WHEREAS,  it is the General Court's intent to clarify and reaffirm, consistent with § 9O of Chapter 23 of the General Laws and contrary to the conclusion reached by the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston Housing Authority v. Firemen and Oilers, Local 3, SEIU, SJC-10569 (October 22, 2010), that public employers and employee organizations may voluntarily include a provision in a collective bargaining agreement to continue the terms of that agreement in excess of three years while the parties negotiate a successor agreement,

Whereas, the deferred operation of this Act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to declare and clarify the intent of Chapter 150E, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public good.

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

Chapter 150E § 7(a) is hereby amended to add the following at the end of the first sentence ". . . provided that a provision in the agreement setting forth that its terms remain in effect beyond three years while the parties negotiate a successor agreement is valid and enforceable.  This proviso shall be applied retroactively to agreements that contained such a provision but otherwise expired prior to the effective date of this Act."

THEREFORE be it enacted.