Bill S.2827

FILED ON: 6/14/2024

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2827

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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

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An Act empowering municipalities and local governments.

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 3 of chapter 17 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (d) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(d) Seven of the appointed members shall be non-providers: 1 of whom shall be appointed by the secretary of elder affairs; 1 of whom shall be appointed by the secretary of veterans' services; 1 of whom shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominated by Health Care For All, Inc.; 1 of whom shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominated by the Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, Inc.; 1 of whom shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominated by the Massachusetts Public Health Association; 1 of whom shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominated by the Massachusetts Community Health Worker Network; and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominated by the Coalition for Local Public Health. Whenever an organization nominates a list of candidates for appointment by the governor under this subsection, the organization may nominate additional candidates if the governor declines to appoint any of those originally nominated.

SECTION 2Chapter 30A, Section 21 is hereby amended in subsection (a) by deleting paragraph 8 and inserting in place thereof the following:-

8. To consider or interview applicants, including the preparation of interview questions for employment or appointment by a preliminary screening committee if the chair declares that an open meeting will have a detrimental effect in obtaining qualified applicants; provided, however that this clause shall not apply to any meeting, including meetings of a preliminary screening committee, to consider and interview applicants who have passed a prior preliminary screening; nothing in this section shall prohibit all members of a school committee, city council, town council, select board, or board of alderman from participating as members of the preliminary screening committee meeting in executive session for the purposes of this section.

SECTION 3. Section 1 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 10 and 11, and in lines 134 and 135, the words “thirty-eight A1/2 to thirty-eight O, inclusive, of chapter seven” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- 44 to 57, inclusive, of chapter 7C.

SECTION 4. Subsection (b) of said section 1 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (5), as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

(5) a contract for the purchase of materials under specifications of the division of highways in the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and at prices established by the division, pursuant to advertising and bidding for such purpose, in connection with work to be performed under chapter 81 or chapter 90;

SECTION 5. Said section 1 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 109, as so appearing, the words “subclause (r)” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- subclause (s).

SECTION 6. Section 4 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is amended by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(a) Except as permitted pursuant to this section and section 7, for the procurement of a supply or service for a governmental body in the amount of $15,000 or greater, but not to exceed $100,000, a procurement officer shall seek written quotations from not fewer than 3 persons customarily providing the supply or service. The procurement officer shall record the: (i) names and addresses of all persons from whom quotations were sought; (ii) purchase description used for the procurement; (iii) names of the persons submitting quotations; and (iv) date and amount of each quotation. Such information shall be retained in the file required pursuant to section 3. A governmental body may require that any procurement for the governmental body in an amount of not more than $100,000 shall be subject to section 5 or section 6.

SECTION 7. Section 4 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is further amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following:-

SECTION 8. Section 5 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 to 4, the words “$50,000 or, in the case of a municipal or regional school district, award of procurement contracts in the amount of more than $100,000,” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $100,000.

SECTION 9. Said section 5 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 37 to 39, the words “on the COMMBUYS system administered by the operational services division” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- through additional means reasonably calculated to notify the public of the opportunity.

SECTION 10. Said section 5 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 40 and 41, the words “$50,000, or, for a municipal or regional school district, more than”.

SECTION 11. Section 5 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 64 to 66, inclusive, as so appearing, the words “the provisions of section eleven A 1/2 of chapter thirty A, section nine G of chapter thirty-four or section twenty-three B of chapter thirty-nine” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- sections 18 to 25, inclusive, of chapter 30A.

SECTION 12. Section 6 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the words “$50,000, or, a municipal or regional school district, more than $100,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $100,000.

SECTION 13. Section 6A of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the words “$50,000, or, a municipal or regional school district, more than $100,000,” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $100,000.

SECTION 14. Section 7 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the words “$50,000, or, a municipal or regional school district, more than $100,000,” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $100,000.

SECTION 15. Section 16 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 46, the words “forty J of chapter seven” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 38 of chapter 7C.

SECTION 16. Section 18 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Disadvantaged vendor” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

“Disadvantaged vendor”, a business beneficially owned by at least 1 minority person as provided in the definition of “Minority-owned business” in subsection (b) of section 6 of chapter 7C and any business beneficially owned by at least 1 woman as provided in the definition of “Women-owned business” in said subsection (b) of said section 6 of said chapter 7C.

SECTION 17. Said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out section 22 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 22. A public procurement unit may participate in, sponsor, conduct or administer a cooperative purchasing agreement for the procurement of supplies or services with public procurement units or external procurement activities in accordance with an agreement entered into between the participants. The public procurement unit conducting the procurement of supplies or services shall do so in a manner that constitutes a full and open competition.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any special or general law to the contrary, a public procurement unit that conducts a cooperative purchasing agreement pursuant to this section in a manner that constitutes full and open competition may award contracts to multiple offerors through a single request for proposals if the chief procurement officer for the awarding public unit determines that doing so is in the best interests of the parties to the cooperative purchasing agreement.

SECTION 18. Chapter 30B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 23 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 23. Notwithstanding section 39M of chapter 30, or any general or special law to the contrary, a governmental body may procure electric school buses and the installation of charging stations for said electric school buses, under this chapter. Said electric school buses and the installation of related charging stations may be procured separately or in one procurement. For the purposes of this section, if electric school buses and charging stations and their installation are procured in a single procurement, both shall be considered supplies; otherwise, electric school buses shall be considered supplies and charging stations and their installation shall be considered services.

A contract under this section shall only be awarded to a bidder: (i) possessing the skill, ability and integrity necessary for the faithful performance of the work; (ii) who shall certify, that it is able to furnish labor that can work in harmony with all other elements of labor employed or to be employed in the work; (iii) who shall certify that all employees to be employed at the worksite will have successfully completed a course in construction safety and health approved by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration that is at least 10 hours in duration at the time the employee begins work and who shall furnish documentation of successful completion of said course with the first certified payroll report for each employee; and (iv) who obtains within 10 days of the notification of contract award the security by bond required under section 29 of chapter 149; provided, that for the purposes of this section, the term “security by bond” shall mean the bond of a surety company qualified to do business under the laws of the commonwealth and satisfactory to the awarding authority; provided further, that if there is more than 1 surety company, the surety companies shall be jointly and severally liable. Sections 26 through 27D of chapter 149 shall apply to any contract entered into under this section.

SECTION 19. Subsection (k) of section 20 of chapter 32B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 158, the words “governing boards” and inserting in place thereof the followings words:- governing body.

SECTION 20. Section 49 of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- Nothing in this section shall preclude a town from providing any of the reports or information pursuant to this section in an electronic format, provided, however, that at least one physical copy shall be made available for public viewing during normal business hours at the town hall.

SECTION 21. Said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 70. Cities, towns and districts shall report a known cybersecurity incident, as defined through regulation by the secretary of technology services and security, to the commonwealth security operations center, in a manner prescribed by the executive office of technology services and security. Reporting shall take place as soon as practicable, but no later than at the conclusion of the risk assessment process. Reports shall not include any information that would jeopardize attorney-client privilege nor any information that would have a demonstrated impact on the defense and management of any liability claims, including litigation or demand for damages. Nothing in this section shall satisfy a city, town or district’s reporting requirements under chapter 93H. The executive office of technology services and security shall promulgate regulations to implement this section.

SECTION 22. Section 9 of chapter 40A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the eleventh paragraph.

SECTION 23. Section 1B of chapter 41 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

In any town that accepts this paragraph, the positions of appointed town treasurer and appointed collector of taxes shall be combined into 1 position and become an appointed position in the manner provided in this section. Any incumbent of such office serving at the time of acceptance shall continue to hold said office and to perform the duties thereof until the expiration of the term for which said individual was appointed or until said individual otherwise vacates such office.

SECTION 24. Section 23A of said chapter 41, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the words “one or three” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- not less than 1 year but not more than 5.

SECTION 25. Section 81A of chapter 41 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-

Zoning ordinances or by-laws may provide for associate members of a planning board. One associate member may be authorized when the planning board consists of five members, and two associate members may be authorized when the planning board consists of more than five members. A city or town which establishes the position of associate member shall determine the procedure for filling such position. If provision for filling the position of associate member has been made, in the case of absence, inability to act, conflict of interest on the part of any member of the planning board, or in the event of a vacancy on the board the chairman of the planning board may designate an associate member to sit on the board for the purposes of acting on any matter under its jurisdiction including but not limited to this chapter, chapter 40A or under its home rule powers.

SECTION 26. Section 7 of chapter 44 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “land”, in line 21, the following words:- , improvement to real estate or waterways.

SECTION 27. Said section 7 of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “years”, in line 22, the following words:- and be owned or leased by the city or town or on property owned or leased by the city or town.

SECTION 28. Said section 7 of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “land”, in line 23, the following words:- , improvement to real estate or waterways.

SECTION 29. Said section 7 of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following paragraph:-

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section and section 16 of chapter 71, indebtedness for constructing and reconstructing a school facility for the education of school children shall be payable not to exceed 40 years.

SECTION 30. Section 21A of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “town”, in line 2, the following words:- , the school committee of a regional school district.

SECTION 31. Said section 21A of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “town”, in line 4, the following words:- , regional school district.

SECTION 32. Said section 21A of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “town”, in line 69, the following words:- , the school committee of a regional school district.

SECTION 33. Section 31 of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph:-

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, section 23 of chapter 59, or any other general or special law to the contrary, a city or town may amortize over the subsequent three fiscal years, in equal installments or more rapidly, the amount of its current fiscal year major disaster related deficit. The local appropriating authority as defined in section 21C of said chapter 59 shall adopt a deficit amortization schedule in accordance with the preceding sentence before setting the municipality’s next fiscal year tax rate. The commissioner of revenue may issue guidelines or instructions for reporting the amortization of deficits authorized by this paragraph.

SECTION 34. The seventh paragraph of section 32 of said chapter 44, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- The amounts in the continuing appropriation budget shall, without further action by the council, become an appropriation and be available for the purposes specified; provided that the purposes contained therein shall not include any item or undertaking not considered in the prior fiscal year.

SECTION 35. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a special commission to investigate and study the use of so-called double poles. The commission shall consider identifying how many double poles exist and the length of time each has been in place, the reason why such double poles have been in place for such time, and the process and timeline by which existing utility poles are removed following the transfer of attached services to a new pole. The commission shall also consider and may make recommendations on how best to enforce the provisions of Section 34B of Chapter 164 of the General Laws concerning the timely removal of double poles, investigate how to address barriers to remove such poles, investigate increasing utilization, improving functionality of attachment management systems (e.g., the National Joint Utilities Notification System (NJUNS), and identifying solutions to resolve communication issues among all parties, unlicensed attachments on utility poles and requirements that providers promptly register such attachments, the legal liability and potential use of indemnification agreements to facilitate the removal of abandoned attachments, whether or not certain costs may be recovered from ratepayers, and the promulgation of regulations by the Department of Public Utilities and Department of Telecommunications and Cable to effectively regulate double utility poles.

The commission shall consist of 17 members: 1 of whom shall be the secretary of administration and finance, or the secretary’s designee; 1 of whom shall be the chair of the department of public utilities, or the chair's designee; 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of the department of telecommunications and cable, or the commissioner’s designee; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a municipal light board of commissioners or their designee; the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on municipalities and regional government; 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; 3 municipal officials selected by the governor, 1 utility pole owner; 1 utility pole attacher; the executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association or their designee; and 1 private citizen, appointed by the governor, who shall serve as chair of the commission and shall not be an employee of any electric or telecommunications utility operating in the commonwealth.

The commission shall file a report of its recommendations and proposed legislation, if any, with the clerks of the house and senate, the chairs of the house and senate committee on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on municipalities and regional government not later than June 30, 2026.

SECTION 36. Section 17 of chapter 268A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

This section shall not prevent a municipal employee from receiving or requesting compensation from, or acting as an agent or attorney for, the employee’s municipality and one or more other governmental units, as defined by section 4A of chapter 40, in connection with an intermunicipal agreement under said section 4A of said chapter 40; provided that the employee is acting within the scope of the employee’s duties under the intermunicipal agreement.

SECTION 37. Notwithstanding section 20 of chapter 44 of the General Laws, or any other general or special law to the contrary, a community who reserved or used a debt excluded premium for capital shall account for said premium on the debt excluded borrowing without adjustment to the debt exclusion.

SECTION 38. Notwithstanding section 53 of chapter 44 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, any city or town may, upon the approval of the chief executive officer, establish in the treasury a separate revenue account into which shall be deposited the monies received pursuant to section 25B of chapter 54 of the General Laws and chapter 111 of the acts of 2014. Said special account shall be established by the municipal treasurer in the municipal treasury and shall be kept separate and apart from other monies. Monies in any special account shall be expended at the direction of the chief executive officer without further appropriation only for the purposes for which the monies were received.

SECTION 39. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a special commission to investigate and study retiree healthcare and other non-pension benefits. The commission shall consider the range of benefits that are or should be provided as well as the current and anticipated future cost of providing them. The commission shall consider and may make recommendations on how best to divide the costs between the commonwealth and its employees and between the commonwealth’s municipalities and their employees. Upon appropriation of sufficient funds, the commission shall engage professional advisors as needed to accomplish its purposes.

The commission shall consist of 12 members: 1 of whom shall be the secretary of administration and finance, or the secretary’s designee; 1 of whom shall be the treasurer, or the treasurer’s designee; 1 of whom shall be the executive director of the group insurance commission, or the director’s designee; 1 of whom shall be a private citizen, appointed by the governor, who shall serve as chair of the commission and shall not be a member of any of the 105 contributory retirement systems; 2 of whom shall be members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; 2 of whom shall be members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; 1 of whom shall be selected by the governor from a list of 3 candidates submitted by the president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO; 2 of whom shall be members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, 1 of whom shall represent a rural community; and 1 of whom shall be a member of the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts.

SECTION 40. Section 23 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as inserted by section 18 of this act, is hereby repealed.

SECTION 41. Section 40 shall take effect on June 30, 2029.