SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1301        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

None

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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 to strengthen representation and promote democratic, transparent, and efficient lawmaking.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1301        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act to strengthen representation and promote democratic, transparent, and efficient lawmaking.

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 3 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 9B, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following new section:-

Section 9B.

(a) The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 75% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII.

(b) The chair of the senate committee on ways and means, the chair of the house committee on ways and means, and the floor leader of each of the major political parties in the senate and house of representatives shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 50% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII.

(c) The assistant floor leader and the second assistant floor leader of each of the major political parties in the senate and house of representatives, the third assistant floor leader of the minority party in the senate and the house of representatives, the vice chair of the senate committee on ways and means, the vice chair of the house committee on ways and means, the ranking minority member of the senate committees on ways and means, and the ranking minority member of the house committees on ways and means shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 33% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII.

(d) The senate chair and the house chair of committees established by the joint rules of the senate and house of representatives to which more than fifty petitions are referred by the senate and the house of representatives before March 1 of the first year of a biennial session of the general court shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 33% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII.

(e) Senators receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section who are members of one or more committees the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, senators receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section who are members of more than one committee the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and representatives receiving no additional regular compensation pursuant to subsections (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section who are members of one or more committees the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 20% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII; provided further that senators receiving no additional regular compensation pursuant to subsections (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section who are members of more than four committees the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to 40% of the amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII; provided however that no senator shall receive additional regular compensation for service in more than 2 positions and no representative shall receive additional regular compensation for service in more than 1 position.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each member of the general court shall be paid that member's compensation for each session on a bi-weekly basis. Compensation shall include any amounts a member is entitled to pursuant to Article CXVIII, this section, section 9C or as otherwise established by law.

(g) Each member of the general court receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsections (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section shall be paid 50% of that member’s additional regular compensation for each session on a bi-weekly basis.

(h)(1)  Upon certification by the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (i)(1) of this section, each member of the general court receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be paid 50% of that member’s additional regular compensation for the first year of a biennial session of the general court in the last bi-weekly payment in such year.

(2) Upon certification by the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (i)(2) of this section, each member of the general court receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be paid 50% of that member’s additional regular compensation for the second year of a biennial session of the general court in the last bi-weekly payment in such year.

(i)(1) On the third Monday in December of the first year of a biennial session of the general court, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall jointly examine the records of each committee the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.  For each such committee, if the records document that as of that date the committee has held a public hearing and a public mark-up session on each bill referred to it before November 1 of such year and that every report filed by the committee has been approved by a vote of a majority of the members of the committee at a public meeting at which a quorum was present, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall so certify jointly.  Such certification shall constitute the certification required pursuant to subsection (h)(1) of this section to pay additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.

(2) On the last Friday in May of the second year of a biennial session of the general court, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall jointly examine the records of committees the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.  For each such committee, if the records document that the committee has held a public hearing and a public mark-up session on each bill referred to it before April 15 of such year and has filed a report on each such bill approved by a vote of a majority of the members of the committee at a public meeting at which a quorum was present, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall so certify jointly.  Such certification shall constitute the certification required pursuant to subsection (h)(2) of this section to pay additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.

(3) On each of the dates specified in subsections (i)(1) and (i)(2) of this section, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall calculate a compliance rate for each of the first year and the second year of a biennial session of the general court.  For purposes of this subsection, the compliance rate for each such year is defined as the percentage of committees the chairs of which are eligible to be paid additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section for which the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives have issued a certification for such year pursuant to subsection (h)(1) or (h)(2) of this section.

(j)  Each member of the general court receiving additional regular compensation pursuant to subsections (a), (b) or (c) of this section shall be paid in the last bi-weekly payment in each regular annual session the percentage of that member’s additional regular compensation for each session equal to 50% multiplied by the compliance rate as defined in subsection (i)(3) of this section.

(k) Each member of the general court who serves in a position for which additional regular compensation is paid pursuant to this section for a period less than an entire biennial session of the general court shall receive such additional regular compensation prorated for the time of that person's service in that position.