Consolidated Amendment "E" to H4600

Constitutional Officers & State Administration/Transportation

Fiscal Note: $6,526,493

Amendments 28, 48, 50, 53, 58, 61, 63, 89, 91, 93, 95, 104, 132, 133, 136, 140, 141, 150, 170, 173, 174, 258, 262, 273, 274, 275, 278, 294, 369, 398, 462, 587, 590, 591, 617, 619, 620, 695, 704, 772, 868, 913, 914, 916, 920, 921, 926, 966, 969, 971, 1127, 1130, 1131, 1132, 1133, 1135, 1136, 1149, 1151, 1158, 1160, 1389, 1451, 1453 are recategorized from Constitutional Officers and State Administration to Energy and Environmental Affairs

Amendments 189, 217, 224, 267 are recategorized from Transportation to Energy and Environmental Affairs

Amendments from Constitutional Officers and State Administration: 1, 47, 105, 155, 163, 180, 187, 193, 219, 231, 234, 254, 271, 324, 325, 359, 373, 412, 415, 437, 461, 485, 494, 511, 574, 607, 623, 624, 625, 648, 651, 670, 671, 672, 688, 733, 761, 792, 801, 838, 845, 915, 972, 979, 981, 1056, 1062, 1078, 1125, 1159, 1182, 1202, 1216, 1261, 1277, 1280, 1290, 1296, 1320, 1322, 1326, 1340, 1343, 1345, 1347, 1367, 1376, 1382, 1445, 1450, 1469, 1495

Amendments from Transportation: 192, 269, 280, 282, 299, 414, 440, 514, 540, 589, 668, 680, 730, 742, 1012, 1016, 1031, 1175, 1226, 1240, 1374, 1442, 1475

Mr. Michlewitz of Boston and others move to amend H.4600 in section 2, in item 0511-0200, by inserting after the word “board” the following words:- ; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for capital improvements to Camp DiCarlo, home of the National Lancers, to bring the facility up to code; and provided further, that not less than $10,000 shall be expended for necessary upgrades to the Vietnam Veteran memorial in the city of Haverhill

And further amend said item by striking the figure “$875,821” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $910,821

And further amend said section 2, in item 0526-0100, by inserting after the word “commission” the following words:- ; provided, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Wendell Historical Society to assist in the renovation of the former Wendell Depot Store and Post Office

And further amend said item by striking the figure “$1,107,223” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $1,132,223

And further amend said section 2, in item 0540-1900, by striking the figure “$2,406,087” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $2,607,580

And further amend said section 2, in item 0640-0300, by inserting after the words “sector’s needs” the following words:- ; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the YOUTHArts Westford organization; provided further, that not less than $10,000 be expended to the Longmeadow Pride Alliance, Inc. to support the Longmeadow pride festival celebrating the diverse community of LGBTQ individuals; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Inc. for infrastructure and deferred maintenance and to enhance the ability to produce new, diverse programming and concerts and to support the Springfield symphony youth orchestra; provided further, that not less than $20,000 shall be expended to the Special Needs Arts Programs, Inc. of Lexington to enable it to serve existing and waitlisted clients; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to the city known as the town of Barnstable for hiring staff for the city’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; provided further, that not less than $30,000 shall be expended to Amplify POC Cape Cod, Inc. for hiring staff that can apply for grants and other long-term funding in pursuit of their mission to promote economic power, increased ownership, and wealth-building opportunities in communities of color; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended to The Boston Ballet; provided further, that not less than $20,000 shall be expended for barn and other building renovations at the Forbes House Museum in Milton; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for operations and other community programming at the Milton Art Center in Milton; provided further, that not less than $20,000 shall be expended for improvements at Cogswell ArtSpace in Haverhill; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Artists Community Assistance Program to be administered by the Allston Village Main Streets of Boston; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for a mural at the Natick center Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority station and said funds must be matched by other public or private donations; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the Dedham School of Music Incorporated; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, through the cultural organizations of Lowell, to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in the cultural life of the people of greater Lowell and beyond; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended to Three Saints, Inc. in the city of Lawrence to support community services and promote Italian heritage; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the Franklin Performing Arts Company, Inc.; provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for the Brookline Community Foundation, Inc. to support a community theatre programming grant for local nonprofit arts organizations; provide further, that not less than $30,000 shall be expended for The Dance Complex for the historic preservation of their facility in the city of Cambridge

And further amend said item by striking the figure “$25,895,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $26,750,000

And further amend said section 2, in item 0810-1205, by inserting after the words “plans for the program” the following words:- ; and provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended for the SAFE Coalition, Incorporated to provide support, education, treatment options and coping mechanisms for those affected by substance use disorder in Franklin

And further amend said item by striking the figure "$2,734,123" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $2,784,123

And further amend said section 2, in item 1108-5100, by striking the figure “$5,469,260” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $10,469,260

And further amend the bill in section 2E, in item 1595-6368, by inserting after the words “General Laws” the following:- ; provided, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the implementation of a pedestrian safety program in the Brighton business district of Boston to be administered by Brighton Main Streets; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the planning and engineering costs associated with Phase 2 of the Route 128/Exit 19 Interchange Improvement Project in Beverly; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for a feasibility study for the restoration and preservation of Norwood Central Station by the Norwood Historical Commission; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for downtown pedestrian safety improvements to the city of Easthampton; provided further, that not less than $35,000 shall be expended for street design and permitting to create safe streets around Hadley Elementary School in the town of Swampscott; and provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended for rural infrastructure improvements to the town of Bolton

And further amend said item by striking the figure “$538,011,082” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $538,371,082

And further amend the bill in section 2F, in item 1596-2408, by inserting after the word “services” the following words:- ; provided, that not less than $1,000,000 shall be expended to the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority for the operation of a ferry service from Lewis Wharf Mall in East Boston to Long Wharf in the North End of Boston; provided further, that said ferry service shall run from April 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024 and then run service again from April 1, 2025 until November  30, 2025; and provided further, that the authority shall report on the number of passengers who utilize said service to the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than January 31, 2025

And further amend the bill by inserting after section 38, the following 7 sections:-

 

SECTION 38 1/8. Section 23 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 202, after the word “governor”, the following words:- from a list of 3 candidates nominated by the executive board of the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems, Inc.

 

SECTION 38 1/4. Section 5 of chapter 32A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1, 2, 25 and 26, each time they appear, the words “five thousand dollars”, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $7,500.

 

SECTION 38 3/8. Said section 5 of said chapter 32A is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$7,500”, inserted by section 38 1/4, each time it appears, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $10,000.

 

SECTION 38 1/2. Section 6 of said chapter 32A, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, each time they appear, the words “five thousand dollars” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $7,500.

 

SECTION 38 5/8. Said section 6 of said chapter 32A is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$7,500”, inserted by section 38 1/2, each time it appears, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $10,000.

 

SECTION 38 3/4. Section 10 of said chapter 32A, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 and 5, each time they appear, the words “five thousand dollars”, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $7,500.

 

SECTION 38 7/8. Said section 10 of said chapter 32A is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$7,500”, inserted by section 38 3/4, each time it appears, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $10,000.

 

And further amend the bill by inserting after section 38A, as inserted by Consolidated Amendment B, the following 4 sections:-

 

SECTION 38B. Section 1 of chapter 50 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Aldermen” the following definition:-

 

“Artificial intelligence”, the capability of a computer system to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, including, but not limited to, visual perception, speech recognition, content generation and decision-making.

 

SECTION 38C. Said section 1 of said chapter 50, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Federal act” the following definition:-

 

“Generative artificial intelligence”, artificial intelligence technology that is capable of creating content, including, but not limited to, text, audio, image or video based on patterns learned from large volumes of data rather than being explicitly programmed with rules.

 

SECTION 38D. Said section 1 of said chapter 50, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “State officer” the following definition:-

 

“Synthetic media”, audio or video content substantially produced by generative artificial intelligence.

 

SECTION 38E. Chapter 56 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

 

Section 70. (a) Any audio or video communication that: (i) is paid for by a candidate campaign committee, political action committee, political issues committee, political party or a person using a contribution; (ii) is intended to influence voting for or against a candidate or ballot proposition in an election or primary; and (iii) contains synthetic media shall include at the beginning and end of the communication the words “Contains content generated by AI” and shall include throughout the duration of each portion of the communication containing synthetic media, in legible writing, the words: (A) “This video content generated by AI”, if the video includes only video synthetic media; (B) “This audio content generated by AI”, if the video only includes audio synthetic media; or (C) “This content generated by AI”, if the video includes both video and audio synthetic media.

 

(b) A violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000. Compliance with this section shall not exempt a person from civil or criminal liability for a violation of other applicable law.

 

And further amend the bill in section 39 by striking out the words “as so appearing”, in line 711, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition.

 

And further amend the bill in section 44 by inserting after the word “bicycle”, in line 743, the following words:- as defined or classified under federal or state law.

 

And further amend the bill by inserting after section 44 the following 3 sections:-

 

SECTION 44A. Section 11A of chapter 90D of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

 

Notwithstanding section 24, upon receiving notification of satisfaction of a security interest, the registrar may waive the issuance and mailing of the certificate of title to the owner or third party requested by the lienholder. If the registrar waives the issuance and mailing of the certificate of title, the registrar shall ensure: (i) the owner or third party may receive a paper certificate of title upon request; and (ii) it has a process or system established to ensure the owner or third party may affect action that would otherwise be necessary upon the certificate of title.

 

SECTION 44B. Section 24 of said chapter 90D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

 

Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section 16, the registrar shall prescribe a form or electronic process whereby a dealer may retail a vehicle for which: (i) the dealer has made payment as described in the previous paragraph; or (ii) the registrar has received an electronic notification of the satisfaction of a security interest in accordance with the system established pursuant to section 11A. The registrar shall prescribe the manner in which the dealer shall maintain, invalidate or surrender the certificate of title upon receipt of the certificate of title for a vehicle which is retailed under this paragraph.

 

SECTION 44C. Said chapter 90D, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

 

Section 39. Electronic signatures as prescribed in section 9 of chapter 110G shall be accepted by the registrar on any document, form, certificate of title or record necessary or required under this chapter without limitation. A document that is created through a secure printing process may be made electronic by imaging, scanning or similar process for the purposes of capturing an electronic signature. The registrar may prescribe reasonable requirements for electronic signature authentication, maintenance, invalidation or surrender of a securely printed document that is made electronic and electronically signed.

 

And further amend the bill by inserting after section 81 the following 2 sections:-

 

SECTION 81A. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

 

“Department”, the department of conservation and recreation.

 

“Environmental justice population”, as defined in section 62 of chapter 30 of the General Laws.

 

“Environmental justice principles”, as defined in said section 62 of said chapter 30.

 

“Riverside neighborhood”, the portions of the city of Cambridge bounded by the Charles river, River street, Massachusetts avenue and John F. Kennedy street, as shown on a map titled “Riverside, Cambridge, Massachusetts” on file with the Cambridge Community Development Department Cambridge GIS.

 

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a task force to study and make recommendations to the department to: (i) address equitable access to the Charles river in the area between the Longfellow bridge and the Eliot bridge; (ii) ensure that inclusive processes are in place to engage all relevant stakeholders when decisions involving the Charles river area are made; and (iii) improve communication with all involved stakeholders.

 

(c) The task force’s recommendations pursuant to subsection (b) and report pursuant to subsection (g) shall include, but shall not be limited to, ways to: (i) ensure that the department considers environmental justice principles when making decisions involving the area of the Charles river between the Longfellow bridge and the Eliot bridge; (ii) ensure that all stakeholders are engaged when substantive decisions are made regarding closing or limiting access to Memorial drive; (iii) ensure that the residents of the abutting neighborhood receive proper notification when the department makes changes to access to Memorial drive; and (iv) improve programming along the Charles river that may be enjoyed by a wide variety of stakeholders.

 

(d) The task force shall consist of: the commissioner of the department, or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the undersecretary of environmental justice and equity within the department of energy and environmental affairs, or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the director of the bureau of climate and environmental health within the department of public health, or a designee; 1 member appointed by Cambridge Health Alliance; 1 member appointed by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority; 1 member appointed by the Cambridge branch of the NAACP; 1 member appointed by the Cambridge Black Pastors Alliance, Inc.; 1 member appointed by My Brother’s Keeper Cambridge; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, Incorporated; 1 member appointed by the Charles River Conservancy, Inc.; 1 member appointed by Cambridge Mothers Out Front; 1 member appointed by The Nature Conservancy of Massachusetts, Inc.; 1 member appointed by the Charles River Watershed Association; 1 member appointed by The People for Riverbend Park Trust; and not less than 6 individuals whose primary residence is within one half mile of the Charles river and who are members of an environmental justice population or live in subsidized housing; provided, that at least 2 of the individuals shall reside in the Riverside neighborhood. Task force membership shall reflect diverse representation in the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, diverse cultures, races, ethnicities, languages, disabilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, geographic locations and ages.

 

(e) The task force may consult with the department to inform its work. The department shall provide to the task force requested information relevant to the work of the task force.

 

(f) The task force shall hold not less than 3 public hearings and accept public comment before filing its final report pursuant to subsection (g).

 

(g) Not later than June 30, 2025, the task force shall submit a report with its recommendations to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate.

 

SECTION 81B. The Massachusetts Port Authority shall construct and maintain, from available funds, an enhanced runway safety area at the end of runway 27, including a pier that extends into Boston harbor over tidelands, at the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport. The runway safety area at the end of runway 27 shall extend approximately 460 feet beyond the harbor line of 1966 between points C and D pursuant to chapter 733 of the acts of 1966. The construction and maintenance of the runway safety area shall be subject to chapter 91 of the General Laws.

 

And further amend the bill in section 84 by striking out the figure “32D”, in line 1527, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 35D.

 

And further amend the bill by inserting after section 105 the following section:-

SECTION 105A. Sections 38 3/8, 38 5/8 and 38 7/8 shall take effect on July 1, 2025.