SECTION 1. Section 140 of Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end of the section the following paragraph:-

(g) The costs for holding special elections called for the purposes of filling a vacancy for the office of senator or representative to the United States Congress may be reimbursed by the state treasurer out of the special fund created in Section 10A of Chapter 3 of the General Laws.  The city or town clerk shall certify to the state treasurer the total actual costs of holding such special election, and such city or town shall be reimbursed up to one hundred percent of the net costs thereof from said fund without further appropriation; provided, however, that the state treasurer shall not authorize any expenditure which would cause said fund to be in deficit. “Net costs” for purposes of this section shall mean the total actual costs as certified by the city or town clerks less any other reimbursements available to such city or town.