HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2330        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2547

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Randy Hunt

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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 encouraging cultural council funding.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2330        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2547

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3827 OF 2013-2014.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act encouraging cultural council funding.

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. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 57 the following two sections:-

Section 57½.  The council shall stimulate and encourage the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences within cities and towns by administering the distribution of the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund established pursuant to section 57¾ to cities and towns on a county basis as hereinafter provided.

The council shall receive applications for said funds from cities and towns and shall annually distribute funds received in the proceeding taxable year from any source so that those funds are distributed to cities and towns within a county in proportion to the amount contributed to the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund in the preceding taxable year by taxpayers within each county, pursuant to section 6O of chapter 62.

The council shall publish and make available on its website, at least annually, (i) the total amount contributed pursuant to said section 6O, (ii) the subtotal amounts contributed by each county, (iii) the subtotal amount contributed by taxpayers with addresses outside of the commonwealth, (iv) the subtotal amount credited or transferred to the fund from any other fund or source; and (v) the per county percentage to be applied for the distribution of funds under this section.

Section 57¾.  There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, to be known as the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund.  The fund shall consist of all revenues received by the commonwealth pursuant to section 6O of chapter 62 and all other monies credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law.

All revenues credited under this section shall remain in the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund, not subject to appropriation, to assist the council in its promotion and encouragement of the arts. The state treasurer shall not deposit said revenues in or transfer said revenues to the General Fund or any other fund other than the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund.

The state treasurer shall deposit the revenues in the fund in accordance with the provisions of section 34 of chapter 29 in such manner as will secure the highest interest rate available consistent with the safety of the fund and with the requirement that all amounts on deposit be available for immediate withdrawal at any time. The fund shall be expended only for the purposes stated above at the direction of the council and any unexpended balances shall be redeposited, as herein provided, for future use consistent with this section.

SECTION 2. Chapter 62 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6N the following section:-

Section 6O.  Every individual who files a separate return and every husband and wife filing a return jointly may voluntarily contribute all or part of any refund to which they are entitled or may voluntarily add an amount onto any amount due to be credited to the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund, established pursuant to section 57¾ of chapter 10.

A contribution made under this section may be made with respect to any taxable year at the time of filing a return of the tax imposed by this chapter for such taxable year. The commissioner shall prescribe the manner in which such contribution shall be made on the face of the return required by section 5 of chapter 62C; provided, however, that the commissioner shall assure that taxpayers filing any such forms are made clearly aware of their ability to make the contributions provided for by this section.

The commissioner shall annually certify to the state treasurer and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, established pursuant to section 52 of chapter 10, the total amount contributed under this section and the treasurer shall credit such total amount to the Massachusetts Cultural Development Fund.  The commissioner shall report to the Massachusetts Cultural Council the percentage of contribution amounts by county as determined by the address of the taxpayer. Contributions made by taxpayers with addresses outside of the commonwealth shall be aggregated and reported as a separate category.