Chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 62 the following new section:-

“Section 63: a) There is hereby established and set up on the books of the Commonwealth a Public Innovation Loan Project Trust Fund.  The executive office for administration and finance may designate up to 5 per cent of available funds from the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Finance line-item 1100-1100 to the fund, which shall be used to develop, support and promote a revolving loan fund for innovative projects that improve a public municipal or state department.  The secretary shall award funding for this purpose through an application process. A Public Innovation Loan Project shall be awarded if the projects achieve cost neutrality or cost savings through innovation, accountability, or entrepreneurship. b) Awarded projects shall not receive more than one million dollars in funding if the awarded project is limited to one department, and not more than three million dollars if the awarded project is multi-departmental. The executive office for administration and finance may, at its discretion, make multi-year awards or award amounts in excess of these limits based on special merit with the approval of the Massachusetts legislature. c) Applications for funding shall contain the following information: 1) a description of the goal of the project and the business problem it solves; 2) a description of the current department process that addresses the issue, why they are inefficient, and why the proposed project is not currently funded within the existing budget; 3) the financial impact of the project, including, but not limited to, budgeted expenses, projections, return on investment, forecasted savings, repayment period, and funding request; and 4) an implementation plan and schedule including, but not limited to, key milestones and dates. d) the executive office for administration and finance shall publish and notify their awardees no later than the 2 months prior to the following fiscal year.