SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1352        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1619

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Nick Collins

_________________

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 providing for a COVID-19 retirement credit to essential first responders employees.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1352        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1619

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

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

_______________

An Act providing for a COVID-19 retirement credit to essential first responders employees.

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. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“COVID-19 essential employee retirement credit bonus” or “COVID-19 credit”, equivalent to the duration of the Governor’s Covid-19 State of Emergency March 10, 2020 – June 15, 2021, added to an employee’s age or years of service or a combination thereof that can be used at retirement for the purpose of calculating a retirement benefit pursuant to Chapter 32.  

“Essential employee”, All state and municipal first responders (Police, Fire, and EMS), and front line healthcare workers who provided direct patient care/supervision.

(b), The secretary of administration and finance shall identify all essential employees of the commonwealth who, during the period covered by the governor’s state of emergency declared on March 10, 2020 until its recission, were: (ii) required to work at their respective worksite or any other worksite outside of their personal residence; and (iii) public facing.

(c) The secretary shall work with the appropriate heads of departments of the commonwealth to identify and provide a list of essential employees and their home mailing address to the state retirement board documenting the employees’ eligibility for the COVID-19 essential employee retirement credit bonus. Upon identification of eligible essential employees, such employees shall be credited with a COVID-19 credit as defined in Section 1 (a). The state retirement board shall notify each eligible essential employee in writing of their receipt of the credit.

SECTION 2 - A municipality may elect to adopt the COVID-19 essential employee retirement credit in Section 1 .This section shall take effect in a municipality upon its acceptance in the following manner: in a city, by vote of its city council in accordance with its city charter, in a town, whether it maintains its own contributory retirement system or its employees are members of a county or regional retirement system,  by vote of the town meeting, in a district, whether it  maintains its own contributory retirement system or its employees are members of a county or regional retirement system, by vote of the district meeting, and in the case of an authority, the governing body.  For the purposes of this section, the state employees' retirement system shall be deemed to have accepted the provisions of this section.

SECTION3. Upon Local Acceptance of this Act the chief executive for a municipality shall identify all essential employees eligible for the COVID -19 credit pursuant to Section 1a. Upon identification of eligible essential employees, such employees shall be credited with a COVID-19 credit as defined in Section 1 (a). The retirement board of which the municipality’s employees are members shall notify each eligible employee in writing of their receipt of the credit.

SECTION 4. The chief executive officer for a quasi-public agency whose Chapter 32 retirement board has accepted the COVID-19 credit pursuant to Section 2 shall work with agency’s director of human resources to identify employees eligible for the COVID - credit pursuant to Section 1. Upon identification of eligible employees, such employees shall be credited with a COVID-19 credit as defined in Section 1 (a). The retirement board of which the agency’s employees are members shall notify each eligible employee in writing of their receipt of the credit.