PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 40S the following chapter 40T Massachusetts Public Safety Building Authority. Whereas the improvement of the public safety infrastructure in the cities and towns of the Commonwealth is in the best interests of the health, safety, security, and well being of its citizens, there is hereby established a public safety building program. The purpose of the program is generally to encourage and foster the thoughtful establishment and maintenance of municipal police, fire, or joint public safety facility space in and among the cities and towns of the commonwealth; to conduct surveys and studies relative thereto; and to administer the provisions of this chapter relative to grants and loans to cities and towns for the planning and construction of public safety building and public safety facility projects.

section 1. For the purposes of this act the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:—

“Authority”, the public safety building authority.

“Capital construction project”, a project for the construction, enlargement or renovation of a municipal police station, fire station or joint public safety facility.

“Construction standards”, the standards promulgated by the public safety assistance authority which shall be used to determine the minimum and maximum sizes, including square footage, compliance with health and safety codes, compliance with all applicable provisions of federal, state and local law relative to the accessibility of facilities to handicapped persons, and the scope of design of a municipal police station, fire station, or joint public safety facility.

“Joint public safety facility”, any building constructed, enlarged or renovated with the intent of housing more than one public safety agency.

section 2. (a) There is hereby created a body politic and corporate and a public instrumentality to be known as the Massachusetts Public Safety Building Authority, which shall be an independent public authority not subject to the supervision and control of any other executive office, department, commission, authority, bureau, agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth except as specifically provided in any general or special law. The exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be considered to be the performance of an essential public function.

(b) The authority shall consist of the state treasurer, who shall serve as chairperson, the secretary of administration and finance, the secretary of the executive office of public safety, and four other members to be appointed by the treasurer, one of whom shall be a representative from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, one of whom shall be a representative of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association and one of whom shall be a representative of the Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association, each of whom shall serve a term of 2 years; but, a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. An appointed member of the authority shall be eligible for reappointment. The authority shall annually elect 1 of its members to serve as vice-chairperson. Each member of the authority serving ex officio may appoint a designee pursuant to section 6A of chapter 30.

(c) Four members of the authority shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of 4 members of the authority shall be necessary and sufficient for any action taken by the authority. No vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and duties of the authority. Members shall serve without pay but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties. The chairperson of the authority shall report to the governor and to the general court no less than annually, to assist the executive and legislative branches in coordinating educational, community development and fiscal policies of the commonwealth.

(d) Any action of the authority may take effect immediately and need not be published or posted unless otherwise provided by law. Meetings of the authority shall be subject to section 11A 1/2 of chapter 30A; but, said section 11A 1/2 shall not apply to any meeting of members of the authority serving ex officio in the exercise of their duties as officers of the commonwealth so long as no matters relating to the official business of the authority are discussed and decided at the meeting. The authority shall be subject to all other provisions of said chapter 30A, and records pertaining to the administration of the authority shall be subject to section 42 of chapter 30 and section 10 of chapter 66. All moneys of the authority shall be considered to be public funds for purposes of chapter 12A. The operations of the authority shall be subject to chapter 268A and chapter 268B and all other operational or administrative standards or requirements to the same extent as the office of the state treasurer.

Specific powers of the authority shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) review, approve or deny grant applications, waivers and other requests submitted to the program; review, approve and recommend changes to grant payment schedules or suspend said schedules for program projects such as refinancing, audit findings and such other circumstances that may warrant such action;

(b) provide architectural or other technical advice and assistance, training and education, to cities and towns or to joint committees thereof and to general contractors, subcontractors, construction or project managers, designers and others in the planning, maintenance and establishment of public safety facility space;

(c) recommend to the general court such legislation as it may deem desirable or necessary to further the purposes of this chapter;

(d) develop a formal enrollment projection model or consider using projection models already available;

(e) to apply for, receive, administer and comply with the conditions and requirements respecting any grant, gift or appropriation of property, services or moneys;

(f) to enter into contracts, arrangements and agreements with other persons and execute and deliver all trust agreements, grant agreements and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the trust;

(g) develop a project priority system;

(h) collect and maintain a clearinghouse of prototypical public safety plans which may be consulted by eligible applicants;

(i) determine eligibility of cost components of projects for reimbursement, including partial or full eligibility for project components for which the benefit is shared between the public safety and other municipal entities;

(j) establish appropriate rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(k) prepare an annual budget for the administration of the program;

(l) perform or commission a needs survey to ascertain the capital construction, reconstruction, maintenance and other capital needs for public safety facilities in the commonwealth;

(m) adopt and amend bylaws and such rules, regulations and procedures for the conduct of the business of the trust as the authority shall deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter;

(n) disburse amounts due to cities and towns pursuant to grants approved by the authority to finance or refinance costs of approved public safety projects

(o) engage accounting, management, legal, financial, consulting and other professional services necessary to the operations of the program; and

(p) do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

The chairperson of the authority shall appoint an executive director, who shall supervise the administrative affairs and general management and operations of the authority and who shall also serve as secretary of the authority, ex officio. The executive director shall receive a salary commensurate with the duties of the office, and may be removed by the authority for cause. The executive director may appoint other officers of the authority necessary to the functioning of the authority. The executive director shall designate no fewer than 1 employee to be a municipal liaison to assist cities and towns with concerns regarding the construction of public safety buildings. Sections 9A, 45, 46, and 46C of chapter 30, chapter 31 and chapter 150E shall not apply to the executive director or any other employees of the authority. The executive director shall, with the approval of the authority: (i) plan, direct, coordinate and execute administrative functions in conformity with the policies and directives of the authority; (ii) employ professional and clerical staff as necessary; (iii) report to the authority on all operations under his control and supervision; (iv) prepare an annual budget and manage the administrative expenses of the authority; and (v) undertake any other activities necessary to implement the powers and duties set forth in this chapter.

section 3. (a) The authority is hereby authorized and directed to establish and administer a grant program, to be known as the Public Safety Assistance Grant through which the authority shall be charged with awarding and prioritizing grants to cities and towns for capital construction projects, and to encourage and foster the establishment and building of joint public safety facilities in cities and towns which the authority deems appropriate.

(b) All such grants made pursuant to this act shall be paid from funds in the Public Safety Assistance Fund pursuant to section ten of this act. No grant shall be approved for any amount greater than seventy-five percent of the total construction costs for a police or fire station facility; provided, however, that in the case of a joint public safety facility, a grant may be awarded for up to ninety percent of the total construction cost. In no case shall a grant include payment for the principal, interest or any other amount obligated to be paid by a city or town in furtherance of a capital construction project. The specific percentage that a city or town is eligible for, if approved, shall be determined in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the authority pursuant to this act; provided, however, that said rules and regulations shall include provisions to determine the financial obligations or two or more cities and towns when applying for a grant for a regional joint public safety facility; provided further that all grant payments shall be made by the public safety assistance authority to a city or town in three equal payments over a three year period.

section 4. Between January first and May first of each year, a city or town may apply to the authority for a grant for a capital construction project, including costs incurred for the preparation of preliminary studies, plans, drawings and estimates related thereto.

All applications shall comply with the construction standards promulgated by the authority pursuant to this act; provided, however, that any city or town which has certified blueprints for a police station, fire station or joint public safety facility prior to the effective date of passage of this act, and who shall act in furtherance of said blueprints within one year of the effective date of passage of this act by commencing the capital construction project, shall not be subject to the construction standards promulgated by the authority pursuant to this act. All application shall be accompanied by required documentation in the form prescribed by the authority, including copies of the plans, drawings, estimates and other construction documents, together with such additional information as the authority may require.

section 5. (a)The authority shall establish criteria for making a decision to approve or reject the grant application for a capital construction project, and to determine the amount of such a grant; provided, however, that each application shall be placed in one of the following three categories as determined by the population of the city or town in which the capital construction project will take place:

(1) cities or towns with a population of not more than 25,000

(2) cities and towns with a population of more than 25,000 but not more than

75,000, and

(3) cities and towns with a population greater than 75,000. In making a decision to approve or reject an application, the authority shall consider each category separately and shall in no case cause applicants from one category to compete for funding against applicants from any other category except the category in which the application was placed. The population of a city or town shall be determined pursuant to the most recent census figures.

(b) The authority may vote to approve or reject such application after it is satisfied that: (1) the plans so submitted are satisfactory with respect to site, type and adequacy

of the proposed construction or renovation;

(2) that such a capital construction project is in the best interest of the respective city or town;

(3) the city or town has demonstrated the ability and commitment to adequately maintain a new facility according to standards set forth by the public safety assistance authority; and

(4) the expenses so incurred are reasonable.

(c) After a vote which results in the approval of an application, the authority shall then list all approved applications in order of priority and according to the three categories pursuant to subsection (a). Subject to availability of funding, the authority shall certify to the comptroller for payment to such city or town, not exceeding such expenses, as it may deem proper. A city or town which has an approved capital construction project that has been prioritized by the authority shall be notified of their ranking and said project shall not be removed from, or have its position altered on, the priority list until a grant has been awarded to such city or town except when conditions beyond the control of any city or town result in the destruction of an existing police or fire facility, necessitating immediate action from the authority.

(d) The authority shall begin making awards and ranking applications in order of priority pursuant to this section no later than January first of the year following the effective date of this act. Each year thereafter said grants shall be awarded on or before September first.

section 6. (a) The authority is hereby authorized to enter into contracts for technical service within the scope of its duties, to provide legal, architectural or other technical advice and assistance to all applicants in the planning, building or renovating of police and fire station facilities.

(b) The authority is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act relative to capital construction project applications; provided, however, that said rules and regulations include standards to be known as “construction standards” which shall include a requirement that all police station facilities shall be designed to include a so-called, community meeting room; provided, further that the authority shall establish a formula for the equitable distribution of revenues from the Public Safety Assistance Fund for each of the three categories of applications pursuant to subsection (a) of section six; and provided, further, that said rules and regulations shall be promulgated no later than September fifteenth of the year following the effective date of this act.

section 7. The authority may recommend to the general court such legislation as it may deem desirable or necessary to further the purposes of this act. The authority shall submit biannual reports to the house and senate committees on ways and means and to the joint committee on public safety. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to, a listing of applications received and approved by the authority to receive a grant under both grant programs, together with the amount of each such grant, and a listing of cities and towns whose applications have not been approved, together with the reason for failure to approve such applications.

section 8. (a) Any city or town which engages in a capital

construction project using funds from a grant pursuant to this act shall not be eligible to apply for or receive a grant pursuant to this act for the construction or rehabilitation of the building which was the subject of said capital construction project for a period of twenty years; provided, however, that the authority may waive the provisions of this section when conditions beyond the control of a city or towns severely damage or destroy the building which was previously the subject of a capital construction project.

(b) A city or town which engages in a capital construction project using funds from a grant pursuant to this act shall not hire an individual or company to work on said project in any manner without proof that said individual or company will pay to its employees the current prevailing wage in the commonwealth. Such proof shall be furnished to the authority in the form of an affidavit signed by the owner of the business contracted to perform work, or the agent of such owner.

SECTION 2. The commonwealth of Massachusetts shall expend $30,000,000 beginning in fiscal year 2008 for funding of grants made pursuant to the establishment of the Public Safety Assistance Fund, for the planning and studies, acquisition of land and buildings and interest therein, the preparation of plans and specifications, construction, renovation, reconstruction, alteration, improvement, demolition, expansion, repair and equipment for municipal police and fire facilities; provided that the secretary of the executive office of public safety shall file an annual spending plan with the house and senate committees on ways and means, which details, by subsidiary, all administrative costs charged to this item. Said Public Safety Assistance Fund shall continue in existence at $30,000,000 per year for five years until the end of fiscal year 2012.