AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 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. To provide for supplementing certain items in the general appropriation act and other appropriation acts for fiscal year 2016, the sums set forth in section 2 are hereby appropriated from the General Fund unless specifically designated otherwise in this act or in those appropriation acts, for the several purposes and subject to the conditions specified in this act or in those appropriation acts, and subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public funds for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016. These sums shall be in addition to any amounts previously appropriated and made available for the purposes of those items. These sums shall be made available until June 30, 2017.
SECTION 2.
JUDICIARY
Committee for Public Counsel Services
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
Bristol District Attorney
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
Reserves
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Department of Public Health
Department of Children and Families
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
TREASURER AND RECEIVER-GENERAL
SECTION 2C.I. For the purpose of making available in fiscal year 2017 balances of appropriations which otherwise would revert on June 30, 2016, the unexpended balances of the appropriations listed below, not to exceed the amount specified below for each item, are hereby reappropriated for the purposes of and subject to the conditions stated for the corresponding item in section 2 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015. For items which do not appear in section 2 of the general appropriation act, the amounts in this section are reappropriated for the purposes of and subject to the conditions stated for the corresponding item in section 2 or 2A of this act or in prior appropriation acts. Amounts in this section are reappropriated from the funds designated for the corresponding item in said section 2 of said chapter 46; provided, however, that for items which do not appear in said section 2 of said chapter 46, the amounts in this section are reappropriated from the funds designated for the corresponding item in section 2 or 2A of this act or in prior appropriation acts. The unexpended balance of each appropriation in the Massachusetts management accounting and reporting system with a secretariat code of 01 or 17 is hereby reappropriated for the purposes of and subject to the conditions specified for the corresponding item in said section 2 of said chapter 46. The sums reappropriated in this section shall be in addition to any amounts available for said purposes.
JUDICIARY
Committee for Public Counsel Services
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
Plymouth District Attorney
Massachusetts District Attorneys Association
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
Reserves
Department of Veterans’ Services
Human Resources Division
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Department of Conservation and Recreation
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Department of Children and Families
Department of Elders Affairs
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Office of the Secretary
Department of Housing and Community Development
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Department of Career Services
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Department of Higher Education
University of Massachusetts
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Department of Public Safety
SECTION 4. Section 16 of chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence, as appearing in section 4 of chapter 141 of the acts of 2016, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- There shall be a general scholarship program administered by the council to provide financial assistance to students domiciled in the commonwealth and enrolled in and pursuing a program of higher education in an approved public or independent college, university or school of nursing or any other approved institution furnishing a program of higher education.
SECTION 5. The ninth paragraph of said section 16 of said chapter 15A, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- There shall be a public service scholarship program to provide scholarships to the: (i) children and widowed spouses of Massachusetts police officers, firefighters and correction officers who were killed or died from injuries received while in the performance of their duties, including authorized training duty; (ii) children of prisoners of war or of military or service persons missing in action; and (iii) children of veterans whose service was credited to the commonwealth and who were killed in action or otherwise died as a result of such service.
SECTION 6. Section 10 of chapter 25A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 51, the words “$10 million” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $20,000,000.
NO SECTION 7.
NO SECTION 8.
SECTION 9. Section 3F of chapter 60 of the General Laws, inserted by section 12 of chapter 141 of the acts of 2016, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-
Any amounts donated to the fund shall be deposited into a special account in the general treasury and shall be in the custody of the treasurer. The treasurer shall invest the funds at the direction of the officer, board, commission, committee or other agency of the city or town who or which is otherwise authorized and required to invest trust funds of the city or town and subject to the same limitations applicable to trust fund investments except as otherwise specified in this section. The fund and any interest thereon shall be used for the purposes of this section without further appropriation.
SECTION 10. The definition of “Administer” in section 1 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out clause (c) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 clauses:-
(c) a registered pharmacist acting in accordance with regulations promulgated by the department, in consultation with the board of registration in pharmacy and the department of mental health, governing pharmacist administration of medications for treatment of mental health and substance use disorder and at the direction of a prescribing practitioner in the course of the practitioner’s professional practice; or
(d) an ultimate user or research subject at the direction of a practitioner in the course of the practitioner’s professional practice.
SECTION 11. Subsection (c) of section 11 of chapter 111C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (3) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-
(3) require the reporting and analysis of patient diagnosis, treatment, facility and other reasonably detailed trauma care information by each hospital; provided, however, that the department may not require a hospital to report to the department any data under this section that the hospital otherwise reports to the commonwealth or any of its agencies; provided further, that the department shall be authorized to access and directly obtain data in a timely manner that is collected by the center for health information and analysis that the department determines is necessary for analyzing trauma-related services; and provided further, that the department shall maintain a de-identified database of all trauma patients treated at hospitals in the commonwealth, including all data from the trauma registry, that shall be made available, upon request, to any acute care hospital licensed in the commonwealth that submits trauma data to the department or to the center for health information analysis.
SECTION 12. The first paragraph of section 3 of chapter 115 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence, as appearing in section 15 of chapter 141 of the acts of 2016, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The mayor of each city, except Boston, shall and the board of selectmen of each town may appoint a veterans’ agent who shall serve for a term of up to 3 years and shall be eligible for reappointment.
SECTION 13. The third paragraph of section 32 of chapter 121B of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence, added by section 17 of said chapter 141, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, in communities where no low-income family housing was developed pursuant to chapter 200 of the acts of 1948, a preference in admission shall be given to eligible and qualified veterans for all scattered site housing units acquired by a local housing authority pursuant to chapter 705 of the acts of 1966.
SECTION 14. The fifth paragraph of section 32 of said chapter 121B is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence, as appearing in section 18 of said chapter 141, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- In determining the net income for the purpose of computing the rent of a totally unemployable disabled veteran, a housing authority shall exclude amounts of disability compensation paid by the United States government for disability occurring in connection with military service in excess of $1,800 in any month; provided, however, that such exclusion shall apply only to state-aided projects as provided in sections 35 and 36.
SECTION 15. The second paragraph of subsection (a) of section 19G of chapter 138 of the General Laws, as appearing in section 95 of chapter 133 of the acts of 2016, is hereby amended by striking out the words “19C or section 19D or licensed in any other state” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 19 or section 19C or a license holder outside the commonwealth that is authorized.
SECTION 16. Subsection (d) of section 11 of chapter 211D of the General Laws, added by section 119 of said chapter 133, is hereby amended by striking out the words “(c) and (d)” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- (b) and (c).
SECTION 17. Item 2810-0100 of section 2 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 31 to 33, inclusive, the words “to complete the environmental remediation of a portion of the Lynch Family skate park in the city of Cambridge” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- , which shall not revert and shall be available for expenditure through June 30, 2017.
SECTION 18. Item 4590-0918 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$18,000,000”, inserted by section 10 of chapter 70 of the acts of 2016, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $18,700,000.
SECTION 19. Item 4800-0038 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Methuen”, in line 22, the following words:- ; provided further, that the amount allocated to the feasibility study shall not revert and shall be made available for expenditure through June 30, 2017.
SECTION 21. Item 7066-0000 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “program”, in line 51, the following words:- ; provided further, that the amount allocated to the TRAIN grant program shall not revert and shall be made available until June 30, 2017.
SECTION 22. Item 9110-9002 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Braintree”, in line 19, the following words:- ; provided further, that the amount allocated to the department of elder affairs in the city in this item in fiscal year 2016 shall not revert and shall be made available until June 30, 2017.
SECTION 23. Item 0330-0612 of section 2A of chapter 119 of the acts of 2015 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 7, the words “July 1, 2017” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- December 1, 2016.
SECTION 24. Said item 0330-0612 of said section 2A of said chapter 119 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 17, the figure “2016” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 2017.
SECTION 25. Section 75 of chapter 119 of the acts of 2015 is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the state secretary may, as the state secretary considers necessary for the orderly administration of the November 8, 2016 state election, prepare or contract to prepare separate ballots to include candidates for any office, other than a federal office, for which a recount or other court action has been filed that would delay availability of ballots, in violation of federal law.
SECTION 26. Section 2 of chapter 133 of the acts of 2016 is hereby amended by inserting after item “2100-0016” the following item under the following caption:-
SECTION 28. Item 7004-0108 of said section 2 of said chapter 133 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- ; provided further, that no family with a head of household who is over 60 years of age or who is disabled, who is in compliance with the requirements of a housing stabilization plan that reasonably accommodates disabilities and who otherwise meets all program eligibility requirements shall be denied short-term housing assistance; and provided further, that any such family with a head of household who is over 60 years of age or who is disabled shall not have engaged in, or be engaged in, any activity that threatens the health, safety or security of the family, other program participants or program staff.
SECTION 29. Item 9110-1630 of said section 2 of said chapter 133 is hereby amended by striking out the words
“$102,570,589
General Fund........................... 98.5%
Community First Trust Fund............. 1.5%”
and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
$106,357,313
General Fund............................. 95%
Community First Trust Fund............... 5%.
SECTION 30. Item 1599-2040 of section 2B of said chapter 133 is hereby amended by striking out the figure, “$10,000,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $20,000,000.
SECTION 31. Item 1595-1068 of section 2E of said chapter 133 is hereby amended by adding the following words:- ; provided further, that the secretary of health and human services shall make a supplemental payment of up to $30,500,000 from the Medical Assistance Trust Fund to the Cambridge public health commission for dates of service in federal fiscal year 2016 only after the Cambridge public health commission transfers up to $15,250,000 of its funds to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund using a federally-permissible source of funds which shall fully satisfy the nonfederal share of such payment; and provided further, that the secretary of health and human services shall make a payment of up to $89,608,450 from the Medical Assistance Trust Fund to the Cambridge public health commission for qualifying state fiscal year 2016 public hospital transformation and incentive initiative payments only after the Cambridge public health commission transfers up to $44,804,225 of its funds to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund using a federally-permissible source of funds which shall fully satisfy the nonfederal share of such payment.
SECTION 32. Said item 1595-1068 of said section 2E of said chapter 133 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$462,000,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $736,154,225.
SECTION 33. Notwithstanding subsection (c) of section 10 of chapter 152 of the acts of 1997, not later than June 30, 2016, a portion of the balance in the Convention Center Fund up to but not to exceed $60,000,000, which the state treasurer and the secretary of administration and finance have determined to exceed the amount necessary to satisfy the requirement of sufficiency under said subsection (c) of said section 10 of said chapter 152, shall be, upon request of the secretary of administration and finance, transferred to the General Fund.
SECTION 34. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency shall transfer $1,500,000 from funds previously appropriated, or loans repaid, that the agency administers on behalf of the commonwealth as a result of the program established pursuant to item 1231-1020 of section 2 of chapter 151 of the acts of 1996 to the comptroller to be credited to the General Fund in fiscal year 2016.
SECTION 35. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of housing and community development shall direct $7,500,000 from loans repaid under the program established in section 27 of chapter 23B of the General Laws to the comptroller to be credited to the General Fund in fiscal year 2016; provided, however, that sections 33 to 35, inclusive, of chapter 260 of the General Laws shall not apply to impair the enforceability of any mortgage granted under the program established in said section 27 of said chapter 23B or any other mortgage in favor of the department of housing and community development, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency or any other public instrumentality that encumbers a multi-family residential property that is also the subject of a recorded affordable housing restriction enforceable by or on behalf of the mortgagee.
SECTION 36. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, before the close of fiscal year 2016 and upon the recommendation of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of health and human services, or their designees, the comptroller shall adjust any fiscal year 2016 appropriation fund split against or transferred out of the Community First Trust Fund established in section 35AAA of chapter 10 of the General Laws to match final department fiscal year 2016 Community First Trust Fund expenditures.
SECTION 37. Notwithstanding any general or special legislation to the contrary, after accounting for any reappropriations in section 2C.I, unexpended balances from item 7004-9024 of section 2 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015 and unexpended balances from items 1599-0026, 7002-0021 and 7008-0900 of section 2A of chapter 287 of the acts of 2014 shall revert to the General Fund at the end of fiscal year 2016.
SECTION 38. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
“Agency”, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, the agency established in section 2 of chapter 23G of the General Laws and any entity wholly owned by the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency.
“Commissioner”, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance.
“Property”, the parcels of land located at the former Grafton state hospital, shown on a plan on file with the division of capital asset management and maintenance.
(b) 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 may convey the property, or any portion thereof, to the agency for nominal consideration, subject to subsection (c). The exact location and boundaries of the property to be conveyed shall be determined by the commissioner based upon a survey. The property shall be conveyed by deed without warranties or representations by the commonwealth.
(c) If the agency sells or leases a portion of the property conveyed to it pursuant to this section, the net proceeds from that sale or lease as determined by the agency and agreed to by the commissioner shall be paid to the commonwealth. In the event that the net proceeds, as so determined, is a negative amount, the commonwealth shall not be required to make any payments to the agency.
(d) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the agency shall be reimbursed for reasonable costs and expenses related to the transactions authorized in this section, including the costs of any environmental review, hazardous waste remediation, surveys, feasibility plans, legal and consultant fees, recording fees and deed preparation related to the conveyances and for all costs, liabilities and expenses of any nature and kind related to the agency’s ownership of the property and paid by the agency to a third party not affiliated with the agency; provided, however, that such reimbursement shall be paid from the proceeds of any sale or lease of the property or any portion thereof and the commonwealth shall not be required to make payments to the agency.
(e) (1) If the agency does not complete its purchase of the property by not later than December 31, 2017, then 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 may sell, lease for terms of up to 99 years, including all renewals and extensions, or otherwise grant, convey or transfer to purchasers or lessees an interest in the property, or portions thereof, subject to this section and on such terms and conditions that the commissioner considers appropriate. For the purposes of this paragraph, the purchase by the agency shall be considered complete upon the transfer of title to the property to the agency. Any disposition of the property, or a portion thereof, by the commissioner shall be accomplished using appropriate competitive bidding processes and procedures. Not less than 30 days before the date on which bids, proposals or other offers to purchase or lease the property, or any portion thereof, are due, the commissioner shall place a notice in the central register published by the state secretary pursuant to section 20A of chapter 9 of the General Laws stating the availability of the property, the nature of the competitive bidding process and other information that the commissioner considers relevant, including the time, place and manner for the submission of bids and proposals and the opening of the bids or proposals.
(2) Except for a transfer of the property, or a portion thereof, to the agency pursuant to subsection (b), the grantee or lessee of all or a portion of the property pursuant to this subsection shall be responsible for costs and expenses including, but not limited to, costs associated with deed preparation and recording fees related to the conveyances and transfers authorized in this section as such costs may be determined by the commissioner.
(3) An agreement for the sale, lease, transfer or other disposition of the property, or a portion thereof, pursuant to this subsection and a deed executed by or on behalf of the commonwealth shall not be valid unless the agreement or deed contains the following certification, signed by the commissioner:
“I, the undersigned commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, hereby certify under the penalties of perjury that I have fully complied with the relevant provisions of general and special laws in connection with the property described in this document.”
(f) In any disposition pursuant to subsection (b) or (e), the commissioner may retain, accept or acquire by purchase, transfer, lease, eminent domain pursuant to chapter 79 of the General Laws or otherwise and may grant by deed, transfer, lease or otherwise any rights-of-way or easements in, over or beneath the property, or a portion thereof, as the commissioner deems necessary and appropriate with respect to other real property of the commonwealth.
SECTION 39. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any unexpended balances, not exceeding a total of $20,000,000, in items 4000-0600, 4000-0700 and 4000-1425 of section 2 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015 shall not revert to the General Fund until October 31, 2016 and may be expended by the executive office of health and human services to pay for services enumerated in said items 4000-0600, 4000-0700 and 4000-1425 provided during fiscal year 2016.
SECTION 40. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office of health and human services shall submit an application to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a waiver of 42 U.S.C. 1396b(w)(3)(B) and 42 U.S.C. 1396b(w)(3)(C) relative to the nursing home assessment established in section 63 of chapter 118E of the General Laws.
(b) The waiver application shall seek approval to amend the groups of nursing facilities subject to the assessment and the amount of assessment liability imposed on certain nursing facilities. A nursing facility shall be classified as 1 of the following 4 groups: (i) group I, nursing facilities that do not meet the criteria for group II, III or IV; (ii) group II, non-profit continuing care retirement communities and non-profit residential care facilities; (iii) group III, non-profit facilities with total Medicaid days in excess of a threshold level of days established in regulations promulgated by the executive office of health and human services; and (iv) group IV, non-pediatric facilities that do not meet the criteria for group II or III, have a number of licensed beds lower than a threshold level of licensed beds established in regulations promulgated by the executive office of health and human services, are located in a county specified in regulations promulgated by the executive office of health and human services, and have a Medicaid utilization rate in excess of or lower than a threshold Medicaid utilization rate established in regulations promulgated by the executive office of health and human services. All facilities in group I shall pay an assessment at the rate established in regulations promulgated by the secretary of health and human services in conformity with the total annual assessment revenue amount established by an appropriation act and section 63 of chapter 118E of the General Laws. Nursing facilities in group II or group III shall pay an assessment at a rate equal to 10 per cent of the assessment rate imposed on nursing facilities in group I. Nursing facilities in group IV shall be exempt from liability for the assessment established in said section 63 of said chapter 118E and as modified pursuant to this section. The waiver application shall be structured in a manner that shall qualify it for automatic approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pursuant to 42 C.F.R. 433.68. If the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services declines to approve such application, the executive office of health and human services shall modify the application in such a way that results in approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.
SECTION 41. Bridge No. B-16-053 on Brookline avenue, between Lansdowne street and Newbury street, spanning interstate highway route 90 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and CSX railroad tracks in the Fenway section of the city of Boston shall be designated and known as the David Ortiz “Big Papi” bridge, in honor of David Ortiz and in recognition of his athletic accomplishments during 14 seasons as a member of the Boston Red Sox and his personal contributions to the commonwealth, notably, his charitable contributions to children in New England and the Dominican Republic who do not have access to needed critical pediatric services and in helping the city of Boston heal in the face of the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain a suitable marker on the bridge bearing the designation in compliance with the standards of the department.
SECTION 42. The salary adjustments and other economic benefits authorized by the following collective bargaining agreements shall be effective for the purposes of section 7 of chapter 150E of the General Laws:
(1) between the board of higher education and the Massachusetts Community College Council; and
(2) between the commonwealth and the New England Police Benevolent Association, Unit 4A.
Approved (in part), October 6, 2016