Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 9 of chapter 8 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- 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 said accessibility, functionality and safety shall commence until the superintendent of state buildings has completed the study required in section two of this act.

SECTION 2. The superintendent of state office buildings, in cooperation with the architectural barriers board, is hereby authorized and directed to conduct a study relative to the accessibility of the state house and all facilities located therein to physically handicapped persons and to develop a plan for the alteration and improvement of any such facilities found to be inaccessible, nonfunctional, or unsafe for use by such persons. Said study shall include consideration of any necessary construction, reconstruction, alteration or remodeling of the state house, the costs thereof, the availability of authorized funding to meet such costs, the need for additional authorization of funds and the extent to which any such construction, reconstruction or remodeling may be accomplished without injuring the architectural and historical integrity of the state house. In conducting the study, the superintendent may consult with outside experts, as needed, including, but not limited to, design and building professionals, architects, engineers and contractors. The superintendent shall report the results of his study, together with any recommendations, to the house and senate committees on ways and means no later than December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight.

SECTION 3. Section one of this act shall take effect on April first, nineteen hundred and eighty-nine.