Amendment #780 to H3400

Sheriffs Finance Work Group

Mr. Chan of Quincy moves to amend the bill by inserting at the end thereof, the following section: 

“SECTION __.  There shall be established a special County Sheriffs Finance Work Group to specifically study, assess and examine the fiscal conditions of those Sheriffs’ Offices transferred to the Commonwealth in Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2009.  The Group shall consist of five members: The Secretary of the Executive Office of Administration & Finance or his designee; the State Comptroller or his designee; the Chairperson of the House Ways & Means Committee or his designee; the Chairperson of the Senate Ways & Means Committee or his designee and the President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (MSA) or his designee.  The Work Group shall assess reasons for continuing dependency on annual supplemental budget appropriations to fund operations of the so-called transferred sheriffs and shall specifically assess and compare the sources and levels of revenue available to fund operations prior to the transfer and thereafter.  The Work Group shall make recommendations to the House of Representatives and the Senate on specific steps to eliminate the repeated utilization of supplemental appropriations to fund operations at the noted Offices.  Selection and appointment of a designee to represent an appointed member of this Work Group shall be completed by written notification of the designation to the clerk of the House of Representatives and the clerk of the Senate no later than August 01, 2015. The special County Sheriffs Finance Work Group shall elect a coordinating chairperson among its’ members and designees; the appointed members and designees shall convene no later than August 01, 2015 and shall file a report with its’ findings and recommendations to the clerks of the House of Representatives and Senate no later than October 30, 2015.”