SENATE DOCKET, NO. 547        FILED ON: 1/14/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1503

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Viriato M. deMacedo

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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 relative to the veteran allowance for public retirees.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 547        FILED ON: 1/14/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1503

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1393 OF 2017-2018.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act relative to the veteran allowance for public retirees.

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 5 of Chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended in subsection (2), paragraph (b) by inserting in line 138 after the word “dollars” the following words:- ",or upon acceptance of paragraph (b 1/2) fifty dollars,"

SECTION 2. Said paragraph is further amended by deleting in line 140 the words “in any case” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- "or upon acceptance of paragraph (b 1/2) one thousand dollars."

SECTION 3. Subsection (2) of said section is hereby further amended by inserting the following new paragraph:-

(b 1/2) Upon acceptance of this provision by a retirement system, any member of Group 1 or group 2 or Group 4, who is a veteran as defined in section one, shall receive, in lieu of paragraph (b), an additional yearly allowance of fifty dollars for each year of creditable service or fraction thereof; provided, that the total amount of said additional retirement allowance shall not exceed one thousand dollars in any case. Acceptance of this provision by a retirement system shall be by a majority vote of the board of each such system, subject to the approval of the legislative body. For the purposes herein, “legislative body” shall mean, in the case of a city, the city council in accordance with its charter, in the case of a town, the town meeting, in the case of a county, the county retirement board advisory council, in the case of a region, the regional retirement board advisory council, in the case of a district, the district members, and, in the case of an authority, the governing body. Acceptance shall be deemed to have occurred upon the filing of a certification of such votes with the commission.  For purposes herein, the state teachers’ and state employees’ retirement systems shall be deemed to have accepted this provision.

SECTION 4. Section 7 of said Chapter is hereby amended in subsection (2) in paragraph (e) by inserting in line 160 after the dollar amount “$15” the following words:- ",or upon acceptance of paragraph (f) $50,"

SECTION 5. Said subsection is hereby further amended by inserting the following new paragraph:-

(f) Upon acceptance of this provision by a retirement system, any member of Group 1 or group 2 or Group 4, who is a veteran as defined in section one, shall receive, in lieu of paragraph (b), an additional yearly allowance of fifty dollars for each year of creditable service or fraction thereof; provided, that the total amount of said additional retirement allowance shall not exceed one thousand dollars in any case. Acceptance of this provision by a retirement system shall be by a majority vote of the board of each such system, subject to the approval of the legislative body. For the purposes herein, “legislative body” shall mean, in the case of a city, the city council in accordance with its charter, in the case of a town, the town meeting, in the case of a county, the county retirement board advisory council, in the case of a region, the regional retirement board advisory council, in the case of a district, the district members, and, in the case of an authority, the governing body. Acceptance shall be deemed to have occurred upon the filing of a certification of such votes with the commission. For purposes herein, the state teachers’ and state employees’ retirement systems shall be deemed to have accepted this provision.

SECTION 6. Section 26 of said Chapter 32 is hereby amended in subsection (3) in paragraph (c) by deleting in line 131 the dollar amount “$15” and inserting in place thereof the following dollar amount:- "$50".

SECTION 7. Said paragraph is further amended by deleting in line 134 the dollar amount “$300” and inserting in place thereof the following dollar amount:- "$1,000".

SECTION 8.  The provisions of this act shall be prospective from the date of acceptance of this act and shall not entitle a member, who is entitled to the benefits provided under this act, to any retroactive benefits.