Amendment #19 to H4876

Municipal Light Plants

Representatives Barrows of Mansfield and Jones of North Reading move to amend the amendment by adding the following sections:

SECTION XX. Section 4A of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

The chief executive officer of a city or town, or a board, committee or officer authorized by law to execute a contract in the name of a governmental unit may, on behalf of the unit, enter into an agreement with another governmental unit to perform jointly or for that unit's services, activities or undertakings which any of the contracting units is authorized by law to perform, if the agreement is authorized by the parties thereto, in a city by the city council with the approval of the mayor, in a town by the board of selectmen, in a district by the prudential committee and in a municipal light plant by the board or commission; provided, however, that when the agreement involves the expenditure of funds for establishing supplementary education centers and innovative educational programs, the agreement and its termination shall be authorized by the school committee.

SECTION XX. Said section 4A of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking the fifth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

For the purposes of this section, a ''governmental unit'' shall mean a city, town or a regional school district, a district as defined in section 1A, a regional planning commission, however constituted, a regional transit authority established under chapter 161B, a water and sewer commission established under chapter 40N or by special law, a county, a state agency as defined in section 1 of chapter 6A, or a municipal light plant established under chapter 164 or by special law.

SECTION XX. Section 47B of Chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following paragraph:

Any municipality acting by and through its municipal light board may provide services and assistance to any municipal or state utility, tribal utility as defined in 25 CFR § 169.2, or any other publicly-owned or operated utility, whether located inside or outside of the Commonwealth, and governmental units as defined in section 4A of chapter 40, to construct, install, alter, operate, maintain or repair utility poles and conduit, wires, cables, and equipment, and streetlights and traffic signals to the same extent such municipality acting by and through its municipal light board may provide such services within its service territory.  Any such municipality acting by and through its municipal light board may sell, rent, or lease merchandise, equipment, fixtures, utensils and chattels of any description related to the provision of such services.  Any employee providing such services entered into between the municipality acting by and through its municipal light board and such other public entity shall be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-two, sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, and shall have the same rights and privileges thereunder, as if performing the same duties within the scope of his employment including voluntary assignments.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #19 to H4876

Municipal Light Plants