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.