
SECTION
146. Section 1A of chapter 92 of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second
sentence.
SECTION
147. Said chapter 92 of the General
Laws, as most recently amended by chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is hereby
further amended by inserting after section 35A the following new
section:—
Section 35B. (a) No person shall
operate a truck, bus, motor home, camper, tractor, trailer, semi-trailer or any
other motor vehicle with a seating capacity of more than 15 persons on a road,
driveway, parkway, boulevard or bridge under the jurisdiction of the division of
urban parks and recreation that is restricted to pleasure vehicles only without
a permit from the division; provided that light duty trucks, having a gross
vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less and a maximum overall height of 7 feet
or less may be operated on such roadway.
(b) As used in this section,
“permit” shall mean a written permit by the division. A permit shall only be
granted if the division determines that granting a permit serves the public need
and after completion of a formal permitting process to be established by the
division, which shall require that:
(1) a party seeking a permit submit
a written application to the division that provides the grounds for which the
permit is being sought and a comprehensive description of the anticipated
activity;
(2) the division hold at least 1
public hearing concerning the public need for the permit;
(3) the division provide the local
governing body of each impacted community a copy of the permit application at
least 30 days before the public hearing;
(4) the division, within 180 days
from receipt of a permit application, notify in writing the permit applicant and
the local governing body of each impacted community of its decision to either
grant or refuse to grant the permit; and
(5) the division provide to the
permit applicant and the local governing body of each impacted community, within
10 days of notification of its decision, written findings that set forth the
reasons for its decision to either grant or refuse to grant the
permit.
(c) Notice of the time and place of
a public hearing held under this section shall be given by the division, at the
expense of the party who submitted the application, not less than 14 days before
the hearing by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the impacted
city or town and by first class mail to the local governing body of the impacted
city or town.
(d) A permit issued under this
section shall be revocable at will by the division and shall be nontransferable
by the holder. The division may assess a reasonable fee upon the receipt of a
permit application. All funds collected under this subsection shall be deposited
in the General Fund.
(e) Judicial review shall be
governed by section 14 of chapter 30A to the extent not inconsistent with this
section.
(f) A person who violates
subsection (a) shall be subject to an administrative fine of not less than $100
nor more than $500.
SECTION
148. Section 37 of said chapter 92, as
amended by section 253 of said chapter 26, is hereby further amended by striking
out, in the first sentence, the words “or boulevards” and inserting in place
thereof the following words:—, roads, driveways, parkways, boulevards or
bridges.
SECTION
149. The last sentence of section 4 of
chapter 92A½ of the General Laws, as established by section 290 of chapter 26 of
the acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out the words “general fund” and
inserting in place thereof the following words:— Water Supply Protection Trust,
established in section 73 of chapter 10.
SECTION 150. Section 11 of chapter 92A1/2 of the General Laws, as so established, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth sentence and inserting in its place the following sentence:- Within 30 days of receipt of the department bill, the treasurer of the authority shall remit the total billed amount to the Water Supply Protection Trust, established in section 73 of chapter 10.
SECTION 151. Said section 11 of said chapter 92A1/2, as so established, is hereby further amended by striking out the seventh sentence and inserting in its place the following sentence:- The commissioner of the department shall forward to the treasurer of the commonwealth the revenues generated by the division which shall be credited to the Water Supply Protection Trust, established in section 73 of chapter 10.
SECTION
152. Section 12 of said chapter
92A1/2, as so established, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence
and inserting in its place the following 2 sentences:- The revenue shall be
deposited into the Water Supply Protection Trust established in section 73 of
chapter 10 for the purposes of meeting said debt service costs. The comptroller shall transfer to the
general fund from the Water Supply Protection Trust that portion of annual
assessments against the Massachusetts water resources authority identified as
reimbursement for debt service payments that have been previously charged to the
General Fund.
SECTION
153. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is
hereby amended by inserting after section 4L the following
section:—
Section 4M. (a) The department
shall, subject to appropriation, establish and maintain a program to mitigate
the impacts of hepatitis C. The program shall provide screening, information,
education and treatment components, and may include research grants. The program
shall increase public awareness of hepatitis C and such efforts shall be
undertaken in multiple languages and in a culturally appropriate manner. The
program shall provide information to health care providers about risks,
available prevention methods, and treatment options for hepatitis C.
(b) The program, to the extent the
department determines feasible and appropriate, shall be integrated with
substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease service programs.
(c) The department may accept for
the purposes of the program any special grant of money, services or property
from the federal government or any of its agencies or from any foundation,
medical school or other organization.
SECTION 154. Paragraph G of section 5K of chapter 111 of the Massachusetts General Laws as amended by section 1 of chapter 425 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following, “The Department may make a collection based on this assessment directly from the electric companies and deposit the monies directly into the Radiation Control Trust Account”.
SECTION
155. Said chapter 111 is hereby amended
by adding after section 72Y the following section:—
Section 72Z. (a.) No licensed
skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility may prohibit the
formation of a family council and when requested by a member of the resident’s
family or the resident’s representative, the family council shall be allowed to
meet in a common meeting room of the facility at least once a month during the
mutually agreed upon hours.
(b.) For the purpose of this
section “Family council” means a meeting of family members, friends or
representatives of 2 or more residents to confer in private without facility
staff.
(c.) The facility will inform
family members upon the admission of a resident of their right to form a family
council. The facility shall not deny a family council the opportunity to accept
help from an organization or individual outside of the
facility.
(d.) Facility policies on family
councils shall in no way limit the rights of residents, family members, and
family council members to meet independently with outside
persons.
(f.) The facility shall not prevent
or interfere with the family council receiving outside correspondence which is
addressed to the council. Family council mail shall be delivered unopened to the
governing body or contact person of the council.
(g.) Staff or visitors may attend
family council meetings at the group’s invitation.
(h.) The facility shall provide a
designated staff person who shall be responsible for providing assistance to the
family council, if requested by the council, and responding to written requests
that result from family council meetings.
(i.) The facility shall consider
the views and act upon the grievances and recommendations of the family council
concerning proposed policy and operational decisions affecting residents care
and life at the facility.
(j.) The facility shall respond in
writing to written requests or concerns of the family council within 5 working
days.
(k.) When a family council exists
during the admission process, the facility shall inform family members or
representatives of new residents, who are identified on the admissions
agreement, or in the resident’s records, of the existence of a family council.
The notice shall include the time, place and date of meeting and the person to
contact regarding involvement in the family council.
(l.) No facility shall willfully
interfere with the formation, maintenance or promotion of family council. The
willful interference with a family council shall include, but not be limited to,
discrimination or retaliation in any way against an individual as a result of
his/her participation in a family council or the willful scheduling of facility
events in conflict with previously scheduled family council
meetings.
(m.) A violation of this section will constitute a violation of resident rights. The Department of Public Health shall impose a civil penalty upon any person who violates this section and shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to implement this section.
SECTION 156. . Said chapter 112 hereby further amended by inserting after section 87AAA the following new section:-
Section 87AAA½. (a) This section shall only apply to real estate brokers and salesmen for the intended purchase or sale of land with a building intended for use as 1 to 4 residential dwellings or the intended purchase or sale of land on which a building is intended to be constructed for use as 1 or 2 residential dwellings.
(b) A real estate broker or salesperson may act as a dual agent who represents both prospective purchasers and sellers only with the informed written consent of the prospective purchasers and sellers. Consent to dual agency shall be obtained in the form prescribed by the board and shall be signed and dated. Such written consent may be obtained when an agency relationship with the seller or purchaser is created, but notice of a dual agency relationship shall also be given to the prospective purchaser and to the seller after a listed property is first shown to the purchaser. Nothing herein shall require written notice to each prospective purchaser or seller who attends an open house showing of real property, provided that the broker or salesperson must conspicuously disclose the agency relationship.
(c) A real estate broker or salesperson and his affiliates may act for more than one party to a real estate transaction as designated agents only with informed written consent. With informed written consent in the form prescribed by the board, a real estate broker or salesman may appoint one or more licensees to act as a designated agent on behalf of a purchaser and may appoint one or more other licensees to act as a designated agent on behalf of a seller for a potential real estate transaction. With informed consent in the form prescribed by the board, a real estate broker or salesman may appoint one or more licensees to act as a designated agent on behalf of a seller and may appoint one or more other licensees to act as a designated agent on behalf of a purchaser for a potential real estate transaction. Appointment of a designated agent shall not be made unless the party has consented, at the commencement of the party’s agency relationship with the real estate broker, that the party’s designated agency relationship shall not extend to any other licensee affiliated with a broker and shall be limited to the licensees appointed to act as designated agent.
Upon appointment of a designated agent, the responsibility to satisfy agency duties owed to a purchaser or seller shall be solely the responsibility of the designated agent. Substitution of designated agents shall not be made without consent. When a designated agent is appointed, information known or acquired by the designated agent shall not be imputed to the appointing broker or salesman or to other affiliated licensees. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a designated agent and an appointing broker or salesman shall each have an obligation to reveal known material defects in a listed property and shall comply with all other requirements of law. When a real estate broker or salesman has appointed designated agents for both a buyer and a seller, the broker or salesperson shall be presumed to be a dual agent, who does not exclusively represent either the buyer or seller. Appointment of a designated agent shall not limit the liability or responsibility of the appointing broker or salesperson for breach of duty by a designated agent.
(d) There shall be a conclusive presumption that a purchaser or seller has consented to a designated agency relationship, if he has signed a disclosure form that substantially contains the descriptions in this section and any other provisions required by law no later than the date that the buyer makes or submits an offer to purchase the property or that a purchase and sale agreement is executed, whichever is first. Consent may be given before identifying a property or transaction. Nothing herein shall require written notice to each prospective purchaser or seller who attends an open house showing of real property, provided that the broker or salesperson must conspicuously disclose the agency relationship.
(e) No real estate broker or salesman shall enter into or offer a subagency agreement to another real estate broker or salesperson when marketing a property for sale without informing the seller about vicarious liability and obtaining written consent of the seller.
(f) A real estate broker or salesman may provide services as a facilitator who does not represent a buyer or seller and who does not act in an agency capacity.
SECTION
157. The first sentence of section 4 of
chapter 113 of the acts of 1828 is hereby amended by striking out the word
“twelve” and inserting in place thereof the following words:— “not more than
24;”.
SECTION
158. Said first sentence of said section
4 of said chapter 113 of the acts of 1828 is hereby further amended by striking
out the word “eight” and inserting in place thereof the following word:—
trustees.
SECTION 159. Section 44 of chapter 114 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— The body of a deceased person shall not be cremated within 48 hours after his decease unless he died of a contagious or infectious disease, and, if the death occurred within the commonwealth, the body shall not be cremated by any corporation authorized to cremate the bodies of the dead until its officers have received the certificate or burial permit required by law before burial, and a certificate from a medical examiner or similarly authorized person that he has viewed the body and made personal inquiry into the cause and manner of death, and is of opinion that no further examination or judicial inquiry concerning the same is necessary.
SECTION 160. Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 9E, inserted by section 317 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003.
SECTION
161. The fourth paragraph of section 12
of chapter 118E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
adding the following sentence:— Regulations that restrict coverage or covered
services shall be adopted only after public notice and
hearing.
SECTION
162. Section 13A of said chapter 118E,
as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following
paragraph:—
For any hospital fiscal year
commencing on or after
SECTION
163. Section 14A of said chapter
118E, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following
paragraph:—
In the event that a nursing
facility resident who is age 22 years or under and is a MassHealth recipient
leaves the nursing facility for non-medical reasons, the facility shall preserve
his bed for a period up to 10 calendar days per year and the division shall pay
to preserve his bed in the facility for a period of up to 10 calendar days per
year.
SECTION
164. Section 16D of said chapter 118E of
the General Laws, as amended by section 322 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003,
is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (2) and (3) and inserting
in place thereof the following 2 subsections:—
(2) A person who is not a citizen
of the United States but who is either a qualified alien within the meaning of
section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996 or is otherwise permanently residing in the United States under
color of law may receive different benefits which shall be not less than the
same benefits provided to the eligibility group described in clause (g) of
subsection (2) of section 9A, unless the person: (i) is residing in a nursing
facility, as defined by 42 U.S.C. section 1396, as of
(3) Benefits for aliens under this
section shall not be provided to persons age 19 to 64, inclusive, unless the
aliens are disabled; but benefits shall not be terminated for persons described
in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of subsection (2).
SECTION 165. Section 23 of said chapter 118E, as amended by section 325 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by inserting before the first paragraph the following paragraph:—
As used in this section, health care insurer, health insurer and health insurance shall include, but not be limited to, any health insurance company, health maintenance organization, group or nongroup health plan, self-insured plan, or any other private or public program, plan, or entity that provides, arranges, or pays for any health, accident, or sickness benefits.
SECTION 166. The first paragraph of said section 23 of said chapter 118E, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the division shall be subrogated to the rights of any recipient of medical assistance under this chapter and may take any and all actions available to such recipient to secure benefits under any policy issued by any health care insurer that is or may be liable to pay for covered services obtained by a recipient of medical assistance to the extent of any medical benefits provided by the division on behalf of the recipient or his or her dependents.
SECTION 167. Section 31 of Chapter 118E of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking subsections (c) and (c½) and inserting in place thereof the following:—
(c) For purposes of this section, “estate” shall mean all real and personal property and other assets includable in the decedent's probate estate under the General Laws.
SECTION 168. Section 32 of Chapter 118E of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking it in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:—
Section 32. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a petition for admission to probate of a decedent’s will or for administration of a decedent’s estate shall include a sworn statement that copies of said petition and death certificate have been sent to the division by certified mail. Within thirty days of a request by the division, an executor or administrator shall complete and send to the division by certified mail a form prescribed by the division and provide such further information as the division may require.
In the event a petitioner fails to send copies of the petition and death certificate to the division and the decedent received medical assistance for which the division is authorized to recover under section thirty-one, any person receiving a distribution of assets from the decedent’s estate shall be liable to the division to the extent of such distribution.
(b) The division may present claims against a decedent’s estate as follows: (1) within four months after approval of the official bond of the executor or administrator, file a written statement of the amount claimed with the registry of probate where the petition was filed and deliver or mail a copy thereof to the executor or administrator. The claim shall be deemed presented upon the filing of the claim in the registry of probate; or (2) within one year after date of death of the decedent, commence an action under the provisions of section 9 of chapter 197.
(c) When presenting its claim by written statement under subsection (b), the division shall also notify the executor or administrator of (1) the circumstances and conditions which must exist for the division to be required to defer recovery under section 31 and (2) the circumstances and conditions which must exist for the division to waive recovery under its regulations for undue hardship.
(d) The executor or administrator shall have 60 days from the date of presentment to mail notice to the division by certified mail of one or more of the following findings: (1) the claim is disallowed in whole or in part, or (2) circumstances and conditions where the division is required to defer recovery under section 31 exist, or (3) circumstances and conditions where the division will waive recovery for undue hardship under its regulations exist. A notice under clause (2) or (3) shall state the specific circumstances and conditions which exist and provide supporting documentation satisfactory to the division. Failure to mail notice under clause (1) shall be deemed an allowance of the claim. Failure to mail notice under clause (2) shall be deemed an admission that the circumstances or conditions where the division is required to defer recovery under section 31 do not exist. Failure to mail notice under clause (3) shall be deemed an admission that the circumstances and conditions for the division to waive recovery for undue hardship under its regulations do not exist.
(e) If the division at any time within the period for presenting claims under subsection (b) amends the amount due, the executor or administrator shall have an additional 60 days to mail notice to the division under subsection (d)(1).
(f) If the division receives a disallowance under clause (1) of subsection (d), the division may commence an action to enforce its claim in a court of competent jurisdiction within 60 days after receipt of said notice of disallowance. If the division receives a notice under clause (2) or (3) of said subsection (d), with which it disagrees, the division may commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction within 60 days after receipt of said notice. If the division fails to commence an action after receiving a notice under clause (2) of said subsection (d), the division shall defer recovery while the circumstances or conditions specified in said notice continue to exist. If the division fails to commence an action after receiving a notice under clause (3) of said subsection (d), the division shall waive recovery for undue hardship.
(g) Unless otherwise provided in any judgment entered, claims allowed pursuant to this section shall bear interest at the rate provided under section 6B of chapter 231 commencing four months plus 60 days after approval of the official bond of the executor or administrator.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the division fails to commence an action after receipt of a notice under clause (2) of subsection (d), interest at the rate provided under section 6B of chapter 231 shall not commence until the circumstances or conditions specified in the notice received by the division under said clause (2) cease to exist. The executor or administrator shall notify the division within 30 calendar days of any change in the circumstances or conditions asserted in said clause (2) notice, and upon request by the division, shall provide updated documentation verifying that the circumstances or conditions continue to exist.
If the division's claim has been allowed as provided herein and no circumstances and conditions requiring that the division defer recovery under section 31 exist, it may petition the probate court for an order directing the executor or administrator to pay the claim to the extent that funds are available or for such further relief as may be required.
(h) Notice of a petition by an executor or administrator for a license to sell real estate shall be given to the division in any estate where:
(1) the division has filed a written statement of claim with the registry of probate as provided in subsection (b); or
(2) the division has filed with the registry of probate a notice, as prescribed under subsection (a) of section 9 of chapter 197, that an action has been commenced.
(i) In all cases where:
(1) the division determines it may have a claim against a decedent’s estate;
(2) a petition for administration of the decedent’s estate or for admission to probate of the decedent’s will has not been filed; and
(3) more than one year has passed from the decedent’s date of death, the division is hereby authorized to designate a public administrator to be appointed and to serve pursuant to chapter 194. Said designation by the division shall include a statement of the amount claimed. This provision shall apply to all estates in which no petition for administration of the decedent’s estate or for admission to probate of the decedent’s will has been filed as of the effective date of this section, regardless of the decedent’s date of death.
(j) If the executor or administrator wishes to sell or transfer any real property against which the division has filed a lien or claim not yet enforceable because circumstances or conditions specified in section 31 continue to exist, the division shall release the lien or claim if the executor or administrator agrees to (1) either set aside sufficient assets to satisfy the lien or claim, or to give bond to the division with sufficient surety or sureties and (2) repay the division as soon as the circumstances or conditions which resulted in the lien or claim not yet being enforceable no longer exist. Notwithstanding the foregoing provision or any general or special law to the contrary, the division and the parties to the sale may by agreement enter into an alternative resolution of the division’s lien or claim.
SECTION
169. Section 1 of chapter 118G of the
General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Payments
subject to surcharge”, as so appearing, the following 2 definitions:—
“Pediatric hospital”, an acute care
hospital which limits services primarily to children and which qualifies as
exempt from the Medicare Prospective Payment system
regulations.
“Pediatric specialty unit”, a
pediatric unit of an acute care hospital in which the ratio of licensed
pediatric beds to total licensed hospital beds as of
SECTION 170. Section 11 of said chapter 118G is hereby amended by inserting after the word “hospital”, the third time it appears, in line 27, as so appearing, the following words:— , pediatric hospital, pediatric specialty unit
SECTION 171. Section 18 of chapter 118G of the General Laws is amended by adding the following paragraph:
(p) Within the Uncompensated Care Trust Fund, there shall be established a department of mental retardation transfer account, administered by the secretary of health and human services, consisting of any receipts from the assessment collected pursuant to section 27 of chapter 118G of the General Laws, including transfers by the department of mental retardation of amounts sufficient to pay the assessment for public facilities, any federal financial participation received by the commonwealth as a result of expenditures funded by such assessments, and any interest thereon. The secretary may authorize expenditures of amounts from such account without further appropriation. The comptroller shall transfer no later than the first business day of each quarter, the amounts indicated by the department of mental retardation to provide the appropriate payment adjustments for operating the intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded and the community residences serving individuals with mental retardation. The comptroller shall establish such procedures as may be necessary to accomplish the purpose of this section, including procedures for the proper transfer, accounting and expenditures of funds under this section. The comptroller may make payments in anticipation of receipts and shall establish procedures for reconciling overpayments and underpayments from said account. The secretary shall account for revenue and expenditure activity within said account.
SECTION 172. Chapter 118G of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:—
Section 27. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Assessment,” the user fee imposed pursuant to this section.
“Intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded or ICF/MR,” a privately or publicly operated intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded.
“Community based residence,” a privately or publicly operated community based residence serving individuals with mental retardation licensed or certified in accordance with G.L. c. 19B, º 15.
“Bed day,” a day of services provided to an individual living in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded or a community based residence serving individuals with mental retardation.
(b) Each intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded and each community-based residence serving individuals with mental retardation shall pay an assessment per bed day. The assessment shall be implemented as a broad-based health care related fee as defined in 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396b(w)(3)(B). The assessment shall be imposed at a uniform rate and shall be sufficient in the aggregate to generate an amount equal to six per cent of the total gross revenues generated by all such facilities in each fiscal year. The assessment shall be paid to the division at least quarterly. The division may promulgate regulations that authorize the assessment of interest on any unpaid liability at a rate not to exceed an annual rate of 18% and late fees at a rate not to exceed 5 percent per month. The receipts from the assessment, any federal financial participation received by the commonwealth as a result of expenditures funded by these assessments and interest thereon shall be credited to an account established within the Uncompensated Care Trust Fund.
(c) The commissioner shall prepare a form on which each ICF/MR and each community based residence shall report its total bed days and shall calculate the assessment due. The commissioner shall distribute the forms to each intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded and each community based residence for individuals with mental retardation at least annually. The failure to distribute the form or the failure to receive a copy of the form shall not stay the obligation to pay the assessment by the date specified in this section. The division may require additional reports, including but not limited to monthly census data, as it deems necessary to monitor collections and compliance.
(d) The division shall have the authority to inspect and copy the records of an ICF/MR or community residence for the purposes of auditing its calculation of the assessment. In the event that the division determines that an ICF/MR or a community-based residence has either overpaid or underpaid the assessment, the division shall notify the ICF/MR or the community based residence of the amount due or refund the overpayment. The division may impose per diem penalties if an ICF/MR or a community-based residence fails to produce documentation as requested by the division.
(e) In the event that an ICF/MR or a community based residence is aggrieved by a decision of the division as to the amount due, the ICF/MR or the community based residence may file an appeal to the division of administrative law appeals within 60 days of the notice of underpayment or the date the notice was received, whichever is later. The division of administrative law appeals shall conduct each appeal as an ad judicatory proceeding pursuant to chapter 30A, and an ICF/MR or a community based residence aggrieved by a decision of the division of administrative law appeals shall be entitled to judicial review pursuant to section 14 of said chapter 30A.
(f) The division shall establish by regulation appropriate mechanisms for enforcing the provisions of this section. Such enforcement may include notification to the department of mental retardation to take appropriate actions, including the revocation of licensure or certification for failure to remit delinquent fees.
(g) The division, in consultation with the department of mental retardation and the division of medical assistance, shall promulgate regulations necessary to implement this section.
SECTION 173. The first paragraph of section 32 of said chapter 121B, as amended by section 366 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by inserting after the third sentence the following four sentences:— In no instance shall a tenant household pay a rental fee of less than $5 per household, provided that exceptions to payment of such minimum rent shall be allowed in accordance with regulations issued by the department. An authority shall grant an exemption from application of the minimum monthly rent to any resident unable to pay such amount because of severe financial hardship, which shall include situations in which the family is awaiting an eligibility determination for an application for any federal, state, or local assistance program, the tenant would be evicted as a result of the imposition of the minimum rent requirements, the income of the tenant has decreased because of changed circumstances, including involuntary loss of employment, the occurrence of a death in the household, and such other severe financial hardship situations as may be determined by the housing authority. If a resident requests a hardship exemption and the authority reasonably determines the hardship to be of a temporary nature, an exemption shall not be granted during the 90 day period beginning upon the day in which the request for exemption is made to the authority. A resident may not be evicted during such 90 day period for nonpayment of rent. In such a case, if the resident thereafter demonstrates that the financial hardship is of a long-term nature, the authority shall retroactively exempt the resident from the applicability of the minimum rent requirements for such 90 day period.
SECTION
174. Section 2 of chapter 128C of the
General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 156
to 161, inclusive, the words “Norfolk county, in each of those racing seasons is
licensed to and actually conducts not less than a total of 150 racing
performances taking place on at least 150 racing days; and provided further,
that the harness horse racing licensee in Norfolk county may simulcast live
races in any racing season provided that it conducts at least 1,100 live
harness” and inserting in place thereof the following words:— Suffolk county and
the harness horse racing licensee in Norfolk county, in each of those racing
seasons is licensed to and actually conducts not less than a total of 150 racing
performances taking place on at least 150 racing days; and provided, further,
that the running horse racing meeting licensee in Suffolk county and the harness
horse racing licensee in Norfolk county may simulcast live races in any racing
season provided that each racing meeting licensee conducts at least 1,100
live.
SECTION
175. Chapter 131A of the General Laws is
hereby amended by adding the following section:—
Section 7. The director may
establish fees for environmental review and assessment pursuant to this chapter,
the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with section 3B of chapter
7. Monies received by the commonwealth from fees collected under this chapter
shall be credited to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund,
established by section 35D of chapter 10.
SECTION
176. Section 1B of chapter 132A of the
General Laws, as appearing in section 393 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is
hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.
SECTION
177. The sixth paragraph of section 12
of chapter 138 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition,
is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place
thereof the following sentence:—
The licensing authority shall not
decrease the hours during which sales of such alcohol beverages may be made by a
licensee until after a public hearing concerning the public need for such
decrease; provided, however, that a licensee affected by any such change shall
be given 2 weeks notice of the public hearing; provided further, that a local
licensing authority, subject to the approval of the commission, may grant a
license notwithstanding section 17 to sell wine for consumption on the winery
premises to a winegrower authorized to operate a farmer-winery under section
19B, to sell malt beverages for consumption on the brewery premises to a
farmer-brewer authorized to operate a farmer-brewer under Section 19C and to
sell spirits for consumption on the distillery premises to a farmer-distiller
authorized to operate a farmer-distillery under Section 19E; and provided
further, that such licensees may sell for on premises consumption wine, malt
beverages and spirits produced by the winery, brewery or distillery or produced
for the winery, brewery or distillery and sold under the winery, brewery or
distillery brand name.
SECTION
178. Section 15 of chapter 138 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding after the word “commonwealth”, in line 22, the following words:— , or
participate in decisions regarding the purchasing of alcoholic beverages or the
purchasing of insurance or accounting or bookkeeping services, or receive any
percentage or fee derived from gross revenues in exchange for management
assistance, or participate in any other action designed to effect common results
of more than 3 licensees under this section.
SECTION
179. Section 18 of chapter 138 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding the following paragraph:—
It shall be unlawful for any
licensee under this section to purchase alcoholic beverages from any source
other than the primary American source of supply unless authorized by the
primary American source of supply. “Primary American source of supply” shall
mean the distiller, bottler, brewer, vintner, brand owner, or designated agent
of the distiller, bottler, brewer, vintner, or brand
owner.
SECTION 180. Section 18 of Chapter 138 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 413 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by striking the last sentence of the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:—
The annual license fee for a license to sell and import wines and malt beverages only issued under this section shall be computed based on the gallonage sold as follows: 7,500 gallons or less per annum-thirty five hundred dollars; more than 7,500 and less than 10,000 gallons per annum-four thousand dollars; and more than 10,000 gallons per annum-five thousand dollars.
Every applicant for such a
license shall, at the time of filing an application, pay a license fee based on
a reasonable estimate of the amount of wine and malt beverages to be sold or
imported during the year covered by the license. Persons holding such licenses
shall report annually at the end of the year covered by the license the amount
of wine and malt beverages sold or imported during such year. If the total
amount of such wine and malt beverages exceeds the amount permitted by the fee
already paid, the licensee shall pay whatever additional fee is owing under this
section.
SECTION
181. Section 18 of chapter 138 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding at the end of thereof the following paragraph:—
It shall be unlawful for any
licensee under this section to purchase alcoholic beverages from any source
other than the primary American source of supply unless authorized by the
primary American source of supply. “Primary American source of supply” shall
mean the distiller, bottler, brewer, vintner, brand owner, or designated agent
of the distiller, bottler, brewer, vintner, or brand
owner.
SECTION 182. Section 64 of chapter 143 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting in line 4 after the word “inspection” the following:— provided, however, that elevators in owner-occupied single family residences shall be inspected and tested at intervals of not less than five years.
SECTION
183. Section 1 of chapter 151A of the
General Laws is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (e½), as appearing in
section 580 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, and inserting in place thereof
the following paragraph:—
(e½) “Commissioner”, the director
of workforce development pursuant to chapter 23H.
SECTION
184. Said section 1 of said chapter 151A
is hereby further amended by striking out paragraph (g), as appearing in section
581 of said chapter 26, and inserting in place thereof the following
paragraph:—
(g) “Department”, the division of
unemployment assistance within the department of workforce
development.
SECTION
185. Section 58 of said chapter 151A is
hereby amended by striking out paragraph (g), as appearing in section 583 of
said chapter 26, and inserting in place thereof the following
paragraph:—
(g) Funds from this account shall
be used to support the administration and operation of this chapter, and shall
be used by the department of workforce development for the space, personnel and
infrastructure required to maintain walk-in services, including the provision of
general information, application assistance, claims information and orientation
under this chapter.
SECTION
186. Section 61 of said chapter 151A is
hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph, as appearing in section 584
of said chapter 26, and inserting in place thereof the following
paragraph:—
For the purpose of maintaining free
employment offices, the commissioner may enter into an agreement with a city or
town and, as part of any such agreement, the commissioner may accept monies,
services or other quarters for the purposes of the employment service
accounts.
SECTION
187. Section 62A of said
chapter 151A is hereby amended in subsections (a) and (b) by striking out the
phrase “contract with the department of workforce development to” each time it
appears.
SECTION 188. The first paragraph of section 14 of chapter 175 of the General Laws, as amended by section 444 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by inserting after the twenty-second clause the following clause:—
For each duplicate of a license issued under any section of this chapter.
SECTION 189. The third paragraph of section 47C of said chapter 175, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Reimbursement of costs for such services shall be part of a basic benefits package offered by the insurer or a third party, with a maximum benefit of $5,200 per year per child and an aggregate benefit of $15,600 over the total enrollment period.
SECTION 190. The third paragraph of section 8B of chapter 176A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Reimbursement of costs for such services shall be part of a basic benefits package offered by the insurer or a third party, with a maximum benefit of $5,200 per year per child and an aggregate benefit of $15,600 over the total enrollment period.
SECTION 191. The third paragraph of section 4C of chapter 176B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Reimbursement of costs for such services shall be part of a basic benefits package offered by the insurer or a third party, with a maximum benefit of $5,200 per year per child and an aggregate benefit of $15,600 over the total enrollment period.
SECTION 192. The second paragraph of section 4 of chapter 176G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— Reimbursement of costs for such services shall be part of a basic benefits package offered by the insurer or a third party, with a maximum benefit of $5,200 per year per child and an aggregate benefit of $15,600 over the total enrollment period.
SECTION
193. Paragraph (a) of section 6 of said
chapter 211D, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
adding the following clause:—
(vi) notwithstanding any special or
general law to the contrary, the division shall be assigned in any civil or
criminal matter described in paragraph (b) where the chief counsel determines in
writing that insufficient numbers of qualified attorneys are available for
assignment by the private counsel division in courts located in Hampden,
Hampshire, Franklin or Berkshire counties.
SECTION
194. Said chapter 211D of the General
Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6A the following
section:—
Section 6B. Not more than 1 counsel
assigned or appointed under section 5, 6 or 6A shall be paid for representation
of a party in civil proceedings pending in any trial court under paragraph C of
section 23, section 24 or 29B or sections 39E to 39I, inclusive, of chapter 119
or section 3 of chapter 210. The chief counsel of the committee for public
counsel services may permit an exception to this provision in extraordinary
circumstances, such as the pendency of separate actions in distant counties on
behalf of a client.
SECTION 195. Chapter 211D of the General Laws, as most recently amended by chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out section 2½ in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following section:—
Section 2½. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a person claiming indigency under the provisions of section 2 must execute a waiver authorizing the court’s chief probation officer, or his designee, to obtain the person’s wage and tax information from the department of revenue, and any other information from the department of transitional assistance, the department of medical assistance, and the registry of motor vehicles that the court may find useful in verifying the person’s claim of indigency. Said waiver shall authorize the chief probation officer, or his designee, to conduct any further re-assessment required by this section.
It shall be the responsibility of the chief probation officer assigned to each court to ensure that a defendant claiming to be indigent meets the definition of indigency under section 2. A defendant seeking appointment of counsel shall be interviewed by the chief probation officer or his designee before the appointment of counsel. The person conducting the interview shall explain to the defendant (1) the definition of indigency, (2) the process used to verify his information with other state agencies, and (3) the consequences of misrepresenting his financial information in applying for the appointment of counsel. The person conducting the interview shall prepare a written indigency intake report that shall record the results of the interview and his recommendation on whether or not the defendant is indigent. The defendant and the person conducting the interview shall sign the indigency intake report. In signing the report, the defendant shall certify under the pains and penalties of perjury that the information contained therein is true and that he has not concealed any information relevant to his financial status. All statements contained in the report shall be deemed material statements. The completed report shall be presented to a judge who may adopt or reject the recommendations in the report, either in whole or in part.
Any appointment of counsel by the court is at all times subject to said verification of indigency by the chief probation officer assigned to each court. Not later than 60 days after the appointment of counsel, said chief probation officer or his designee shall complete a re-assessment of the defendant's financial circumstances to ensure that the defendant continues to meet the definition of indigency. In preparing his re-assessment, the chief probation officer or his designee may access wage and tax information in the possession of the department of revenue and such other information relevant to the verification of indigency in the possession of the department of transitional assistance, the department of medical assistance and the registry of motor vehicles. Said departments shall provide such information to the chief probation officer or his designee upon request. Upon completion of his re-assessment, the chief probation officer shall prepare a written report of his findings. The chief probation officer shall sign the report, certifying that the defendant either continues to meet or does not continue to meet the definition of indigency. The report shall be filed with the case papers and shall be presented to the judge presiding at the defendant's next court appearance. If, upon receipt of the report, a judge finds that the defendant no longer meets the definition of indigency, he shall revoke the appointment of counsel and allow the defendant a reasonable continuance to obtain new counsel. Not later than 6 months after the appointment of counsel, and every 6 months thereafter, the chief probation officer or his designee shall conduct a further re-assessment of the defendant's financial circumstances to ensure that he continues to meet the definition of indigency and shall prepare, sign and file a written report certifying that the defendant either continues to meet, or does not continue to meet, that definition of indigency.
If a criminal defendant is charged with a second or further offense while continuing to be represented by court-appointed counsel for a previously charged offense, the court in its discretion shall determine whether any further determination of indigency, other than the 60-day and bi-annual re-assessments required by the defendant's representation for the first offense, need be undertaken.
Upon completion of any said re-assessments, the chief probation officer shall prepare a written report of his findings. The chief probation officer shall sign the report, certifying that the defendant either continues to meet or does not continue to meet the definition of indigency. The report shall be filed with the case papers and shall be presented to the judge presiding at the defendant's next court appearance. If, upon receipt of the report, a judge finds that the defendant no longer meets the definition of indigency, he shall revoke the appointment of counsel and allow the defendant a reasonable continuance to obtain new counsel.
If the court finds that a person has materially misrepresented or omitted information concerning his property or assets for purposes of determining indigency, and that said person does not meet the definition of indigency, the court shall immediately terminate any assignment or appointment of counsel made under chapter 211D of the General Laws and shall assess costs of not less than $500 against said person.
A person provided counsel under this chapter shall be assessed a counsel fee of $150, which the court may waive only upon determining that the defendant is unable to pay. If, upon reviewing the chief probation officer’s report on the 60-day re-assessment of the defendant’s indigency, the court concludes that the defendant is able to pay the $150 counsel fee of which he obtained a waiver, the court shall invalidate the waiver and re-impose the $150 counsel fee.
The court may authorize a defendant to perform community service in lieu of payment of the counsel fee. A defendant seeking to work off his counsel fee in community service shall perform 10 hours of community service for each $100 he owes in legal counsel fees. Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, a criminal matter shall not be terminated and the defendant shall not be discharged if the defendant owes any portion of the legal counsel fee imposed by this section. The clerk shall not release any bail posted on such criminal matter until the legal counsel fee is satisfied in accordance with this chapter.
The clerk of the court
shall, within 60 days of appointment of counsel, report to the departments of
transitional assistance, medical assistance and revenue and the registry of
motor vehicles the amount of any legal counsel fee owed by the defendant under
this chapter. The department of revenue shall intercept the fee from tax refunds
due to persons who have not paid it. The departments of transitional assistance
and medical assistance shall deduct the fee in weekly or monthly increments from
the benefit payments of persons who have not paid it. The registrar of motor
vehicles shall place a lien in the amount of any portion of the legal counsel
fee owed by the defendant upon the title of any motor vehicle owned in whole or
in part by him. The lien shall be released only upon notification from the clerk
of the court that the fee has been collected or worked off in community
service.
SECTION 196. Section 8 of chapter 218 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:--Each district court shall have a clerk and the central division of the Boston municipal court department shall have one clerk as provided in section 52A.
SECTION 197. Section 10 of Chapter 218 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after line 24 the following:—third district court of Southern Worcester, provided, that said position shall only be designated to a trial court employee in said court currently performing the duties and functions of an assistant clerk and shall not be construed as adding any additional positions to the trial court.
SECTION 198. The fifteenth paragraph of section 10 of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 465 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by inserting after the words “third district court of eastern Middlesex;” the following words:— the district court of Newton.
SECTION 199. Section 22 of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “registered” and inserting in place thereof the following words:— first class.
SECTION 200. Chapter 218 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 35A and inserting in place thereof the following new section:—
If a complaint is received by a district court, or by a justice, associate justice or special justice thereof, or by a clerk, assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk thereof under section 32, 33, or 35, as the case may be, the person against whom such complaint is made, if not under arrest for the offense for which the complaint is made, shall, in the case of a complaint for a misdemeanor or a complaint for a felony received from a law enforcement officer who so requests, and may, in the discretion of any said officers in the case of a complaint for a felony which is not received from a law enforcement officer, be given an opportunity to be heard personally or by counsel in opposition to the issuance of any process based on such complaint unless there is an imminent threat of bodily injury, of the commission of a crime, or of flight from the commonwealth by the person against whom such complaint is made. The court or said officers referred to above shall consider the named defendant’s criminal record and the records contained within the statewide domestic violence record keeping system maintained by the office of the commissioner of probation in determining whether an imminent threat of bodily injury exists. Unless a citation as defined in section 1 of chapter 90C has been issued, notice shall also be given of the manner in which he may be heard in opposition as provided herein.
The court, or said officer thereof, may upon consideration of the evidence, obtained by hearing or otherwise, cause process to be issued unless there is no probable cause to believe that the person who is the object of the complaint has committed the offense charged.
The term district court as used in this section shall include the Boston municipal court department and the juvenile court department.
SECTION 201. Chapter 218 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new section:--
Section 52A. The central division of the Boston municipal court department shall have one clerk for both criminal and civil business. The position of clerk for civil business shall be abolished when said position becomes vacant and the duties of such clerk shall be assumed by the clerk for criminal business who shall be hereinafter the one clerk for the said central division of the Boston municipal court department. The first assistant clerk for criminal business shall hereinafter serve as the first assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department. The person currently serving as acting clerk for civil business shall hereinafter serve as the second assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department and shall be paid at the same rate of compensation that he now receives. Any reference in any general or special law to a clerk of the Boston municipal court for civil business shall be construed to refer to the one clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department as proscribed herein.
SECTION 202. Said chapter 218 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by striking out section 53 and inserting in place thereof the following new section:--
Section 53. In the central division of the Boston municipal court department, there shall be one clerk and the same number of assistant clerks of said court as were authorized in statute on January first, two thousand three. The assistant clerks shall be appointed by the clerk, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management with respect to compliance with the personnel standards promulgated under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, and the clerk shall be responsible for the doings of his assistants, and may remove them at his pleasure. The salary of the clerk shall be seventy‑five and forty‑seven hundredths percent of the salary of the chief justice of the department, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the assistant clerks shall be seventy‑seven percent of the salary of the clerk, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth.
The clerk and assistant clerks shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.
Each assistant clerk of said court appointed to such position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty‑seven and serving continuously thereafter, shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Each such assistant clerk may accumulate vacation leave and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave so accumulated shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks and assistant clerks of said court shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight.
Assistant clerks appointed under authority of this paragraph who have held said appointment for three consecutive years shall hold office during good behavior, but subject to applicable retirement laws, and may be removed by the clerk for cause shown, subject to the procedures authorized by section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.
The clerk may designate such employees in his office as in his judgment may be necessary for the convenience of the public, as deputy assistant clerks of said court who shall have the same authority to administer oaths as the assistant clerks of said court.
SECTION 203. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 53A and inserting in place thereof the following new section:
Section 53A. In case of the absence, death or removal of a salaried assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department, the clerk of said court may, subject to the
approval of the chief justice, appoint a temporary assistant clerk, to act until such assistant clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.
SECTION 204. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 56 and inserting the following new section:
Section 56. The clerk shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, account for and pay over to the collector of the city of Boston or to the state treasurer, as the case may be, the balance due and payable at the end of the preceding month of all money received by them payable by law to the city of Boston or to the commonwealth, and shall render to said officers a detail account thereof under oath. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
SECTION 205. Section 75B of said chapter 218 is hereby amended by striking out the words “for criminal business”.
SECTION
206. Chapter 222 of the General Laws is
hereby amended by adding the following section:—
Section 12. Notwithstanding any general law, rule, regulation or order to the contrary, attorneys-at-law and counselors-at-law as well as paralegals, legal secretaries and other legal staff, who by virtue of their employment perform notary duties shall be exempt from maintaining a journal of their notary transactions.
SECTION
207. Said chapter 231 is hereby amended
by inserting after section 60J the following section:—
Section 60K. In any action for
malpractice, negligence, error, omission, mistake or unauthorized rendering of
professional services, other than actions brought under section 2 of chapter
229, against a provider of health care, in which a verdict is rendered or a
finding made or an order for judgment made for pecuniary damages for personal
injuries to the plaintiff or for consequential damages, there shall be added by
the clerk of the court to the amount of damages interest thereon, at a rate to
be determined as set forth below rather than the rate specified in section 6B of
chapter 231, from the date of the commencement of the action even though such
interest brings the amount of the verdict or finding beyond the maximum
liability imposed by law. For all actions commenced after the effective date of
this act, the rate of interest to be applied by the clerk shall be at a rate
equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield plus 4 per
cent, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for
the calendar week preceding the date of judgment. At no point shall the rate of interest
established by this section exceed the rate of interest set forth in said
section 6B of chapter 231.
SECTION
208. Section 2A of chapter 262 of the
General Laws is hereby repealed.
SECTION
209. Section 4D of said chapter 262 is
hereby repealed.
SECTION
210. Section 25 of chapter 268A of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by
inserting after the word “him”, in line 28, the following words:— , subject to
section 15 of chapter 32. The employer of a person so suspended shall
immediately notify the retirement system of which the person is a member of the
suspension and shall notify the retirement board of the outcome of any charges
brought against the individual.
SECTION 211. Section 98A of Chapter 272 of the General Laws, as amended by Chapter 126 of the Acts of 2000, is hereby amended by striking the following proviso: ; provided further, that in the case of a deaf or hearing handicapped person, or other physically handicapped person, such person carries and displays upon demand, written evidence that the dog accompanying him is a dog guide.
SECTION
212. . Chapter 276 of the General Laws
is hereby amended by inserting after section 99D the following section:—
Section 99E. (a) The commissioner
of probation shall enter into an interagency service agreement with the
department of revenue to verify income data and other information relevant to
the determination of indigency of recipients of counsel pursuant to section 2 of
chapter 211D.
(b) The commissioner of probation
shall enter into an interagency service agreement with the department of
transitional assistance to verify income data and other information relevant to
the determination of indigency of recipients of counsel pursuant to section 2 of
chapter 211D.
(c) The commissioner of probation
shall enter into an interagency service agreement with the department of medical
assistance to verify income data and other information relevant to the
determination of indigency of recipients of counsel pursuant to section 2 of
chapter 211D.
(d) The commissioner of probation
shall enter into an interagency service agreement with the registry of motor
vehicles to verify the statements on motor vehicle ownership or nonownership by
recipients of counsel pursuant to section 2 of chapter
211D.
SECTION
213. Section 70C of chapter 277 of the
General Laws is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, as appearing in the
2002 Official Edition, the words “22F, 23, 24, 24D, 24G, 24L, and” and inserting
in place thereof the following words:— 22F, 24, 24D, 24G, 24L
and.
SECTION
214. Section 1 of chapter 294 of the
Acts of 1916, as most recently amended by chapter 66 of the Acts of 1990, is
hereby further amended by striking out the first 3 sentences and inserting in
place thereof the following sentences:— There shall be an unpaid commission, to
be know as the Lake Quinsigamond Commission consisting of the Chief of Police of
the City of Worcester, ex officio, one member of the Worcester Conservation
Commission to be appointed by the City Manager thereof, one member of the
Shrewsbury Conservation Commission, to be appointed by the Moderator of said
town, the Chief of Police of the Town of Shrewsbury, ex officio, and one member
of the Grafton Conservation Commission to be appointed by the Moderator of said
town; and 4 members who shall be either residential landowning abutters on Lake
Quinsigamond or reside within the area of Lake Quinsigamond, and who have
demonstrated an interest regarding water quality, fishing, boating and other
recreational activities and environmental, wildlife and habitat matters on said
lake, who may represent the city of Worcester and the towns of Grafton and
Shrewsbury; one of whom shall be appointed by the Town Manager of Grafton, one
of whom shall be appointed by the Town Manager of Shrewsbury, one of whom shall
be appointed by the City Manager of Worcester and one of whom shall be appointed
by majority vote of the preceding 3 members.
SECTION
215. Section 1 of chapter 74 of the acts
of 1945, is hereby amended by striking out the first and second paragraphs and
inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:—
For purposes of this act, the term
“board” shall mean a board composed of the attorney general, the state
treasurer, the state auditor and the director of accounts, or their
designees.
SECTION 216. Paragraph (a) of section 12 of chapter 372 of the Acts of 1984, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth sentence, as appearing in section 1 of chapter 83 of the Acts of 2001, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— The aggregate principal amount of all bonds issued under authority of this Act shall not exceed $5,800,000,000 outstanding at any one time; provided, however, that bonds for the payment of redemption of which, either at or prior to maturity, refunding bonds shall have been issued shall be excluded in the computation of outstanding bonds.
SECTION 217. Section 16 of said chapter 372 is hereby amended by striking out the fourth sentence, as appearing in section 2 of said chapter 83, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:— The aggregate principal amount of all bonds issued under the authority of this Act shall not exceed $5,800,000,000 outstanding at any one time; provided, however, that bonds for the payment of redemption of which, either at or prior to maturity, refunding bonds shall have been issued shall be excluded in the computation of outstanding bonds.
SECTION
218. Subsection (j) of section 110 of
chapter 5 of the acts of 1995 is hereby amended by striking out the first
paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following three
paragraphs:—
(j) The department shall administer
a program, to be known as the work program, for families that are not exempt
under section (e) but have received assistance for the program of transitional
aid to families with dependent children for 60 days. The program shall require
that the head of household in each such family, or both parents in a 2-parent
family, shall participate in work-related activities for 20 hours each week if
the youngest child of record is between the age of 2 and the age at which full
time schooling is mandatory, for 24 hours each week if the youngest child of
record is between the age at which full time schooling is mandatory and age 9,
and for 30 hours each week if the youngest child of record is 9 years of age or
older;
The requirement may be met by
working in a job for which compensation is paid; by a parent or head of
household who is in emergency shelter and complying with housing search
requirements; by working full time in the full employment program established by
subsection (l); by participating in community service pursuant to subsection
(k); or by participating in education and training programs that meet the
requirements of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 or any successor thereto, including activities
required by or necessary for the successful completion of any such education and
training program. At the discretion of the commissioner, recipients subject to
the work requirement who fail, without good cause, to meet the requirement shall
not receive assistance.
To the extent permissible under federal law or, where not permissible under federal law, subject to approval of the federal department of health and human services, the department shall determine that good cause exists when a recipient is not in compliance with the work program or the terms of an employment development plan, and that the noncompliance is due to lack of appropriate and available child care, lack of affordable and reliable transportation, housing search, lack of an available and appropriate community service site identified by the department, or illness or disability or other reasons established by the department. For purposes of this paragraph, a determination as to whether an available child care slot is appropriate shall take into consideration factors that the office of child care services recommends be considered or that a reasonable and responsible parent would consider in deciding whether a child care slot is appropriate, including the time required to travel to and from the provider and the recipient’s home, work or other activities. Before determining that a recipient has failed to comply with the work program or the terms of an employment development plan without good cause, the department shall review all good cause criteria with the recipient to determine if good cause exists.
SECTION
219. Subsection (j) of section 110 of
chapter 5 of the acts of 1995, as most recently amended by section 528 of
chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, is hereby further amended by striking out the
word “twenty” wherever it appears in the second paragraph, and inserting in
place thereof, in each instance, the following words:— the
required.
SECTION
220. Section 177 of chapter 43 of the
acts of 1997 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 221. Section 6 of chapter 46 of the Acts of 1997 is hereby repealed.
SECTION
222. Chapter 194 of the acts of 1998 is
hereby amended by striking out section 317 and inserting in place thereof the
following section:—
Section 317. There shall be
established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate trust to be
known as the Natural Resource Damages Trust to be administered and expended by
the executive office of environmental affairs. Expenditures may be made from the
trust account, without further appropriation, for the purposes of funding
natural resource restoration, replacement or acquisition of equivalent natural
resources, the development of natural resource damages claims, including, but
not limited to, investigation of such claims and enforcement of settlements.
Expenditures may also be made from the trust account, without further
appropriation, for the purposes of funding other actions related to natural
resources damage including, but not limited to, natural resource damage
assessment, natural resource damage recovery, natural resource law enforcement
and, if necessary, the costs of personnel and administration of studies or
related activities, including grants to public and nonpublic entities, conducted
pursuant to the secretary’s authority as trustee for natural resources pursuant
to section 5 of chapter 21E of the General Laws, sections 23 to 27, inclusive,
of chapter 130 of the General Laws, section 42 of chapter 131 of the General
Laws, section 9607(f) of Title 42 of the United States Code, section 1321 of
Title 33 of the United States Code, section 2706 of Title 33 of the United
States Code or any other relevant and appropriate authority. The trust shall
retain all interest earned on sums deposited in the trust. The trust may receive
funds as may be appropriated from time to time, as well as gifts and grants of
money or other contributions from any source, either public or private, and
settlements, judgments, or fines or penalties not designated by law for other
specific purposes, to be expended within the purposes of the trust. The fund may
not receive any fees that have been collected by an agency within the executive
office of environmental affairs.
SECTION
223. Section 6 of chapter 55 of the acts
of 1999 is hereby repealed. The comptroller shall transfer any remaining balance
in the Debt Defeasance Fund to the General Fund not later than
SECTION
224. Sections 47 and 497 of chapter 159
of the acts of 2000 are hereby repealed.
SECTION 225. Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended in section 2 by striking out, in line 3, the words “a period not to exceed 2 years after the effective date of this act,” and inserting in place thereof the following words:—
the duration of any project
that has begun construction, repair, renovation, remodeling, equipping,
furnishing or partial or complete demolition before
SECTION 226. Item 2000-2013 of section 2 of Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “in the city of Woburn” the following words:— ; provided further, that, notwithstanding any rules or regulations of the department, not less than $1,750,000 shall be expended for the acquisition of the Dunn property, so-called, in the town of West Newbury, however, in the event that the town expends its own funding for acquisition of said property, it will be reimbursed; and by striking out the figure “$21,250,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:— $23,000,000.
SECTION
227. Item 2100-2011 of said section 2
of said chapter 236 is hereby amended by striking out the words “; provided
further, that $1,750,000 shall be expended for the acquisition of the Dunn
property, so-called, in the town of West Newbury; and by striking out the figure
“$46,425,000” and inserting thereof the following figure: — $44,675,000
SECTION 228. Item 2840-2016 of section 2 of chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by striking the words “; provided further, that $200,000 shall be expended for renovation of the Connors pool in the city of Waltham” and inserting in place thereof the following:— provided further, that $1,200,000 shall be expended for renovation of the Connors pool in the city of Waltham.
SECTION 229. Item 2840-2016 of section 2 of chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:— and provided further, that not less than $5,000,000 shall be expended for the repair, renovation and reconstruction of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Pool in the city of Chelsea.
SECTION 230. Item “2100-2017” of section 2 of said Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “North Reading” the following words; - provided further, that $275,000 shall be expended for a study, including a water table analysis, storm water runoff and other flood-related issues related to the Aberjona River in the Town of Winchester; provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended for volunteer water monitoring grants
SECTION 231. Item “2200-2011” of section 2 of said Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “city of Melrose” the following words; - provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended for the Town of Clinton for the purpose of conducting a Comprehensive Site Assessment of South Meadow Pond and the presence of leachate from the former Clinton Landfill site; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the planning and development of a new regional water treatment plant for the Tri-Town Water Board, representing the towns of Braintree, Randolph, and Holbrook;
SECTION 232. Item “2200-2015” of section 2 of said Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “town of Salem” the following words; - provided further, that $500,000 shall be expended for the clean up of Lake Quannapowitt, its shoreline, bank, buffer zone, and land in the vicinity thereof and enhance its future access and use.
SECTION 233. Item “2820-2012” of section 2 of said Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “development of such sites” the following words; - provided further, that $75,000 shall be expended on an education and recreation pilot program in the Quaboag and Ware River Valley to be administered by the Massachusetts watershed coalition;
SECTION 234. Item “2840-2020” of section 2 of said Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “properties” the following words; - ;provided further, that not less than $250,000 shall be expended for the Product Stewardship Institute within the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.
SECTION
235. Item 7066-2010 of section 2 of
chapter 245 of the acts of 2002 is hereby amended by inserting after the word
“grounds”, in line 6, the following words:— ; provided that notwithstanding any
other provision of this act or of any general or special law to the contrary,
the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may enter into a
lease for any portion of the former Attleboro high school in the city of
Attleboro on such terms as the commissioner and the president of Bristol
Community College may agree for its use by the college; provided further, that
notwithstanding any other provision of this act, said commissioner may expend
any bond funds authorized by this act to make any improvements to the former
Attleboro high school as may be deemed appropriate or necessary by the
commissioner and the president for the use of the building by Bristol Community
College including, but not limited to, improving handicapped accessibility at
the building.
SECTION 236. Section 61 of chapter 300 of the Acts of 2002 are hereby repealed.
SECTION 237. Section 62 of chapter 300 of the Acts of 2002 are hereby repealed.
SECTION 238. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, chapter 26 of the acts of 2003, in section 2, in item 8000-0010 is hereby amended by added at the end thereof the following:—
provided further, that $165,000 shall be provided for community policing in the Dudley Square section of Roxbury in the city of Boston; provided further, that not less than $20,000 shall be provided for community policing in Revere.
SECTION 239. Section 548 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (n) and inserting in place thereof the following new subsection:-
(n) The commissioner shall deposit the first $25,000,000 of the proceeds realized from property dispositions under this section into the General Fund. After the deposit into the General Fund of said $25,000,000, the next $25,000,000 realized from surplus property disposition under this section shall be deposited into the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund established in section 35BB of chapter 10. Any proceeds realized in excess of the foregoing amounts, shall be deposited into the Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, established in section 2H of chapter 29 of the General Laws.
SECTION 240. Section 591 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 241. Section 632 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 242. Section 633 of chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003 is hereby amended by striking out the second and third paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following paragraphs:-
Notwithstanding any general or
special law to the contrary, the board of trustees for the university of
Massachusetts system and the president of the university are hereby authorized
and directed to establish a two year pilot program for out of state tuition
retention at the flagship campus of the university at Amherst. The board shall
promulgate regulations to allow the administration of the Amherst campus to
retain, in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, all tuition paid by students who are not
residents of Massachusetts. The
regulations shall ensure that no resident of Massachusetts is denied admission
to the Amherst campus as a result of the tuition retention pilot project. The
board of trustees for the university system shall issue a report on the progress
of said initiative no later than
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for employees of public higher education institutions who are paid from tuition retained pursuant to this section, fringe benefits shall be funded as if those employees’ salaries were supported by state appropriations. This section shall apply only to fringe benefits associated with salaries paid from tuition retained by the boards of trustees of public higher education institutions as a direct result of the implementation of this section.
SECTION
243. Section 678 of chapter 26 of the
acts of 2003 is hereby repealed.
SECTION
244. Section 703 of chapter 26 of the
acts of 2003 is hereby repealed.
SECTION
245. Section 115 of chapter 46 of the
acts of 2003 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “Essex County”, each
time they appear, the following words, in each instance:— and Franklin County;
and.