AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2016 TO PROVIDE FOR SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN EXISTING APPROPRIATIONS AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purposes, which are forthwith to make supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2016 and to make certain changes in law, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
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 sections 2 to 2C, inclusive, 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.
SECTION 2.
JUDICIARY
Committee for Public Counsel Services
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Suffolk District Attorney
SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Office of the Secretary
OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER
Office of the Treasurer
OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER
Office of the State Comptroller
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Department of Fish and Game
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Department of Transitional Assistance
4400-1100Department of Public Health
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Department of Housing and Community Development
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
STATE UNIVERSITIES
University of Massachusetts
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Sex Offender Registry Board
Department of Correction
SECTION 2A. To provide for certain unanticipated obligations of the commonwealth, to provide for an alteration of purpose for current appropriations, and to meet certain requirements of law, the sums set forth in this section are hereby appropriated from the General Fund unless specifically designated otherwise in this section, for the several purposes and subject to the conditions specified in this section, 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 these items. These sums shall be made available until June 30, 2016.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Plymouth District Attorney
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
Office of the Secretary for Administration and Finance
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 re-appropriated 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 that do not appear in section 2 of the general appropriation act, the amounts in this section are re-appropriated for the purposes of and subject to the conditions stated for the corresponding item in section 2 or 2A in prior appropriation acts. The sums re-appropriated in this section shall be in addition to any amounts available for said purposes.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services
SECTION 3. Section 11 of chapter 61A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 10 and 11, the words “, prior to January first of each year,”.
SECTION 4. Said section 11 of said chapter 61A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 17, the words “February first” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- April 1.
SECTION 5. Section 87CC of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence.
SECTION 6. Chapter 120 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 16, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 16. Every person committed to the department until the age of 18 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person’s eighteenth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 19 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person’s nineteenth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 20 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person’s twentieth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 21 as a youthful offender, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person’s twenty-first birthday. The department may continue to have responsibility for any person provided for in this chapter under 22 years of age for the purposes of specific educational or rehabilitative programs, under conditions agreed upon by both the department and such persons and terminable by either. Such services must be offered prior to the person’s discharge date as provided herein; however, a person may request and the department shall consider any such request for the services described, for up to 90 days after the person’s effective date of discharge, even where the person has previously declined services or services were terminated for non-compliance, and may reach an agreement with the person, terminable by either, to provide the services described herein until such person attains the age of 22.
SECTION 7. Subsection (c) of section 46 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (3) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 clauses:-
(3) to the heads of the departments of career services, transitional assistance, revenue, veterans’ services, office of Medicaid and industrial accidents, information necessary in the performance of their official duties;
(3½) to the heads of governmental agencies who are partners in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, information necessary for the purpose of complying with performance reporting requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Public Law 113-128;.
SECTION 8. Item 4000-0321 of section 2 of chapter 46 of the acts of 2015 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “accounting system” the following words:- ; provided further, that after providing payments due in accordance with the terms of the contingency contracts, the office may use available funds to support special MassHealth projects that will receive enhanced federal revenue opportunities, including MassHealth eligibility operations and systems enhancements that support reforms and improvements to the MassHealth programs; provided further, that any enhanced federal financial participation received for these special projects, including the Implementation Advanced Planning Document or other eligibility operations and systems enhancement that support reforms and improvements to the MassHealth program shall be deposited into this account.
SECTION 9. Item 4000-0700 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “neonatal intensive care unit cases” the following words:- ; provided further, that MassHealth shall expend not less than $11,000,000 for payments in addition to its standard payment amount per discharge, or SPAD, above rate year 2013, or of reimbursement provided under any subsequent inpatient payment methodologies, and to provide additional payments above its standard outpatient payment amount per episode, or PAPE, above rate year 2013, or of reimbursement provided under any subsequent outpatient payment methodologies to any acute care hospital that has greater than 63 per cent of its gross patient service revenue from governmental payers and free care as determined by the executive office of health and human services.
SECTION 10. Item 4590-0918 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out, each time it appears, the figure “$14,000,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $18,000,000.
SECTION 11. Said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out item 5046-0005 and inserting in place thereof the following item:
SECTION 12. Item 7004-0101 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the words, “administrative costs” the following words:- except the department may expend not more than $360,000 for the direct costs associated with the coordination and placement of homeless families in hotels and motels used as overflow shelter capacity and oversight of hotel and motel compliance with state requirements.
SECTION 13. Item 7035-0002 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out the words “the Lawrence/Methuen Community Coalition” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Family Services of the Merrimack Valley.
SECTION 14. Item 8900-0011 of said section 2 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “system” the following words:- ; provided further, that the commissioner of correction may allocate year-end net profits to the cost of drug, substance abuse and rehabilitative programming.
SECTION 15. Item 8900-0021 of section 2B of said chapter 46 is hereby amended, by inserting after the words “inmates” the following words:- ; provided, that the commissioner of correction may allocate year-end net profits to the cost of drug, substance abuse and rehabilitative programming.
SECTION 16. Item 1595-6368 of section 2E of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$365,025,340” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $337,468,038.
SECTION 17. Subsection (a) of section 151 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out the fifth and sixth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sentences:- The tax amnesty program shall apply to returns due on or before December 31, 2015. In the case of taxpayers otherwise coming into compliance with tax obligations pursuant to the amnesty, unless the commissioner determines that the taxpayer has acted with fraudulent intent, the commissioner may apply limited look-back periods for unfiled returns, not to exceed 4 years. The scope of the tax amnesty program, including the particular tax types, periods covered, and the applicability of the look-back periods, shall be determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 18. Subsection (c) of said section 151 of said chapter 46 is hereby amended by striking out the words, “for any tax period beginning before January 1, 2014,” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- on or before December 31, 2015.
SECTION 19. Section 54 of chapter 119 of the acts of 2015 is hereby amended by striking out the word, “March” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- November.
SECTION 20. 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 sheriff of Essex county and the Essex County Correctional Officers Association;
(2) between the commonwealth and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local S-28 & S-29;
(3) between the commonwealth and the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union;
(4) between the sheriff of Worcester county and the New England Police Benevolent Association, Local 550;
(5) between the sheriff of Essex county and the National Correctional Employees Union, Local 123; and
(6) between the sheriff of Essex county and the Essex County Regional Emergency Communication Dispatchers.
Approved, April 1, 2016.