Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to facilitate the consolidation of facilities under the control of the executive office of health and human services, 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. To provide for a program of facility consolidation, including the study, design, construction, reconstruction, renovation, and improvement to various state institutions and properties, and for the purchase of certain property, including furnishings, equipment, and renovations to such property consistent with the recommendations of the governor's special commission on the consolidation of health and human services institutional facilities, hereinafter called the special commission, the sums set forth in section two of this act, for the several purposes and subject to the conditions in this act, are hereby made available, subject to the provisions of law regulating the disbursement of public funds and the approval thereof. Any capital expenditure authorized by this act shall be exempt from the provisions of sections twenty-five C to twenty-five G, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven of the General Laws or any other general or special law requiring determination of need. The secretary of health and human services shall submit to the house and senate committees on ways and means a report, on or before February first of each year, a multi-year spending plan summarizing the expenditures on each item of authorization and the status of all such projects authorized by section two of this act.

SECTION 2. `tm;keep=no `tcol=6,B4;c1=1,9,tu,T;c2=1,78,tuc;c3=1,78,tuc;c4=12,53,tfh1;c5=16,49,tu;c6=66,13,tur `tc3 EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. `tch `tc1 `ts Item `t+1 `tch;end `tc1 4000-8200 `tc4 For state financial assistance to implement the recommendations of the special commission in the form of loans for the development of community-based housing for the mentally ill and mentally retarded; provided, that said loan program shall be administered by the department of community affairs within the executive office of communities and development through contracts with authorities which shall be limited to housing authorities and redevelopment authorities duly organized and existing in accordance with chapter one hundred and twenty-one B of the General Laws, community development corporations duly organized and existing in accordance with chapter forty F of the General Laws, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, a body politic and corporate entity established by chapter seven hundred and eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and sixty-six, as amended, the Massachusetts community economic development assistance corporation (CEDAC), a body politic and corporate entity established by chapter forty H of the General Laws, and the Massachusetts Government Land Bank, a body politic and corporate entity established by chapter two hundred and twelve of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-five; provided, that said loan issuing authorities may develop or finance said community-based housing, or may enter into subcontracts with non-profit organizations established pursuant to chapter one hundred and eighty of the General Laws or organizations in which such non-profit corporations have a controlling financial or managerial interest; provided further, that loans issued pursuant to this item shall be subject to the following provisions: (1) said loans shall be limited to not more than thirty percent of the financing of the total development costs; (2) said loans shall only be issued for a community-based housing project contingent on the title to said real property reverting to the commonwealth when said loan becomes due and payable except as provided by section three; (3) said loans shall only be issued when any contract or agreement for the use of said property for the purposes of such community-based housing provides for the recording of a restriction, for the benefit of the said departments, running with the land, that the land be used for the purpose of providing community-based housing for the mentally ill, or mentally retarded and related uses; unless and until the balance of the principal and interest for said loan is repaid in full and is released from such restriction as provided pursuant to section three of this act; (4) said loans shall be issued for a term of up to thirty years during which time repayment may be deferred by the loan issuing authority unless at the end of any fiscal year, cash collections from all sources in connection with a community-based housing project, except for contributions, donations, or grant monies, exceed one hundred and five percent of cash expenditures on behalf of said project, including debt service, operating expenses, and capital reserves, in which event such excess cash shall be paid to the commonwealth within forty-five days of the end of said fiscal year, payable first to interest due hereunder and thereafter to principal advanced pursuant to said loan; provided, that if on the date said loans become due and payable to the commonwealth an outstanding balance exists, said loans may be extended for a period not to exceed ten years for the purpose of repaying the outstanding principal and interest on said loans; (5) interest rates for said loans shall be fixed at a rate, to be determined by the secretary for communities and development in consultation with the treasurer of the commonwealth, that shall be equal to the rate anticipated to be that paid by the commonwealth for bonds issued pursuant to section six of this act; which financing shall not exceed terms of thirty years; (6) expenditures from this item shall not be made for the purpose of refinancing outstanding mortgage loans for community-based housing in existence prior to the effective date of this act; except for community-based housing purchased or developed in accordance with the governor's special commission for former residents of the Belchertown state school and the Norfolk Street Project located in the city of Cambridge; (7) community-based housing projects developed pursuant to this act shall not be refinanced during the term of any loan issued pursuant to this item unless and until the balance of the principal and interest for such loan is repaid in full at the time of such refinancing; provided, that said community-based housing projects may be refinanced if such refinancing would result in a reduction of costs paid by the commonwealth; provided further, that any such refinanced loan shall be due and payable on a date no later than the date on which the original loan was due and payable, except in accordance with subsection (4) of this item, or is necessary to effect extraordinary repairs or maintenance to be approved by the commissioners of capital planning and operations, and mental retardation, or mental health, as appropriate, and the house and senate committees on ways and means; (8) said loans shall be provided only for projects conforming to the provisions of this act; and (9) said loans shall be issued in accordance with a facilities consolidation plan prepared by the secretary of health and human services, reviewed and approved by the secretary of communities and development and filed with the secretary for administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided, that no expenditures shall be made pursuant to this item without the prior approval of the secretary for administration and finance; provided further, that not more than ten million dollars may be expended from this item for a pilot program of community-based housing loans to serve mentally ill homeless individuals in the current or former care of said department of mental health; provided further, that in implementing said pilot program, said department shall take due consideration of a balanced geographic plan when establishing community-based residences; provided further, that said housing services made available pursuant to such loans shall not be construed as a right or an entitlement for any individual or class of persons to the benefits of said pilot program; provided that eligibility for said pilot program shall be established by regulations promulgated by the said department. The executive office of communities and development is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate emergency regulations pursuant to section two of chapter thirty A of the General Laws for the implementation of the community-based housing loan program and the mentally ill homeless pilot loan program authorized by this item, consistent with the facilities consolidation plan prepared by the secretary of health and human services and after consultation with said secretary and the commissioner of the division of capital planning and operations `tc6 $50,000,000 `tc2 Department of Public Health. `tc1 4530-8100 `tc4 For the commonwealth's contribution for certain leasehold improvements at the Worcester city hospital campus including, demolition, renovation, new construction, and the acquisition of equipment related to the delivery of primary and urgent care services and related ancillary services on said campus; provided, that said expenditure shall be limited to the terms and conditions established by vote of the acute hospital conversion board on November sixth, nineteen hundred and ninety-two for the purpose of preserving non-acute health care services in said city and pursuant to a memorandum of understanding relative to the said hospital entered into on December fifth, nineteen hundred and ninety-one by the executive office of health and human services, the university of Massachusetts medical center, the Worcester health and hospitals authority and the family health and social service center, incorporated `tc6 $4,100,000 `tcol;end

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the division of capital planning and operations acting on behalf of the department of mental health and the department of mental retardation is hereby authorized to enter into thirty year lease-purchase agreements for the provision of community-based housing for clients of the said departments and pursuant to the recommendations of the special commission referred to in section one. Any such lease-purchase agreements shall be for a period of thirty years, with the option to extend such agreements for up to an additional ten years. Such agreements shall be entered into with the owners of such residences and provide for the transfer of title to the commonwealth upon the expiration of said agreements; provided, that said transfer of title shall not be required when mortgage amortization expenses for such residences are not paid directly or indirectly through reimbursements or rates paid by the commonwealth on behalf of clients of the said departments. Said agreements may be negotiated for a lesser period of time provided that said commissioner of capital planning and operations, in consultation with the applicable department, determines that the amortization of the lease-purchase agreement for a shorter period of time would be as cost-effective as a thirty year agreement.

Said lease-purchase agreements shall further require that the owners of properties which are the subject of such agreements impose restrictions on such properties, for the benefit of the said departments, running with the land, that restrict the use of said land to the purpose of providing housing or services to the mentally ill or mentally retarded and related uses; provided, that each such restriction shall be recorded in the registry of deeds or the registry district of the land court of the county in which the affected real property is located. Said restriction shall only be released when (a) a written determination by the secretary of health and human services, the secretary of administration and finance and the commissioner of the department on whose behalf said division originally entered into said agreement is recorded stating that there is no longer a need to maintain and use such real property for the purpose of providing such housing or services and that any outstanding principal or interest due to the commonwealth pursuant to the community-based housing loan attached to said real property has been paid in full; or (b) in the event of foreclosure on said property by a primary mortgagee, said secretary certifies the inability to find another purchaser or manager for said property capable of maintaining the restricted use of the property; provided, that failure by said secretary to find another purchaser or manager for said property capable of maintaining the restricted use of the property within sixty days of foreclosure shall constitute automatic certification of the inability to find said purchaser or manager, and shall release said land use restriction.

The commissioners of the said departments, in consultation with the secretary of communities and development, may recommend to the division the extension of a thirty year lease-purchase agreement for up to ten years in order to satisfy repayment of any community-based housing loan issued pursuant to the provisions of item 4000-8200 of section two of this act. The said commissioners may further recommend that at the time for title reversion to the commonwealth, said title may be transferred to the provider of housing or other services at a community-based residence provided said provider agrees to maintain the restriction on use of the real property provided by this section and agrees not to sell or lease said real property to another owner or occupant or for another purpose.

The process for entering into such thirty year lease-purchase agreements shall be consistent with the recommendations of the special commission and shall comply with the provisions of sections forty G, forty H, and forty J of chapter seven of the General Laws and requirements established by this act. Any community-based housing services procured pursuant to this section shall meet all applicable state and federal health and safety laws and regulations.

Any agreement for the provision of community-based housing not consistent with the requirements of this section shall be for a term not to exceed five years, consistent with law governing the selection of and contracting for such services; and may not require the inclusion of title reversion and restrictive use provisions.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, until such time as the commonwealth acquires title, the construction, development, financing, management and leasing of said community-based residences, and any contract for construction and design services for or relating to the construction, development or leasing of said community-based residences shall be exempt from the provisions of section thirty-eight A> to thirty-eight O, inclusive, of chapter seven, section thirty-nine M of chapter thirty and sections forty-four A to forty-four J, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the General Laws.

SECTION 4. If any provisions of this act would preclude the use of federal funds that will assist in meeting the goals of the said program, the secretary of communities and development is hereby authorized to modify, waive or negotiate such modifications to said rules as may be required to allow the use of said federal funds; provided, however, that the interests of the commonwealth remain protected; and provided, further, that in no event, shall the term exceed a maximum of forty years for any loan issued pursuant to this act for which such modification or waiver may be allowed.

SECTION 5. Requests for proposals issued by the division of capital planning and operations pursuant to this act shall be subject to the underwriting and competitive selection regulations as may be required by the agencies participating in this process; provided, however, that sixty-five percent of all proposals approved statewide for projects of the department of mental retardation for inclusion under this section shall require new construction for the development of community-based housing and that thirty-five percent of such approved applications shall require the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing structures; provided, further, that twenty percent of all proposals approved statewide for projects of the department of mental health for inclusion under this act shall require new construction for the development of community-based housing and that eighty percent of such approved applications shall require the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing structures. In no event shall the needs of the client be compromised by the aforementioned selection criteria nor shall the cost of the selected application be uncompetitive with other proposals under consideration. The executive office of communities and development and the executive office of health and human services shall jointly submit to the house and senate committees on ways and means on a quarterly basis, reports detailing all financial activities, including, but not limited to, loan agreements, expenditures, encumbrances, debt issuances, and debt service due pursuant to item 4000-8200 of section two of this act.

SECTION 6. The commissioner of the department of mental health is hereby authorized to lease, purchase or otherwise contract for inpatient bed capacity from such private and public hospitals as may respond to a request for proposals and at such rates as may be negotiated by the department. The commissioner may seek to affiliate with and operate under the license of such hospitals. Any such lease, purchase, contract or affiliation agreement shall be consistent with the recommendations of the special commission. The conversion of any such inpatient bed capacity from an existing use to a use established pursuant to an agreement with the commissioner shall be exempt from the provisions of sections twenty-five C to twenty-five G, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven of the General Laws or any other general or special law requiring a determination of need, so-called; provided, however, that said conversion shall not result in a net increase in bed capacity in a health service area of the commonwealth; and provided, further, that the costs and revenues generated by the operation of such capacity pursuant to such lease, purchase, contracts or affiliation agreement shall be treated as if a determination of need had been granted for the purposes of establishing rates and charges under chapter six A of the General Laws. For the purpose of calculating the hospital maximum allowable cost and gross patient service revenues under said chapter six A, the costs of staffing such units shall be treated as a cost to the hospital.

SECTION 7. The commissioner of the division of capital planning and operations is hereby authorized, subject to the provisions of sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, to lease for a term of up to thirty years to an individual or entity, a parcel of land not exceeding three and forty-six one hundredths acres in size to be identified by said commissioner within the boundaries of the Danvers State Hospital.

Said lease shall be in accordance with such terms and conditions as the commissioner shall prescribe; provided, however, that the property shall be used primarily for the purpose of providing alcohol detoxification programs for the department of public health, and that all interests in said property shall revert to the commonwealth in the event that said property ceases to be used for such purpose.

SECTION 8. To meet the expenditures necessary in carrying out the provisions of section two of this act, the state treasurer shall, upon the request of the governor, issue and sell bonds of the commonwealth, in an amount specified by the governor from time to time, not exceeding fifty-four million one hundred thousand dollars. All bonds issued by the commonwealth, as aforesaid, shall be designated on their face, Human Services Consolidation Capital Outlay Loan, Act of 1993, and shall be issued for a maximum term of twenty years, as the governor may recommend to the general court pursuant to Section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth; provided, however, that all such bonds shall be payable no later than June thirtieth, two thousand and nineteen. All interest and payments on account of principal of such obligations shall be payable from the General Fund. Bonds and interest thereon issued under the authority of this section shall be general obligations of the commonwealth.

SECTION 9. The state treasurer may borrow from time to time on the credit of the commonwealth such sums of money as may be necessary for the purpose of meeting payments authorized by section two of this act and may issue and renew from time to time notes of the commonwealth therefor, bearing interest payable at such time and at such rates as shall be fixed by the state treasurer. Such notes shall be issued and may be renewed one or more times for such term, not exceeding one year, as the governor may recommend to the general court in accordance with Section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, but the final maturities of the notes, whether original or renewal, shall not be later than June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. Notes and interest thereon issued under the authority of this section shall be general obligations of the commonwealth. All interest and payments on account of principal of such obligations shall be payable from the General Fund.

SECTION 10. Section 35 of chapter 75 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

The trustees are hereby authorized to acquire, lease, operate or affiliate with, to the extent said relationship is determined by said trustees to be in the best interests of or to further the educational mission of the medical school or the teaching hospital, satellite clinics, physicians offices, ambulatory care centers, mental health programs or facilities, health care facilities, outpatient diagnostic or treatment centers, home health care programs, long term care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, clinical laboratories, fitness centers and similar health care or related programs or facilities; provided, that said relationship shall be subject only to such other state or local authority as may be required pursuant to any general or special law governing such non-governmental health care institutions, facilities or program.