SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1692        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 177

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Kenneth J. Donnelly

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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 to increase contributions to the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1692        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 177

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act to increase contributions to the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund.

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. Section 2WWW of chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out subsection (d) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(d) There shall be credited to the fund amounts as detailed in section 14L1/2 of chapter 151A, and any gifts, grants, private contributions, investment income earned on the fund's assets, and all other sources. Money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

SECTION 2. Section 14L of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following subsection:-

(c) Not later than March 1 of each year, the commissioner shall file a report in writing with the joint committee on labor and workforce development and the house and senate committees on ways and means concerning the collection of the workforce training contributions, pursuant to subsection (a), during the calendar year ending on the preceding December 31, which shall include, but not be limited to: (1) the amount collected in each quarter and the total amount collected for the year; (2) the total number of employers that contributed to the fund, and the total number of employees employed by this group of employers; and (3) the contribution rate, to the extent it differs from 0.056 per cent.

SECTION 3. Said chapter 151A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 14L the following section:-

Section 14L1/2. (a) Each employer liable to pay a contribution under subsection (i) of section 14 shall also pay, in the same manner and at the same times as the commissioner prescribes for the contribution required by said section 14, a workforce competitiveness trust fund contribution. For an employer’s first through nineteenth employee, inclusive, the contribution shall be 0.028 per cent of so much of its wages as are subject to contributions pursuant to clause (4) of subsection (a) of said section 14. For an employer’s twentieth through one-hundredth employee, inclusive, the contribution shall be 0.042 per cent of so much of its wages as are subject to contributions pursuant to clause (4) of subsection (a) of said section 14. For an employer’s one hundred and first employee and any employee thereafter, the contribution shall be 0.056 per cent of so much of its wages as are subject to contributions pursuant to clause (4) of subsection (a) of said section 14. The commissioner shall deposit the proceeds of said workforce competitiveness trust fund contribution in the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund, established by section 2WWW of chapter 29.

(b) Except where inconsistent with the provisions of this section, the terms and conditions of this chapter that apply to the payment of and the collection of contributions shall apply to the same extent to the payment of and the collection of the workforce competitiveness trust fund contribution required by this section; provided, however, that said contributions shall not be credited to the employer’s account or the solvency account established pursuant to section 14, 14A or 14C.

(c) Not later than March 1 of each year, the commissioner shall file a report in writing with the joint committee on labor and workforce development and the house and senate committees on ways and means concerning the collection of the workforce competitiveness trust fund contributions, pursuant to subsection (a), during the calendar year ending on the preceding December 31, which shall include, but not be limited to: (1) the amount collected in each quarter and the total amount collected for the year; and (2) the total number of employers that contributed to the fund, and the total number of employees employed by this group of employers.