HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4669        FILED ON: 11/2/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4181

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Natalie M. Blais

_________________

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 creating a state disaster relief fund for emergency management.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Natalie M. Blais

1st Franklin

11/2/2023

Tram T. Nguyen

18th Essex

11/9/2023

Smitty Pignatelli

3rd Berkshire

11/9/2023

Dawne Shand

1st Essex

11/9/2023

Patricia A. Duffy

5th Hampden

11/9/2023

Samantha Montaño

15th Suffolk

11/9/2023

James C. Arena-DeRosa

8th Middlesex

11/9/2023

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

11/9/2023

Margaret R. Scarsdale

1st Middlesex

11/9/2023

Michelle L. Ciccolo

15th Middlesex

11/9/2023

Mindy Domb

3rd Hampshire

11/9/2023

John Barrett, III

1st Berkshire

11/9/2023

Natalie M. Higgins

4th Worcester

11/13/2023

Michael P. Kushmerek

3rd Worcester

11/13/2023

Kristin E. Kassner

2nd Essex

11/13/2023

Sally P. Kerans

13th Essex

11/14/2023

David T. Vieira

3rd Barnstable

11/14/2023

Estela A. Reyes

4th Essex

11/14/2023

Adrianne Pusateri Ramos

14th Essex

11/14/2023

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

13th Middlesex

11/18/2023

Carol A. Doherty

3rd Bristol

11/20/2023

Rady Mom

18th Middlesex

11/27/2023

Adam J. Scanlon

14th Bristol

12/13/2023

Steven George Xiarhos

5th Barnstable

1/9/2024

Brian M. Ashe

2nd Hampden

1/11/2024

Jeffrey Rosario Turco

19th Suffolk

1/12/2024

Daniel R. Carey

2nd Hampshire

1/16/2024

Jessica Ann Giannino

16th Suffolk

1/16/2024

Ryan M. Hamilton

15th Essex

1/19/2024

Colleen M. Garry

36th Middlesex

1/24/2024


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4669        FILED ON: 11/2/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4181

By Representative Blais of Deerfield, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of Natalie M. Blais relative to establishing a state disaster relief fund for emergency management.  Emergency Preparedness and Management.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

_______________

 

An Act creating a state disaster relief fund for emergency management.

 

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 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2AAAAAA the following section:-

Section 2BBBBBB. There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Disaster Relief Trust Fund. There shall be credited to the fund: (i) money appropriated or transferred to the fund, including money transferred pursuant to section 5G of chapter 29; (ii) funds from public or private sources specifically designated for the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants, donations, rebates and settlements received by the commonwealth; and (iii) any income derived from investment of amounts credited to the fund. 

Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. The fund shall retain all interest earned on sums deposited in the fund. The fund shall not have a deficit.

The fund shall be administered by the Massachusetts emergency management agency, which shall expend money from the fund to provide emergency disaster relief and alleviate the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused by a natural or human-caused disaster or other catastrophic event, including, but not limited to, a hurricane, tornado, storm, rain, flood, tidal wave, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, extreme heat, fire or drought, including when a federal or state disaster declaration has not been made, or to supplement funding related to a federal or state disaster declaration.

The Massachusetts emergency management agency shall create 1 or more programs to implement this section and shall develop program administration regulations and guidance which shall include, but not be limited to, an application procedure and eligibility criteria for the distribution of monies from the fund. Program regulations and guidance shall take into account existing federal and commonwealth disaster relief and recovery programs and requirements and shall prioritize utilization of available federal disaster relief and recovery programs.

Payments may be made to municipalities, private non-profit organizations, businesses, and individual residents of the commonwealth as the director determines appropriate. Payments may be distributed as reimbursements, grants, matching funds, cost share payments, or as determined by the director. 

An annual report, which shall include expenditures made, their amounts, recipients and the reason for the expenditure, as well as income received by the fund, shall be submitted to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and to the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than December 31 of each year.

SECTION 2. The second sentence of section 5G of chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the words “established in section 2H” the following words:- ; provided, that before transferring funds pursuant to this clause, the comptroller shall, at the start of each fiscal year, transfer sufficient funds under this paragraph so that the balance in the Disaster Relief Trust Fund established in section 2BBBBBB of chapter 29 is no less than $250 million as of that date.

SECTION 3: Not more than 180 days after the effective date of this act, the Massachusetts emergency management agency shall submit to the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on emergency preparedness and management, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on the environment and natural resources, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on agriculture, and the chair of the senate committee on global warming and climate change a comprehensive report outlining the program or programs to be developed under this act and how the program or programs will be implemented, including:

(1) an overview of the process for each program to be developed, including, but not limited to,

(i) the thresholds and eligibility criteria for qualifying events and applicants for relief;

(ii) the process for making exceptions; and

(iii) the application submission and approval process;

(2) statutory or regulatory changes necessary to allow timely expenditures of funds in cases of emergency, and

(3) the agency’s needs to effectively implement the program or programs, including budgets and employees.