Amendment #836 to H4000

Emergency Management Assistance Trust

Mr. Driscoll of Milton moves to amend the bill by inserting the following new section:-

Section XX. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by inserting after section 2KKKKK, as so inserted, the following section:-

Section 2NNNNN.  (a) There shall be an Emergency Relief and Immediate Commonwealth Assistance Trust, which shall be administered by the Massachusetts emergency management agency.  Monies in the trust shall be deposited with the state treasurer in a manner that will secure the highest interest rate available consistent with the safety of the trust and with the requirement that all amounts on deposit be available for immediate use.

(b) There shall be credited to the trust:  any unexpended funds from item 8800-0001, which shall not revert to the General Fund or any other fund but instead shall be transferred to the trust; funds appropriated or transferred to the trust by the general court; gifts or grants of money or property, whether real or personal, from any source, whether public or private, including but not limited to the United States of America or its agencies, subject to the approval of the secretary of administration and finance, for the purpose of assisting the department in the discharge of its duties; and all interest earned on monies in the trust.

(c)  There shall be credited to the trust: not more than 5 per cent of public assistance reimbursement funds received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(d)  Expenditures from the trust shall not be subject to appropriation and balances remaining in the trust at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund; provided, that expenditures from the trust shall be made for response or relief to natural disasters or emergency incidents determined at the discretion of the director of the agency; and provided further, that expenditures shall not be used to supplant recurring operational costs of the agency funded through the general appropriations act.

(e)  Subject to the approval of the secretary of public safety and security in consultation with the secretary of administration and finance, the agency may incur liabilities and make expenditures in excess of funds available and the state comptroller may certify for payment invoices in excess of funds available to the agency; provided, that the agency must cite a state of emergency declaration upon its request to incur liabilities and make expenditures in excess of funds available; and provided further, that the negative balance of funds available shall not exceed $5,000,000 at any time during the fiscal year; provided further that no expenditure shall be made from the trust which shall cause the trust to be in deficit at close of a fiscal year.

(f)  Not later than June 1 of each fiscal year, the agency shall submit a report to the secretary of administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means, which shall include the trust’s balance at the start of the current fiscal year, any transfers of funds to and from the trust during the fiscal year, any revenue deposited into the trust, an itemized description of expenditures by disaster or incident during the fiscal year, a projected balance in the trust for the end of the fiscal year, and any request for supplemental appropriations to eliminate any negative balance projected for the trust at the end of the fiscal year.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #836 to H4000

Emergency Management Assistance Trust