Skip to Content
March 18, 2024 Clear | 37°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2017 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 purpose, which is to forthwith to make supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2017 and to make certain changes in law, each of which is immediately necessary to carry out those appropriations or to accomplish other important public purposes, 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 2017, 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, 2017. 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, 2018.

SECTION 2. 

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS

Hampden District Attorney 

0340-0500............................................................ $150,215

 

Northwestern District Attorney

 

0340-0600............................................................ $142,798 

Bristol District Attorney 

0340-0998............................................................. $19,393 

Cape and Islands District Attorney 

0340-1000............................................................ $257,578 

SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH 

0521-0000............................................................ $341,393

 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

Office of the Secretary for Administration and Finance

 

1599-8910......................................................... $20,408,910 

Human Resources Division 

1750-0100............................................................ $250,000 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS

Department of Fish and Game 

2330-0300.......................................................... $1,000,000 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary 

4000-0005.......................................................... $3,000,000

 

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Department of Transportation

1595-6368......................................................... $49,828,056

Commonwealth Transportation Fund........ 100%

 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY

Military Division

 8700-1150.......................................................... $8,700,000

 

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, 2017. 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, 2018.

1599-3224.. For a reserve for costs associated with taxes owed to the City of Boston for the property at 100 Cambridge Street............... $1,429,179

SECTION 2B. To provide for supplementing certain intragovernmental chargeback authorizations in the general appropriation act and other appropriation acts for fiscal year 2017, to provide for certain unanticipated intragovernmental chargeback authorizations, to provide for an alteration of purpose for current intragovernmental chargeback authorizations, and to meet certain requirements of law, the sums set forth in this section are hereby authorized from the Intragovernmental Service Fund for the several purposes specified in this section or in the appropriation acts, and subject to the provisions of law regulating the disbursement of public funds for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. These sums shall be in addition to any amounts previously authorized and made available for the purposes of those items. These sums shall be made available until June 30, 2018. 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary 

4000-0102............................................................ $353,02 

SECTION 2C.I. For the purpose of making available in fiscal year 2018 balances of appropriations which otherwise would revert on June 30, 2017, 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 133 of the acts of 2016. However, for items which 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 of this act or in prior appropriation acts. Amounts in this section are re-appropriated from the fund or funds designated for the corresponding item in section 2 of said chapter 133; provided, however, that for items which do not appear in section 2 of said chapter 133, the amounts in this section are re-appropriated from the fund or funds designated for the corresponding item in section 2 through 2E 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 re-appropriated for the purposes of and subject to the conditions stated for the corresponding item in said section 2 of said chapter 133. The sums re-appropriated in this section shall be in addition to any amounts available for said purposes. 

TREASURER AND RECEIVER GENERAL

Office of the Treasurer and Receiver General

 0610-0010............................................................ $350,000 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

Reserves 

1599-0044............................................................. $80,000

1599-0054.......................................................... $1,162,177

1599-0840............................................................ $300,000

1599-4445............................................................ $300,000 

Health Policy Commission 

1599-1450............................................................ $233,997

1599-2004............................................................. $83,326 

MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

1790-0300.......................................................... $2,653,323 

CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS 

4100-0060.......................................................... $1,772,625 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Department of Mental Health 

5046-0000............................................................ $900,000

 

Department of Children and Families 

4800-0091............................................................ $160,000

 

Department of Veteran Services 

1410-0018............................................................ $139,396

 

Chelsea Soldiers Home

 4180-1100............................................................ $128,995

 

Holyoke Soldiers Home

4190-0300............................................................. $30,000

4190-1100............................................................ $587,579

 

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Northern Essex Community College 

7510-0200.......................................................... $1,000,000

SECTION 3. Section 172 of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:

(o) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any other general or special law to the contrary, all gaming service employees shall be required to register with the investigations and enforcement bureau established in section 6 of chapter 23K but the Massachusetts gaming commission may, in its discretion, exempt certain gaming service employees by job position from the registration requirement. The commission and the bureau may require a gaming service employee to produce any information deemed necessary.

SECTION 4. Section 5 of chapter 18 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 71 and 72, the words “and shall have a caseload of not more than 60 recipients”.

SECTION 5. Section 2QQQ of chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 and 5, as so appearing, the words “supplemental and incentive”.

SECTION 6. Subsection (b) of section 2RRRR of said chapter 29, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the third sentence the following sentence:- For the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of retained revenues and related expenditures, the department may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment amounts not to exceed the lower of this authorization or the most recent revenue estimate as reported in the state accounting system.

SECTION 7. Subsection (b) of section 2XXXX of said chapter 29, as appearing in section 22 of chapter 47 of the acts of 2017, is hereby amended by inserting after the third sentence the following sentence:- For the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of retained revenues and related expenditures, the department may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment amounts not to exceed the lower of this authorization or the most recent revenue estimate as reported in the state accounting system.

SECTION 8. Said chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by inserting after section 2XXXX the following section:-

Section 2YYYY. In order to implement MassHealth’s substance use disorder section 1115 waiver demonstration project and to enhance and expand substance use disorder services, there shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Substance Use Disorder Federal Reinvestment Trust Fund, in this section called the fund. There shall be credited to the fund revenues equal to the amount of federal financial participation received by the Commonwealth’s General Fund for expenditures for residential recovery services, transitional support services, family recovery services, recovery support navigator services, recovery coach services and other new or expanded substance use disorder treatment services and any other federal reimbursements, grants, premiums, gifts, interest or other contributions from any source received that are specifically designated to be credited to the fund. The secretary of health and human services shall be the trustee of the fund. 

The secretary may expend, without further appropriation, not more than $21 million each year from the fund to expand the residential treatment system to treat individuals with a substance use disorder or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder; not more than $14 million each year from the fund to expand access to medication assisted treatment; not more than $8 million each year from the fund to expand access to recovery treatment support services; and not more than $4 million each year from the fund to implement a standardized American Society of Addiction Medicine assessment and care planning tool across substance use treatment providers. For the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of revenues and related expenditures, the fund may incur expenses, and the comptroller shall certify for payment, amounts not to exceed the most recent revenue estimate as certified by the MassHealth director, as reported in the state accounting system. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and monies remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year. 

The secretary shall report annually, on or before August 1, to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery on the revenue and expenditure activity within the trust fund.

SECTION 9. Section 2YYYY of chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

SECTION 10. Section 5H of said chapter 29, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- Not later than October 31, the state treasurer shall certify the amount of actual receipts and distributions to claimants of abandoned property for the previous fiscal year and, beginning in fiscal year 2013, the comptroller shall transfer 75 per cent of the growth in abandoned property net revenue to the Commonwealth Stabilization Fund established in section 2H; provided, however, that such transfer shall be made prior to the certification of the consolidated net surplus for the previous fiscal year as provided in section 5C. For the purposes of this section, “abandoned property net revenue” shall mean the difference between abandoned property receipts and distributions to claimants that exceeds the amount of net revenue collected during the previous fiscal year.

SECTION 11. Section 184C of chapter 94 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 133, the words “size and brand” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- brand, and may only vary in random weight.

SECTION 12. Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:- 

Section 78. (a) The division shall create an employer healthcare coverage form. Every employer with 6 or more employees, doing business in the commonwealth, shall annually complete and submit the form under oath. The form shall indicate whether the employer has offered to pay or arrange for the purchase of health care insurance and information about such health care insurance such as the premium cost, benefits offered, cost sharing details, eligibility criteria and other information deemed necessary by the division; provided, that the information collected through the form shall not be used to deny or terminate MassHealth eligibility for non-disabled persons who would otherwise qualify for a program of medical benefits pursuant to this chapter who have access to employer sponsored health insurance. 

The division may make arrangements with other agencies of the commonwealth, including the department of unemployment assistance and the department of revenue, to assist with the administration of this section. Employers shall provide supplemental information that is necessary to implement said section 189A of said chapter 149 to the division or its designee, upon request. An employer receiving information that identifies, or could be used to identify, a MassHealth member or recipient of subsidized health insurance shall not use or disclose such information except as authorized by the division. 

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, information reported under subsection (a) that identifies individual employees by name or health insurance status or is protected health information shall not be a public record under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 or chapter 66. Reported information may be exchanged among the executive office of health and human services, the commonwealth health insurance connector authority, the department of unemployment assistance, the center for health information and analysis and the department of revenue as necessary to implement section 189A of chapter 149. An employer who knowingly falsifies or fails to file any information required by this section, or its implementing regulation, shall be subject to a penalty of not less than $1,000 or more than $5,000 for each violation.

SECTION 13. Subsection (a) of said section 78 of said chapter 118E, as appearing in section 12, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Employers shall provide supplemental information that is deemed necessary by the division or its designee upon request by the division. 

SECTION 14. Subsection (b) of said section 78 of said chapter 118E, as appearing in section 12, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.

SECTION 15. Section 23 of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 93, the word “or” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- , including the parents of siblings who have custody of the siblings, or.

SECTION 16. Subsection (a) of section 29B of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last 2 sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 4 sentences:- No child under the age of 16 shall have a permanency plan for another permanent planned living arrangement. The department shall file a permanency plan prior to a permanency hearing that shall address the above placement alternatives. The court shall consult with the child in an age-appropriate manner about the permanency plan developed for the child, including for children and young adults whose permanency plan is another permanency planned living arrangement, asking the child or young adult their desired permanency plan. At each hearing where the court determines that a permanency plan for a child is another permanency planned living arrangement, the court shall specify why this plan is in the child’s best interest and the compelling reasons why it is not in the child’s best interest to: (i) return home; (ii) be placed for adoption; (iii) be placed with a legal guardian; or (iv) be placed in a permanency planned living arrangement with other relatives.

SECTION 17. Subsection (c) of said section 29B of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- In the case of a child who has attained age 14 or any young adult, the permanency plan shall also address the services needed to assist the child or young adult in making the transition from foster care to a successful adulthood; provided, however, that the court shall consult with the child or young adult in an age-appropriate manner about the permanency plan. If the permanency plan for the child is another permanency planned living arrangement, the permanency plan shall address the efforts the department has made to place the child or young adult with a parent or relative or in a guardianship or adoption placement.

SECTION 18. Section 121 of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Assault weapon” the following definition:-

“Bump stock”, any device for a weapon that increases the rate of fire achievable with such weapon by using energy from the recoil of the weapon to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger.

SECTION 19. Said section 121 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Shotgun” the following definition:-

“Trigger crank”, any device to be attached to a weapon that repeatedly activates the trigger of the weapon through the use of a lever or other part that is turned in a circular motion; provided, however, that “trigger crank” shall not include any weapon initially designed and manufactured to fire through the use of a crank or lever.

SECTION 20. Said section 121 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “gun”, in line 100, the following words:- ; provided, however, that “machine gun” shall include bump stocks and trigger cranks.

SECTION 21. Paragraph (o) of section 131 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- Clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph shall not apply to bump stocks and trigger cranks.

SECTION 22. Section 10 of chapter 183A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended, in line 73, by inserting, after the word “kept”, the following words:- which shall be made available to unit owners through electronic mail upon request.

SECTION 23. Chapter 224 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by inserting after section 254 the following section:-

Section 254A. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: 

“Behavior management monitoring”, monitoring of a child’s behavior, the implementation of a behavior plan and reinforcing implementation of a behavior plan by the child’s parent or other caregiver. 

“Behavior management therapy”, therapy that addresses challenging behaviors that interfere with a child’s successful functioning; provided, however, that “behavior management therapy” shall include assessment, development of a behavior plan and supervision and coordination of interventions to address specific behavioral objectives or performance, including the development of a crisis-response strategy; and provided further, that “behavior management therapy” may include short-term counseling and assistance.

“Child” a person under the age of 21.

“Family support and training”, a service provided to a parent or other caregiver of a child to improve the capacity of the parent or caregiver to ameliorate or resolve the child’s emotional or behavioral needs and to parent; provided, however, that such service shall be provided where the child resides, including in the child’s home, a foster home, a therapeutic foster home or another community setting.

“In-home behavioral services”, a combination of behavior management therapy and behavior management monitoring; provided, however, that such services shall be provided where the child resides, including in the child’s home, a foster home, a therapeutic foster home or another community setting. 

“In-home therapy”, therapeutic clinical intervention or ongoing training and therapeutic support; provided however, that the intervention or support shall be provided where the child resides, including in the child’s home, a foster home, a therapeutic foster home or another community setting.

“Mobile crisis intervention”, a short-term, mobile, on-site, face-to-face therapeutic response service that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to a child experiencing a behavioral health crisis to identify, assess, treat and stabilize a situation and reduce the immediate risk of danger to the child or others; provided, however, that the intervention shall be consistent with the child’s risk management or safety plan, if any. 

“Ongoing therapeutic training and support”, services that support implementation of a treatment plan pursuant to therapeutic clinical intervention that shall include, but not be limited to, teaching the child to understand, direct, interpret, manage and control feelings and emotional responses to situations and assisting the family in supporting the child and addressing the child’s emotional and mental health needs.

“Therapeutic clinical intervention”, intervention that shall include: (i) a structured and consistent therapeutic relationship between a licensed clinician and a child and the child’s family to treat the child’s mental health needs, including improvement of the family’s ability to provide effective support for the child and promotion of healthy functioning of the child within the family; (ii) the development of a treatment plan; and (iii) using established psychotherapeutic techniques, working with the family or a subset of the family to enhance problem solving, limit setting, communication, emotional support or other family or individual functions.

“Therapeutic mentoring services”, services provided to a child designed to support age-appropriate social functioning or to ameliorate deficits in the child’s age-appropriate social functioning; provided, however, that such services may include supporting, coaching and training the child in age-appropriate behaviors, interpersonal communication, problem solving, conflict resolution and relating appropriately to other children and adolescents and to adults in recreational and social activities; and provided further, that such services shall be provided where the child resides, including in the child’s home, a foster home, a therapeutic foster home or another community setting.

(b) The annual report submitted by carriers and contractor pursuant to section 254 shall include a certification whether their coverage includes the following mental health home-based and community-based services for a child: (i) intensive care coordination for a child with a serious emotional disturbance; (ii) mobile crisis intervention; (iii) family support and training; (iv) in-home therapy; (v) therapeutic mentoring services; and (vi) in-home behavioral services. The certification shall substantiate that networks for the provided services are active and adequate to ensure access.

(c) The commissioner of insurance may promulgate regulations or guidelines to implement this section.

SECTION 24. Item 1233-2350 of section 2 of chapter 133 of the acts of 2016 is hereby amended by striking out the words “State Lottery and Gaming Fund in accordance with clause (c) of the second paragraph of section 35 of chapter 10 of the General Laws ” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Gaming Local Aid Fund.

SECTION 25. Item 9110-1630 of said section 2 of said chapter 133, as amended by section 29 of chapter 283 of the acts of 2016, is hereby further amended by inserting after the words “case management services and the administration of the home care program” the following words:- ; provided, further, that the secretary of elder affairs may transfer funds appropriated in this item to item 9110-1500 for the provision of enhanced home care services.

SECTION 26. Said item 9110-1630 of said section 2 of said chapter 133, as amended by section 29 of chapter 283 of the acts of 2016, is hereby further amended by striking out the words

General Fund...........................95%

Community First Trust Fund.........5%", , and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 

General Fund.............................86.32%

Community First Trust Fund......13.68%.

SECTION 27. The second paragraph of section 136 of chapter 219 of the acts of 2016 is hereby amended by striking out the word “March” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- December. 

SECTION 28. Item 0940-0101 of said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$2,468,211”, each time it appears and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $3,100,000.

SECTION 29. Item 1410-0012 of said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by adding after the words “Grace Veterans Program”, the following words:- ; provided further, that not less than $25,000 shall be expended for the Disabled American Veterans, in the city of Lawrence for the purpose of creating a shuttle service for disabled veterans..

SECTION 30. Said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by inserting after item 1410-0018 the following item:-

1410-0022.. For the operation of a comprehensive program to enhance employment opportunities and outcomes among veterans by assisting businesses to attract, hire, train and retain veterans under section 2C of chapter 115 of the General Laws...................................... $100,000 

SECTION 31. Said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by striking out the item number 1599-1690 and inserting in place thereof the following item number:- 1599-1691.

SECTION 32. Said item 1599-1690 of said section 2 of said chapter 47, as amended by section 31, is hereby further amended by inserting after the words “said transfer”, the following words:- ; provided further, that not more than $13,511,090 from this item shall be expended for payroll costs incurred in fiscal year 2017 by the 14 sheriffs’ offices; and.

SECTION 33. Said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by inserting after item 1599-1977 the following 2 items:-

1599-2003.. For the purpose of funding the Uniform Law Commission; provided, that prior fiscal year payments may be payable from this item.. $50,000

1599-3222.. For a reserve to fund the administrative costs associated with the implementation of an employer contribution, including, but not limited to, costs of commonwealth personnel, contracts, and the purchase of new information technologies as necessary; provided further, that the secretary may transfer from the sum appropriated herein to other items of appropriation and allocations as are necessary to meet said costs where the amounts otherwise available are insufficient for the purpose, in accordance with a transfer plan, which shall be filed in advance with the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided further, that the executive office of administration and finance shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before January 10, 2018, and quarterly thereafter, on the implementation of the contribution established in section 189A of chapter 149 of the General Laws, including but not limited to: (i) a detailed summary of expenditures associated with the implementation of the contribution; (ii) the number of employers subject to the contribution; (iii) the number of employees who receives health insurance coverage through the division of medical assistance; (iv) the number of appeals filed with the division of unemployment assistance, including the status of said appeals; and (v) an estimate of total collections from the contribution for fiscal year 2018; and provided further, that the secretary may only transfer such amounts to other items of appropriation and allocations within the executive office for administration and finance, the executive office of health and human services, the executive office of labor and workforce development, the department of revenue, and the department of unemployment assistance.................. $2,925,694.

SECTION 34. Item 2330-0100 of said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by inserting after the penultimate proviso the following proviso:- ; provided further, that not less than $450,000 shall be expended for a program of collaborative research by the division of marine fisheries through the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute, in collaboration with the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, that applies innovative technology to assess the biomass of fish in the region managed by the New England Fishery Management Council.

SECTION 35. Said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by inserting after item 4000-0051 the following item:- 

4000-0250.. For the executive office of health and human services which may expend for the costs of the operations and maintenance of the health insurance exchange not more than $15,000,000 from monies received from the commonwealth health insurance connector authority; provided, that for the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of retained revenues and related expenditures, the office may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment amounts not to exceed the lower of this authorization or the most recent revenue estimate as reported in the state accounting system; and provided further, that any unspent balance at the close of fiscal year 2018 shall remain in the account and may be expended for this item in fiscal year 2019.................................................. $15,000,000.

SECTION 36. Item 4513-1000 of said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by inserting after the penultimate proviso the following proviso:- ; provided further, that not less than $100,000 shall be expended for the program’s critical congenital heart defects screening activities.

SECTION 37. Said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by striking out item 7002-1075.

SECTION 38. Item 8324-0000 of said section 2 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "option" the following words: - ; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, 100 per cent of the amount appropriated in this item for the administration of the department of fire services, the state fire marshal's office, the Massachusetts firefighting academy, critical incident stress management programs, the On-Site Academy, other fire training academies, the regional dispatch centers, the radio and dispatch center improvements and the associated fringe benefits costs of personnel paid from this item for these purposes shall be assessed upon insurance companies writing fire, homeowners’ multiple peril or commercial multiple peril policies on property situated in the commonwealth and paid within 30 days after receiving notice of the assessment from the commissioner of insurance.

SECTION 39. Item 2000-1701 of section 2B of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$1,535,671”, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $3,150,000.

SECTION 40. Item 4000-0102 of said section 2B of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$8,878,161”, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $11,914,066

SECTION 41. Section 2E of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by striking out item 1595-1068 and inserting in place thereof the following item:-

1595-1068.. For an operating transfer to the MassHealth provider payment account in the Medical Assistance Trust Fund established in section 2QQQ of chapter 29 of the General Laws; provided, that these funds shall be expended for services provided during state or federal fiscal year 2016, 2017 or 2018 or for public hospital transformation and incentive initiative payments for state fiscal year 2017 or 2018 or for Medicaid care organization payments under 42 CFR 438.6(c) for rate year 2018; provided further, that all payments from the Medical Assistance Trust Fund shall be: (i) subject to the availability of federal financial participation; (ii) made only under federally-approved payment methods; (iii) consistent with federal funding requirements and all federal payment limits as determined by the secretary of health and human services; and (iv) subject to the terms and conditions of an agreement with the executive office of health and human services; provided further, that the secretary of health and human services shall notify, in writing, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on health care financing of increases or decreases in any payments made within the term of the current section 1115 waiver or other state plan amendments within 15 days; and provided further, that the secretary of health and human services shall utilize funds from the Medical Assistance Trust Fund to make payments of up to $492,955,903 to the Cambridge public health commission or to Medicaid care organizations for payment to the Cambridge public health commission if the Cambridge public health commission, in anticipation of receiving such payments, first voluntarily transfers an amount equal to the nonfederal share of such payments to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund using a federally-permissible source of funds.......................... $747,100,000.

SECTION 42. Said section 2E of said chapter 47 is hereby further amended by inserting after item 1595-1069 the following item under the following caption:-

 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Department of Career Services

 

1595-1075.. For an operating transfer to the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund established in section 2WWW of chapter 29 of the General Laws $1,000,000

SECTION 43. Section 133 of said chapter 47 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The registry of motor vehicles, in cooperation with the department of conservation and recreation, shall offer for purchase an annual MassParks pass and a senior MassParks pass to cover fees for parking for 1 calendar year at state-owned facilities where parking fees are charged to applicants for the issuance or renewal of a motor vehicle registration or license to operate a motor vehicle. 

SECTION 44. Notwithstanding section 10 of chapter 70B of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, in determining the grant percentage for the fiscal year 2018 approved school projects, the Massachusetts School Building Authority shall calculate the community poverty factor by examining the proportion of economically disadvantaged students from calendar year 2015 to the present and assigning whichever year’s factor is the highest as determined by the department of elementary and secondary education. 

SECTION 45. Section 44 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 46. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, unexpended balances from item 7004-9024 of section 2 of chapter 133 of the acts of 2016 shall revert to the General Fund at the end of fiscal year 2017.

SECTION 47. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, before the close of fiscal year 2017 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 2017 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 2017 Community First Trust Fund expenditures.

SECTION 48. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office for administration and finance may transfer up to $15,000,000 from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund established in section 2OOO of chapter 29 of the General Laws to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund established in section 66 of chapter 118E of the General Laws. 

SECTION 49. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, payments from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund established in section 66 of chapter 118E of the General Laws may be made either as safety net care payments under the commonwealth’s waiver pursuant to section 1115 of the federal Social Security Act or as an adjustment to Title XIX service rate payments or a combination of both. Other federally-permissible funding mechanisms available for public service hospitals as defined by the regulations of the executive office of health and human services may be used to reimburse up to $70,000,000 of uncompensated care pursuant to said sections 66 and section 69 of said chapter 118E using sources distinct from the funding made available to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund. 

SECTION 50. 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 133 of the acts of 2016 shall not revert to the General Fund until September 1, 2017 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 2017.

SECTION 51. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of health and human services, with the written approval of the secretary of administration and finance, may authorize transfers of surplus among items 4000-0320, 4000-0430, 4000-0500, 4000-0600, 4000-0640, 4000-0700, 4000-0875, 4000-0880, 4000-0885, 4000-0940, 4000-0950, 4000-0990, 4000-1400, 4000-1420 and 4000-1425 for the purpose of reducing any deficiency in these items but any such transfer shall be made not later than September 30, 2017.

SECTION 52. The executive office of public safety and security shall notify individuals licensed under sections 122, 129B, and 131 of chapter 140 of the General Laws of the changes to laws made in sections 18 to 21, inclusive, of this act and the effective date of those changes. The executive office shall also notify manufacturers of bump stocks and trigger cranks, as defined in sections 18 and 19 of this act, of the changes made under said sections 18 to 21, inclusive, and the effective date of those changes.

SECTION 53. Sections 18 to 21, inclusive, shall take effect 90 days after the effective date of this act; provided, however, that no person shall purchase, sell or offer for sale a bump stock or trigger crank, as defined in sections 18 and 19 of this act, after the effective date of this act.

SECTION 54. The division of local mandates established pursuant to section 6B of chapter 11 of the General Laws within the office of the state auditor shall collect and certify an accurate accounting of the mandated costs incurred by municipalities as part of the implementation of early voting for the 2016 biennial state election. The certification shall be filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate on or before January 10, 2018.

SECTION 55. Not later than December 31, 2019, the Massachusetts gaming commission shall file a report with the house and senate committees on ways and means on any gaming service employee job positions that were exempted from the requirements of subsection (o) of section 172 of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as amended by section 3.

SECTION 56. Section 45 shall take effect on June 30, 2018.

SECTION 57. Sections 13 and 14 shall take effect December 31, 2019.

SECTION 58. Section 9 shall take effect on June 30, 2023.

Approved, November 3, 2017