SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1408        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1145

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Michael R. Knapik

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act establishing the 104th fighter wing fire department.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1408        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1145

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2208 OF 2011-2012.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act establishing the 104th fighter wing fire department.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to establish the 104th fighter wing fire department, therefore, it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety.
 

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.  The forty-seventh paragraph of section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport”, in line 408, the following words:- members of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 2.  Subsection (g) of section 3 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing , is hereby amended by inserting after the word  “department;”, in line 277, the following words:- members of the 104th fighter wing fire department;.

SECTION 3.  Section 94 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport,” in line 13, the following words:- members of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 4.  Section 94A of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport,”, in line 8, the following words:- members of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 5.  Section 94B of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport,”, in line 10, the following words:- members of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 6.  Section 100 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

For purposes of this section, the word “firefighter” shall include members of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 7.  Section 100A of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(i) This section shall apply to members of the 104th fighter wing fire department killed in the line of duty.

SECTION 8.  Chapter 33 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section  139.  (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Chief”, the chief of the 104th fighter wing fire department.

“Department”, the 104th fighter wing fire department.

“Barnes Air National Guard Base”, home of the 104th fighter wing fire department located in Westfield, Massachusetts at the Westfield-Barnes Municipal Airport and used primarily for military purposes.

(b)  There shall be within the military division a 104th fighter wing fire department.  The department shall provide air crash crew and fire protection services on the Barnes Air National Guard Base.  The department shall be under the supervision and control of the chief.

The chief shall be under the jurisdiction of the authorized representatives of the military of the United States.

The 104th fighter wing fire department shall have charge of extinguishing fires on the Barnes Air National Guard Base and the protection of life and property in the event of fire, aircraft mishap or explosion. The 104th fighter wing fire department shall enforce all state and federal fire laws and codes. The department shall purchase, subject to the approval of the chief, adjutant general or their designees, and maintain all apparatus used by the fire department and shall make other necessary expenditures subject to such further limitations as the chief, adjutant general or their designees may prescribe.

The fire department shall enter into mutual aid agreements with surrounding cities and towns as necessary.  The chief or a designee shall have and exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed by statue upon engineers in towns except as otherwise provided by chapter 48.   The chief may appoint a deputy chief and such officers and firefighters as the chief considers necessary and may remove the same for just cause after a hearing, subject to the provisions of any applicable collective bargaining agreement.  The deputy chief, assistant chief, officers and firefighters shall be state employees of the military division and shall not be subject to chapter 31.  New employees hired as uniformed firefighters shall be subject to the provisions for firefighters provided in sections 61A and 61B of said chapter 31.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the department shall be administered by the chief. The chief may establish rules and regulations for the department’s operation and may report annually to superiors on the condition of the department and at such other times as the chief’s superiors may request.

SECTION 9.  The first paragraph of section 111F of chapter 41 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-  This section shall also apply to any permanent crash crewman, crash boatman, fire controlman or assistant fire controlman employed at the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department and members of the 104th fighter wing fire department and, for the purposes of this section, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts military reservation and the Barnes Air National Guard Base shall be fire districts.

SECTION 10.  Section 59A of chapter 48 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department”, in line 7,  the following words:- the Barnes Air National Guard Base fire district or.

SECTION 11.  Section 1 of chapter 148 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “district”, in line 7, the following words:- , the 104th fighter wing fire department.

SECTION 12.  Section 30A of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department”, in line 29, the following words:  members of the 104th fighter wing fire department;

SECTION 13.  Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, all incumbent firefighters currently employed at the 104th fighter wing fire department at the Barnes Air National Guard Base may transfer to state employment as non-civil service firefighters in the 104th fighter wing fire department, established under section 139 of chapter 33 of the General Laws, subject to the approval of the adjutant general and all other requirements of state law.  The transferees shall have preference for these positions, provided they otherwise meet all other conditions for employment.

SECTION 14.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, firefighters of the 104th fighter wing fire department, established under section 139 of chapter 33 of the General Laws, shall be considered public employees under chapter 150E of the General Laws and may organize to negotiate the wages, hours and conditions of their employment. This section shall not apply to the chief, deputy chief and the assistant chief.

SECTION 15.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for overtime purposes only, firefighters of the 104th fighter wing fire department, established under section 139 of chapter 33 of the General Laws, may be classified as so-called “7(k)  eligible” under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.§ 207(k).

SECTION 16.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, health benefits under chapter 32A of the General Laws for firefighters employed by the 104th fighter wing fire department, established under section 139 of chapter 33 of the General Laws, shall be effective upon appointment to the 104th fighter wing fire department.