Consolidated Amendment "A" to H5699
Consolidated Amendment A
Amendments: 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 21, 33, 34, 36, 42, 44, 51, 53, 56, 67, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 121, 123, 124, 125, 135, 139, 140, 141, 145, 153, 154, 160, 171, 178, 181, 182, 183, 184, 192
Mr. Michlewitz of Boston and others move to amend H.5699 by inserting after section 22 the following section:-
SECTION 22A.Said chapter 23J is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-
Section 17. (a) There shall be established and placed within the center a separate, non-budgeted special revenue fund to be known as the Offshore Wind Pre-Development and Project Acceleration Fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be to accelerate project timelines, streamline the readiness of offshore wind generation projects and reduce project risks. The fund shall be administered by the center, without further appropriation. All amounts credited to the fund shall be used to fund the state-led offshore wind pre-development and project acceleration program established pursuant to section 24 of chapter 25A.
(b) The center may make expenditures from the fund, in coordination with the department of energy resources, for eligible pre-development activities, including, but not limited to: (i) permitting and site assessment studies; (ii) fisheries and environmental science studies; (iii) pre-front end engineering design; (iv) transmission planning; and (v) support for the timely utilization of regional supply chain and port infrastructure.
(c) Eligibility for money from the fund shall be limited to offshore wind projects that can demonstrate an ability to access federal tax credits for the benefit of commonwealth ratepayers.
(d) Any financial arrangement executed using monies from the fund shall include a mechanism to ensure recovery of any co-investment capital provided by the commonwealth upon the project reaching commercial operation. Revenues deposited in the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year.
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 45 the following section:-
SECTION 45A. Section 89 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 65 of chapter 137 of the acts of 2026, is hereby further amended by inserting after subsection (n) the following subsection:-
(n 1/2)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (n) or any other general or special law to the contrary, a Horace Mann charter school may, through a reservation of seats or a weighted lottery, establish the following preferences for admission, subject to the procedures set forth in this subsection:
(i) annually, any Horace Mann charter school may reserve up to 20 per cent of the available seats for admission in each class year for eligible applicants who reside within a geographic preference area determined by the school; provided, that any unallocated seats shall be released to the general admissions lottery; provided further, that the reservation of seats and the subsequent admissions preferences shall be administered as follows: (A) to be eligible for a reserved seat, an applicant must submit an application for admission within an enrollment window established by the school; (B) if the number of applicants with an admissions preference exceeds the number of reserved seats, the school shall conduct a randomized lottery among those applicants to fill the reserved seats; (C) any eligible applicant who is not selected for a reserved seat under clause (B) shall automatically be entered into the general admissions lottery for the school’s remaining available seats; and (D) in the general admissions lottery for the school’s remaining available seats, the school shall conduct the lottery in accordance with the enrollment preference categories established in subsection (n); provided, however, that any eligible applicant who is not selected for a reserved seat may be granted a statistical advantage by means of a weighted lottery;
(ii) the school district and the Horace Mann charter school may adopt a plan to enroll a comparable population of students with disabilities, including students that require a full continuum of support and may make assignments to the school consistent with the plan; or
(iii) in the event of a school closure, merger or comparable event, the school district and the Horace Mann charter school may adopt a plan to enroll impacted students through a reservation of seats, a weighted lottery or both.
(b) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to supersede the enrollment preference granted to siblings of students currently attending the charter school under subsection (n).
(c) The department may issue guidance and administrative procedures as necessary to assist districts and Horace Mann charter schools in implementing the weighted lottery and geographic preference.
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 78 the following section:-
SECTION 78A. Section 213 of chapter 140 of the acts of 2024, as amended by section 156 of chapter 73 of the acts of 2025, is hereby further amended by striking out the words “December 31, 2026” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- December 31, 2028.
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 105 the following 2 sections:-
SECTION 105A. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may, in consultation with University of Massachusetts, Bridgewater State University and Massasoit Community College, transfer the care and control of 226-236B Main street in the city of Brockton from the University of Massachusetts, Bridgewater State University and Massasoit Community College to the executive office of labor and workforce development. The parcel of land to be transferred to the executive office of labor and workforce development is more particularly described in a deed recorded in the Plymouth county registry of deeds in certificate of title number 121531, document number 728933.
SECTION 105B. Notwithstanding chapter 40 and chapter 30B of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the city of Quincy may extend the lease of a certain parcel of land comprised of approximately 241.78 acres of land, together with any improvements thereon, located in the city of Quincy, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, known as the former municipal sanitary landfill and adjacent parcels thereto, as authorized by chapter 50 of the acts of 1994, to Quarry Hills Associates, Limited Partnership for a period of up to 50 years.
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 108 the following section:-
SECTION 108A. (a) Notwithstanding section 13L of chapter 118E of the General Laws, or any other general or special law to the contrary, the executive office of health and human services shall not, directly or through a managed care entity, implement or enforce, a general exclusion from coverage of, or a general limitation on reimbursement for, drugs acquired through the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program under 42 U.S.C. §256b and dispensed through a pharmacy to MassHealth members enrolled in a managed care entity, including any exclusion or limitation achieved by removing pharmacy coverage from or otherwise transferring to MassHealth all or substantially all of the pharmacy benefit under a MassHealth managed-care arrangement, until: (i) expenditure authority under section 1115 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §1315, for a 340B hospital access stabilization payment program, or a program substantially similar in purpose, as requested in the commonwealth’s request to extend the MassHealth Section 1115 Demonstration beyond December 31, 2027, has been approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and has taken effect; and (ii) the executive office of health and human services has submitted the report required under subsection (b). Nothing in the subsection shall prohibit the continued implementation or enforcement of any policy in effect on October 1, 2026.
(b) Not less than 180 days before the effective date of any proposed general exclusion, limitation or transfer described in subsection (a), the executive office of health and human services shall submit a report to the chairs of the joint committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means that shall include the following information: (i) the fiscal, operational and patient access impacts of the proposed change; (ii) the projected gross and net state and federal fiscal effects of the proposed change, including all underlying assumptions, methodology and anticipated timeframes; (iii) the estimated financial and operational impact on federally qualified community health centers and hospitals, including, but not limited to, changes in drug acquisition costs, cash flow implications, reimbursement variability, associated risks to providers, including potential financial losses, and the administrative and operational burdens of implementation; and (iv) the manner in which the executive office of health and human services plans to mitigate the impacts described in clause (iii), including the amount, source, duration and federal matching treatment of any mitigation funding, including the 340B hospital access stabilization payment authority.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to: (i) limit the executive office of health and human services in negotiations with, making commitments to or seeking any approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; or (ii) prohibit the executive office of health and human services from implementing any changes other than the general exclusion, limitation or transfer described in subsection (a) that the executive office of health and human services deems necessary to maintain the fiscal sustainability of the MassHealth program, including the designation of specific drugs acquired through the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program, on a drug-by-drug basis, for exclusion from coverage or reimbursement; provided, that such changes shall not, in the aggregate, have substantially the same effect as a general exclusion, limitation or transfer described in subsection (a).
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 113 the following 2 sections:-
SECTION 113A. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, grants from the amounts collected pursuant to subsection (a) of section 13T of chapter 23A of the General Laws allocated to regional tourism councils pursuant to clause (ii) of subsection (d) of said section 13T of said chapter 23A for fiscal year 2027 shall be distributed not later than December 1, 2026 pursuant to a transfer schedule determined by the executive office for administration and finance.
SECTION 113B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, grants from the amounts collected pursuant to subsection (b) of section 13T of chapter 23A of the General Laws allocated to regional tourism councils pursuant to clause (ii) of subsection (d) of said section 13T of said chapter 23A for fiscal year 2026 shall be distributed not later than December 1, 2026 pursuant to a transfer schedule as determined by the executive office for administration and finance.
And further amend the bill by inserting after section 121 the following 2 sections:-
SECTION 121A. The courthouse of the Dorchester division of the Boston municipal court located at 510 Washington street in the city of Boston shall be designated and known as the Judge Leslie E. Harris Courthouse, in honor of the late Honorable Leslie Earl Harris, a former judge of the Suffolk juvenile court, for his many contributions to his community, the judiciary and the commonwealth. The division of capital asset management and maintenance shall erect and maintain suitable markers bearing the designation in compliance with any applicable standards.
SECTION 121B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the comptroller shall transfer not less than $10,000,000 to the Offshore Wind Pre-Development and Project Acceleration Fund established in section 17 of chapter 23J of the General Laws, inserted by section 22A, from 1 or a combination of the following sources: (i) alternative compliance payments collected pursuant to sections 11F, 11F1/2 and 17 of chapter 25A of the General Laws and any portfolio standard adopted by the department of environmental protection pursuant to chapter 21N of the General Laws, currently held by the Massachusetts clean energy center; or (ii) funds made available pursuant to section 2EEEEEE of chapter 29 of the General Laws.