Budget Amendment ID: FY2027-S4-980-R3

3rd Redraft EPS 980

Dakota's Law

Mrs. Dooner and Messrs. Montigny, Durant, O'Connor, Tarr and Fattman moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 14 the following section:-

"SECTION 14A. Chapter 29 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after section 2NNNNNN thereof the following section:-

Section 2OOOOOO. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate, non-budgeted special revenue fund known as the Retired Police Dog Care Fund, which shall be administered by the secretary of public safety and security. The fund shall be credited with: (i) appropriations or other money authorized or transferred by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) funds from public and private sources, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants and donations; and (iii) interest earned on money in the fund. The unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall remain available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to be in deficit.

(b) Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended, without further appropriation, to make grants to nonprofit institutions to provide care and medical services to retired police dogs. The secretary of public safety and security shall be responsible for ensuring that funds are properly allocated to organizations for the care and medical needs of retired police dogs. For the purposes of this section, “retired police dogs” shall mean a dog that was owned by a police department or police agency of the commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof, and used by the department or agency for official duties, or police dogs used by and retired from a federal agency operating in the commonwealth to perform services within the commonwealth.

(c) Annually, not later than March 1, the secretary of public safety and security shall issue a report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security and the senate and house committees on ways and means on the fund’s activities, including, but not limited to, amounts credited to the fund, amounts expended from the fund and any unexpended balance."