Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately relieve the hardship placed on public employees by a temporary furlough, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

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 59 of chapter 6 of the acts of 1991 is hereby amended by striking out the sixth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- In no event shall any action taken pursuant to this section alter the amount owed to, or due from, hospitals pursuant to section fifteen of said chapter one hundred and eighteen F or alter the amount of any Medicare payments due hospitals for exceptional low income disproportionate share adjustments.

SECTION 2. The first paragraph of subdivision (d) of section 90 of said chapter 6 is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence.

SECTION 3. Said section 90 of said chapter 6 is hereby further amended by striking out subdivision (e) and inserting in place thereof the following subdivision:-

(e) No employee shall be eligible to use vacation, personal, sick, disability time, compensatory time, or other such leave credits to make up the difference in their level of compensation on account of the temporary furlough program; provided, however, that those employees who return to work between April first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-one, after having been on military leave due to the conflict in the Persian Gulf, shall not be subject to the temporary furlough provisions of this section.

SECTION 4. Said section 90 of said chapter 6 is hereby further amended by striking out subdivision (m) and inserting in place thereof the following subdivision:-

(m) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law or rule to the contrary, the state treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to establish an emergency loan program for furloughed public employees, consistent with the requirements of the United States Internal Revenue Code relative to tax-qualified pension plans, in accordance with the following provisions:-

(i) Every public employee who is a member of the state employees' retirement system pursuant to the provisions of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws and who is required to participate in the temporary furlough program in accordance with the provisions of this section is hereby authorized to borrow from such employee's account in the annuity savings fund of such retirement system an amount not to exceed the lesser of (1) the total amount of such employee's compensation which shall be reduced pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of this section and (2) the total amount of accumulated deductions credited to such employee's account in said annuity savings fund as of March thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one; provided, however, that such employee must request such loan from the state treasurer on or before June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

(ii) The investment committee established pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section twenty-three of said chapter thirty-two of the General Laws for the general supervision of the investment of the funds of the state employees' retirement system shall determine the rate of interest to be paid by such employees on such loans issued pursuant to this subdivision; provided, however, that such rate shall be commensurate with the prevailing rate of return for cash investments, taking into account the loan term. The state treasurer, as the custodian of the state employees' retirement system, shall disburse any such amounts loaned from said annuity savings fund pursuant to this subdivision directly to each such employee who elects to so borrow from his account in said annuity savings fund. The state treasurer shall determine reasonable schedules of repayment for such loans; provided, however, that the term of any such loan shall not exceed five years; and provided, further, that such schedule shall take into account the retirement intentions of any such employee. Payments of the principal of any such loan shall be credited to the borrower's account in said annuity savings fund and all interest paid on any such loan shall be credited to the investment income account of said state employees' retirement system.

(iii) Each such employee who so elects to borrow from his account in said annuity savings fund must repay to said account the entire amount of such loan, plus interest as determined by the investment committee pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (ii), in accordance with the schedule of payment determined by the state treasurer pursuant to said paragraph (ii); provided, however, that any such employee must repay to said retirement system the amount of any principal and accrued interest remaining unpaid on such loan prior to the date of such employee's retirement. The amount of any such loan shall be deducted from such employee's account in said annuity savings fund, and if any such employee with an outstanding balance on any such loan shall request a return of his accumulated total deductions in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding sentence, he shall receive the amount of his accumulated total deductions less any principal and accrued interest remaining unpaid on such loan.

(iv) The state treasurer shall notify every public employee authorized by this subdivision to borrow from the annuity savings fund of the state retirement system of the provisions and terms of said loan program no later than April sixteenth, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

SECTION 5. The provisions of this act shall take effect as of March twenty-second, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.