Press Release  AG Healey Announces Legislative Priorities That Enhance Protections for the People of Massachusetts

Boston — Seeking to enhance her office’s ability to protect the people of Massachusetts and strengthen the tools needed to enforce state laws, Attorney General Maura Healey today announced her initial legislative agenda for the 2017-2018 session.

A series of bills filed this week with legislative leaders include legislation that would establish a student tuition recovery fund, strengthen the authority of the AG’s Office in energy rate cases, improve the AG’s ability to address violations of the wage and hour laws, and amend a 200-year-old corporate manslaughter statute. 

In addition to this initial set of bills, the AG’s Office plans to work with the Legislature in the coming months on comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation and bills to address combatting human trafficking, expanding voting rights, promoting access to health care, economic security and enhanced protections for working families, addressing the opioid epidemic, and any new challenges that may arise with the changing national landscape.

“Workers, students, ratepayers and all residents of Massachusetts need a government that protects their rights and responds to their changing needs. These legislative priorities represent our office’s strong commitment to protecting the people of Massachusetts and will give us new tools to fight on their behalf,” said AG Healey “We intend to pursue a robust policy and advocacy agenda in the months ahead and look forward to a collaborative process with the Legislature this session to get these critical protections in place.”

The immediate bills available for co-sponsorship are as follows:

• An Act Establishing a Student Tuition Recovery Fund
• An Act Relative to the Protection of Energy Ratepayers
• An Act Relative to Enhanced Enforcement of Civil Penalties
• An Act to Increase the Penalties for Corporate Manslaughter

S.D. 1028, H.D. 1480, An Act Establishing a Student Tuition Recovery Fund 

Sponsored by: Senator Eileen Donoghue (D-Lowell) and Representative Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenberg)

An Act Establishing a Student Tuition Recovery Fund creates a fund to provide much-needed financial relief to eligible students who have fallen victim to the unscrupulous conduct of a for-profit school. The AG’s Office has made addressing predatory for-profit schools a key priority, including by recovering more than $9 million on behalf of students defrauded by these schools. Under this bill, students would be eligible to submit a claim for reimbursement of tuition and related costs from the fund in certain circumstances, such as when their school suddenly closes, discontinues the program in which they were enrolled, or violates state law. The fund would be administered by the AG’s Office and created by an annual assessment on these schools.   

S.D. 1330, H.D. 3186, An Act Relative to the Protection of Energy Ratepayers by the Attorney General

Sponsored by: Senator Joseph Boncore (D-Winthrop) Representative Paul Brodeur (D-Melrose)

An Act Relative to the Protection of Energy Ratepayers by the Attorney General seeks to strengthen the Attorney General’s role as the ratepayer advocate for electric and gas customers in Massachusetts. This bill will clarify that the AG has the authority to intervene and retain experts in all electricity and gas cases before the DPU on behalf of ratepayers, particularly with respect to proceedings concerning competitive electric suppliers. Just over two years ago, the AG reached a $4 million settlement with competitive supplier Just Energy, which the AG alleged engaged in unfair and deceptive marketing and sales practices. The AG Office’s authority to present such information on behalf of ratepayers should be clear. The bill also requires the DPU to rule on a petition for a decrease in electric and gas distribution rates filed by the Attorney General, local official, or group of ratepayers within 10 months.

S.D. 48, An Act Relative to Enhanced Enforcement of Civil Penalties

Sponsored by: Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett)

An Act Relative to Enhanced Enforcement of Civil Penalties allows the AG’s Fair Labor Division to better address violations of our state wage and hour laws—including those requiring payment of wages, minimum wage and overtime—directly in court. Today, workers have a legal right to go to court to address violations of wage and hour laws, and this proposal gives the AG that same right. Presently, the AG’s primary tools are either a criminal prosecution, which is only appropriate under limited circumstances, or a civil citation, which can result in inadequate relief and lengthy delays.

S.D. 920, An Act to Increase the Penalties for Corporate Manslaughter

Sponsored by: Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan (D-Leominster)

An Act to Increase the Penalties for Corporate Manslaughter updates the Massachusetts manslaughter statute for the first time since 1819, by increasing the penalty for corporations found guilty of manslaughter. Recent events have caused many to seriously rethink this statute: the ceiling panel collapse in 2006 that killed a Jamaica Plain woman, the contaminated steroids linked to 64 deaths from a local compounding pharmacy in 2012 and the trench flood in Boston’s South End that killed two workers just this past October. The current sentence for individuals convicted of manslaughter is imprisonment up to 20 years and/or a $1,000 fine. However, corporations cannot be subject to imprisonment, and the only penalty they face is a $1,000 fine. This bill proposes that corporations found guilty of manslaughter face a fine of $250,000 or more and potentially debarment from state contracts for up to 10 years.

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