AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2019 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 make supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 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 2019, 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, 2019. 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, 2020, except as otherwise stated.
SECTION 2.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Department of Family and Medical Leave
7003-0300.......................................................... $3,500,000
SECTION 3. Paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 2 of chapter 175M of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “condition”, in line 11, the following words:- that makes the covered individual unable to perform the functions of the covered individual’s position. This provision shall be construed consistent with the equivalent provision of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, codified at 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D). A covered individual who is a former employee shall be considered unable to perform the functions of the covered individual’s position if the covered individual is unable to perform the functions of the covered individual’s most recent position or other suitable employment as that term is defined under subsection (c) of section 25 of chapter 151A.
SECTION 4. Subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subsection (c) of said section 2 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “chapter”, in line 44, the following words:- beyond the amount of leave actually taken.
SECTION 5. Paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 5 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department”, in line 14, the following words:- , which shall include a statement by the health care provider that the covered individual is unable to perform the functions of the covered individual’s position, a statement of the medical necessity, if any, for intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule and, if applicable, the expected duration of the intermittent leave or reduced leave schedule.
SECTION 6. Paragraph (3) of said subsection (a) of said section 5 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “member”, in line 21, the following words:- , and, if applicable, include a statement of the medical necessity, if any, for intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule and the expected duration of the intermittent leave or reduced leave schedule.
SECTION 7. Clause (iii) of paragraph (7) of said subsection (a) of said section 5 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department”, in line 55, the following words:- , which shall include a statement of the medical necessity, if any, for intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule and, if applicable, the expected duration of the intermittent leave or reduced leave schedule.
SECTION 8. Subsection (g) of section 8 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- An employer or covered business entity that fails or refuses to make contributions as required in section 6 shall be assessed an amount equal to its total annual payroll for each year, or the fraction thereof for which it failed to comply, multiplied by the then-current annual contribution rate required under subsection (a) of said section 6, in addition to the total amounts of benefits paid to covered individuals for whom it failed to make contributions.
SECTION 9. Clause (iii) of section 30 of chapter 121 of the acts of 2018, as amended by section 49 of chapter 273 of the acts of 2018, is hereby further amended by striking out the word “July” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- October.
Approved, June13, 2019.