AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2002 TO PROVIDE FOR SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN EXISTING APPROPRIATIONS AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Item 2410-1800 of section 2 of chapter 177 of the acts of 2001 is hereby amended by striking out the words "shall not transfer funds between the NN, PP and TT subsidiaries, or transfer funds to any other subsidiary" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- may transfer funds between the NN, PP and TT subsidiaries, and the commissioner of the metropolitan district commission shall provide notification to the house and senate committees on ways and means on the amount of the transfer and the intended purpose of the expenditure not less than 10 days prior to the transfer.
SECTION 2. Item 4110-2001 of said section 2 of said chapter 177 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- ; and provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, once the needs of the new clients of the department who turn 22 years of age during the state fiscal year 2002 have been fully met, any funds unexpended for that purpose may be applied for the purposes of item 4110-2000.
SECTION 3. Section 1 of chapter 218 of the acts of 2001 is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
Words used in this act shall have the same meaning as they are used in said chapter 32 unless otherwise expressly provided or unless the context clearly requires otherwise. An employee who retires and receives an additional benefit in accordance with this act shall be deemed to be retired for superannuation under said chapter 32 and shall be subject to all of said chapter 32; provided, however, that for the purposes of this act, notwithstanding subdivision (1) of section 10 of said chapter 32 requiring a member classified in Group 2 to have attained age 55 on the date of his termination of service in order to receive a Group 2 benefit, any employee eligible pursuant to the criteria established in this section, who is classified in Group 2 and who is at least 50 years of age but not yet 55 years of age, shall be eligible for a retirement allowance equal to that prescribed for a member classified in Group 2 upon the application of the additional benefit in accordance with section 3.
SECTION 4. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 2 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 2. Notwithstanding any provision of section 5 of chapter 32 of the General Laws that requires a retirement date within 4 months of the filing of an application for superannuation retirement, in order to receive the retirement benefit provided by this act, an eligible employee, except as otherwise provided in this act, shall file his application for retirement with the state board of retirement not earlier than January 2, 2002 and not later than January 23, 2002, except for Group 2 employees for whom the application shall be filed not later than March 29, 2002. The retirement date requested shall be not later than February 1, 2002, except for Group 2 employees for whom the retirement date requested shall be April 5, 2002. Notwithstanding section 71 of chapter 177 of the acts of 2001, any salary savings accrued to the trial court as a result of trial court employee participation in the retirement program established pursuant to this act shall be used to rehire and recall employees of the trial court laid off on March 1, 2002 in a ratio which rehires and recalls 1 employee laid off from a statutorily established position with 2 union employees laid off from a union position; provided, however, that the recall of union employees shall be accomplished in a manner negotiated between the trial court and the applicable union. The amount of salaries restored pursuant to this section shall not exceed $240,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $960,000 in fiscal year 2003. The chief justice for administration and management of the trial court shall transfer amounts to the items of appropriation from which personnel savings due to layoffs were achieved during fiscal year 2002 in order to effectuate the rehire and recall of employees pursuant to this section. Any employee rehired and recalled pursuant to this section shall be recalled forthwith and restored effective April 1, 2002. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, said chief justice, when filling a position vacated due to layoffs effective March 1, 2002, shall first offer a restored position to the employee who held it before the layoff. Said chief justice may transfer any remaining savings accrued during fiscal year 2002 due to the implementation of this act to any other item of appropriation in deficiency. Employees rehired and recalled to positions pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have remained in continuous service without loss of creditable service for retirement purposes and for the purposes of group health or life insurance, but shall not receive compensation or accrue vacation or sick time for any period during which he did not perform the duties of his office due solely to such layoff. This section shall not apply to a short-term layoff or temporary furlough of a specified duration, whether voluntary or pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.
SECTION 5. The second paragraph of section 1 of chapter 219 of the acts of 2001 is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence.
SECTION 6. Section 2 of said chapter 219 is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
Notwithstanding any provision of section 5 of chapter 32 of the General Laws that requires a retirement date within 4 months of the filing of an application for superannuation retirement, in order to receive the retirement benefit provided by this act, an eligible employee, except as otherwise provided in this section, shall file his application for retirement with the state board of retirement after January 1, 2002 and not later than February 15, 2002, except for employees whose regular compensation is funded from federal, trust or capital accounts, pursuant to chapter 29 of the General Laws, for whom the application shall be filed not later than April 19, 2002. The retirement date requested shall be March 15, 2002; provided, however, that for employees whose regular compensation is funded from federal, trust or capital accounts, pursuant to said chapter 29, the retirement date requested shall be May 30, 2002; provided further, that the refilling of positions vacated by employees who retire on May 30, 2002 from federal and trust accounts shall not be subject to the limitations set forth in sections 5 and 6; provided further, that agencies with positions vacated from federal and trust accounts shall first fill such positions with qualified persons currently employed by the commonwealth and paid with state funds; provided, however, that, if no such qualified personnel are currently employed by the commonwealth, agencies may hire new employees to backfill such positions vacated from federal and trust accounts; and provided further, that for employees of the state board of retirement, the retirement date requested shall be June 30, 2002.
SECTION 7. Said chapter 219 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-
Section 16. (a) The speaker of the house of representatives may fill a position in the house of representatives vacated as a result of an applicant's participation in the retirement incentive program, if the speaker determines that the position is vital to the public health, public safety, or other critical operations of the commonwealth. The total annualized cost of regular compensation paid out by the commonwealth in fiscal year 2003 for refilled positions in the house of representatives shall not exceed 20 per cent of the total annualized cost of regular compensation which would have been paid out by the commonwealth during fiscal year 2003 for the positions vacated in the house of representatives pursuant to the retirement incentive program had such positions not been vacated. The total annualized cost of regular compensation paid out by the commonwealth in fiscal year 2004 for refilled positions in the house of representatives shall not exceed 20 per cent of the total annualized cost of regular compensation which would have been paid out by the commonwealth during fiscal year 2004 for the positions vacated in the house of representatives pursuant to the retirement incentive program had such positions not been vacated.
(b) The president of the senate may fill a position in the senate vacated as a result of an applicant's participation in the retirement incentive program, if the president determines that the position is vital to the public health, public safety, or other critical operations of the commonwealth. The total annualized cost of regular compensation paid out by the commonwealth in fiscal year 2003 for refilled positions in the senate shall not exceed 20 per cent of the total annualized cost of regular compensation which would have been paid out by the commonwealth during fiscal year 2003 for the positions vacated in the senate pursuant to the retirement incentive program had such positions not been vacated. The total annualized cost of regular compensation paid out by the commonwealth in fiscal year 2004 for refilled positions in the senate shall not exceed 20 per cent of the total annualized cost of regular compensation which would have been paid out by the commonwealth during fiscal year 2004 for the positions vacated in the senate pursuant to the retirement incentive program had such positions not been vacated.
SECTION 8. Section 14 of said chapter 219 is hereby amended by adding the following 2 paragraphs:-
Notwithstanding clause (v) of section 1 of chapter 219 of the acts of 2001, employees of the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency who are contributing members of the state retirement system and who otherwise meet the eligibility provided in section 1 may apply with the state board of retirement, not later than May 15, 2002 and shall be eligible for the retirement incentive program; provided, however, that the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency shall be responsible for all costs associated with payments in lieu of accrued vacation time, unused sick leave and other benefits for those eligible members of the state retirement system who elect to retire under the retirement incentive program; and provided further, that the effective retirement date for such employees shall be not later than June 30, 2002.
Notwithstanding said clause (v) of said section 1 of said chapter 219, employees of educational collaboratives who are contributing members of the state retirement system, who have attained the age of 55 and who have 25 years of creditable service in said state retirement system may apply with the board of retirement, not later than May 15, 2002, and shall be eligible for the retirement incentive program; provided, however, that the educational collaborative from which the employee retires shall be responsible for all costs associated with payments in lieu of accrued vacation time, unused sick leave and other benefits for those eligible members of the state retirement system who elect to retire under the retirement incentive program; and provided further, that the effective retirement date for such employees shall not be later than June 30, 2002.
SECTION 9. Sections 3 to 8, inclusive, shall take effect as of December 29, 2001.