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 purposes, which are forthwith 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, 2019, except as otherwise stated.
SECTION 2.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
Reserves
1599-4448......................................................... $39,000,000
Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
1102-3205............................................................ $438,419
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
1595-1069.. ...................................................... $16,453,180
Department of Public Health
4510-0810.......................................................... $1,000,000
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Department of Labor Standards
7003-0200............................................................ $230,000
executive office of housing and economic development
Department of Housing and Community Development
7004-0101......................................................... $10,046,611
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Department of Early Education and Care
3000-7040............................................................ $680,000
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Sex Offender Registry
8000-0125............................................................ $494,662
Department of Correction
8900-0001......................................................... $28,076,230
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, 2019. These sums shall be made available until June 30, 2019, except as otherwise stated.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Department of Public Utilities
2100-0020.. For the costs associated with an independent statewide examination of the safety of gas distribution infrastructure; provided, that notwithstanding the second sentence of the first paragraph of section 18 of chapter 25 of the General Laws, the assessments levied for fiscal year 2019 under said first paragraph shall be made at a rate sufficient to produce the amount expended from this item; provided further, that upon completion of the examination, the department of public utilities shall provide a report to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy detailing the results of the examination, any recommendations for remediating safety issues with the commonwealth’s gas distribution infrastructure including, but not limited to, the fiscal impacts of recommended safety improvements and recommended legislative action, if any; and, provided further, that any unexpended funds in this item shall not revert but shall be made available for the purpose of this item until June 30, 2020....................................................... $1,482,694
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Department of Housing and Community Development
7004-1000.. For the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 42 U.S.C. section 8621 et seq. to assist eligible low-income elders, working families and other households with assistance paying a portion of winter heating bills; provided, that the department shall establish the maximum assistance for which a household shall be eligible; and provided further, that any unexpended funds in this item shall not revert but shall be made available for the purpose of this item until June 30, 2020......................................... $30,000,000
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF Public Safety and Security
State Police Crime Laboratory
8100-1014.. For costs associated with the collection and testing of sexual assault evidence kits required to be collected and tested by section 214 of chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, including testimony regarding such collection and testing; provided, that any unexpended funds in this item shall not revert but shall be made available for the purpose of this item until June 30, 2020............... $8,000,000
SECTION 2B. To provide for supplementing certain intragovernmental chargeback authorizations in the general appropriation act and other appropriation acts for fiscal year 2019, 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 sum set forth in this section is 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, 2019. This sum shall be in addition to any amounts previously authorized and made available for the purposes of this item.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND SECURITY
1790-0200.. Technology Shared Services Chargeback................. $15,000,000
SECTION 3. Section 35AA of chapter 10 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 9, the words “subsection (c)” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- subsection (b).
SECTION 4. Said chapter 10 is hereby further amended by striking out section 35RR, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 35RR. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Health Information Technology Trust Fund. There shall be credited to the fund revenues from federal reimbursements under Title XIX or Title XXI of the Social Security Act and applicable waivers thereof, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of Pub. L. No. 111-5 and any other federal reimbursements, grants, premiums, gifts or other contributions from any source received for or in support of the commonwealth’s Health Insurance Exchange/Integrated Eligibility System, the health care provider incentive payment program and for the promotion of electronic health record adoption and health information exchange in the commonwealth. The secretary of health and human services shall be the fund's trustee and shall expend the fund, without further appropriation, for costs associated with the development, maintenance and administration of the Health Insurance Exchange/Integrated Eligibility System, incentive payments to eligible MassHealth health care providers for the adoption, implementation, upgrade or meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology and to support the planning, implementation and operating costs of administering these payments. The secretary may certify for payment amounts in anticipation of federal revenues collected for the corresponding quarter during the previous fiscal year. To accommodate timing discrepancies between the receipt of revenues and related expenditures, the secretary may incur expenses, after written approval from the secretary of administration and finance, 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.
Annually and not later than March 1, the secretary shall file a report with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means that provides an accounting of the money received by the fund, broken down by source, and the expenditures made from the fund, broken down by payer and amount paid.
SECTION 5. Section 2ZZZZ of chapter 29 of the General Laws, inserted by section 2 of chapter 217 of the acts of 2018, is hereby repealed.
SECTION 6. Section 2ZZZZ of said chapter 29, inserted by section 3 of chapter 218 of the acts of 2018, is hereby repealed.
SECTION 7. Said chapter 29 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 2CCCCC, inserted by section 1 of chapter 296 of the acts of 2018, the following 3 sections:-
Section 2DDDDD. There shall be a Technical Rescue Services Fund. The fund shall be administered by the technical rescue coordinating council established under section 6 of chapter 22D. The fund shall consist of: (i) compensation received under a contract including, but not limited to, a contract with a company that designates a member fire department as a stand-by rescue team in order to meet the requirements established by the federal United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration under 29 C.F.R. 1910; (ii) funds collected pursuant to a cost recovery mechanism established in subsection (d) of said section 6 of said chapter 22D; (iii) federal, state or private gifts, grants, donations or appropriations; (iv) funds from any other public or private sources; and (v) interest earned on such funds.
Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and shall be expended for: (i) the maintenance and operation of technical rescue regions established under said section 6 of said chapter 22D; (ii) the provision of technical rescue services; (iii) the acquisition and maintenance of technical rescue equipment; and (iv) the provision of initial and in-service training to regional technical rescue personnel including, but not limited to, payment of backfill and overtime for personnel participating in such training. Amounts credited to the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year. An expenditure shall not be made from the fund if the expenditure would cause the fund to become deficient at the end of any fiscal year.
Annually, not later than June 30, the technical rescue coordinating council, established pursuant to said section 6 of said chapter 22D, shall report to the secretary of public safety and security, the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security and the house and senate committees on ways and means. The report shall include, but not be limited to, an accounting of all funds received and distributed as authorized by this section.
Section 2EEEEE. (a) There shall be a Massachusetts Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Program Fund. The fund shall be administered by the department of agricultural resources. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be credited to the fund any revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund and any gifts, grants, private contributions or investment income earned on the fund’s assets and all other sources. Money deposited in the fund that is unexpended at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year and shall not be subject to section 5C.
(b) The department of agricultural resources, in consultation with the department of veteran services, shall establish, develop and implement the Massachusetts Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Program to enhance the education, training, employment, income, productivity and retention of veterans currently working or aspiring to work in the field of agriculture in the commonwealth. Amounts credited to the fund shall be used, without further appropriation, for the costs associated with administering and implementing the program and may also be used to provide grants or loans on a competitive basis to public, private and charitable entities to finance projects in furtherance of the purpose of the program. Expenditures from the fund for such purpose shall complement and not replace existing local, state, private or federal funding for related training and educational programs.
(c) Annually, not later than March 1, the department shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on environment, natural resources and agriculture and the house and senate committees on ways and means that provides an accounting of the money received in the fund, broken down by source, and the expenditures made from the fund, broken down by payer and amount paid.
Section 2FFFFF. (a) There shall be a Home Care Technology Trust Fund. The secretary of elder affairs shall administer the fund and may expend from the fund.
(b) There shall be credited to the fund: (i) available funds from home care cost sliding scale fees collected by the aging service access points network; (ii) funds appropriated or transferred for deposit into the fund; (iii) revenues credited to the fund including, but not limited to, aging service access points network funds, other federal reimbursements, grants, premiums, gifts or other contributions from any source; (iv) income derived from the investment of amounts credited to the fund; and (v) an amount equal to the revenues received from federal financial participation earned on qualifying expenditures sourced from the fund. Amounts credited to the fund shall be used to provide technological support for the creation of efficiencies in administration and processing within the aging service access points network.
The department may incur expenses, and the comptroller may certify for payment, amounts in anticipation of expected receipts; provided, however that no expenditure shall be made from said fund which shall cause said fund to be in deficit at the close of a fiscal year. Any remaining balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund, but shall remain in the fund and be available for expenditure during the subsequent fiscal years. Expenditures from the fund may be made for services provided in prior fiscal years. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation.
(c) Annually and not later than March 1, the secretary shall file an annual report with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on healthcare financing, the joint committee on elder affairs and the house and senate committees on ways and means that shall include: (i) an accounting of the funds received, broken down by source; (ii) a description of the amount of federal financial participation earned on any qualifying expenditures; and (iii) a description of the expenditures made out of the fund, including a description of the efficiencies in administration and processing within the by aging service access points network supported through the fund.
SECTION 8. The fourth sentence of the second paragraph of section 19 of chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in section 2 of chapter 337 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “protection” the following words:- as submitted to the department of environmental protection by a majority vote of the chief executive officers of the municipality.
SECTION 9. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph of said section 19 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “the”, the fourth time it appears the following word:- management.
SECTION 10. The second sentence of said fourth paragraph of said section 19 of said chapter 29C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “The” the following word:- management.
SECTION 11. Section 20 of said chapter 29C, added by section 2 of chapter 337 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by adding the following 3 paragraphs:-
Annually, not later than June 1, the commissioner shall produce a written report to the management board with the total amount of revenue collected under section 3C of chapter 64G in the preceding fiscal year from occupancies in each municipality that is a member of the fund.
The management board shall maintain complete itemized records of all receipts, expenditures and disbursements from the fund in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and shall produce an annual written report that shall include, but not be limited to: (i) an account of revenue generated under section 3C of chapter 64G; (ii) itemized expenses of the board; (iii) summaries of the projects funded through the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund; (iv) an account of administrative expenses of the Cape Cod commission and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission; and (v) 5-year projections relative to expected revenue and upcoming projects.
The records maintained by the management board shall be audited annually by an independent certified public accountant. Annually, not later than January 15, a copy of the annual audit report and the annual written report shall be provided to the chairs of the joint committee on environment, natural resources and agriculture and to each representative and senator who represents at least 1 municipality in the county of Barnstable, the county of Dukes County or the county of Nantucket.
SECTION 12. Section 2 of chapter 40R of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “10”, in lines 33 and 102, the following words:- or other funds from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court.
SECTION 13. Section 9 of said chapter 40R, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “fund”, in lines 4 and 22, the following words:- or other funds from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court.
SECTION 14. Section 14 of said chapter 40R, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 9, the words “returned to the trust fund” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- credited to the funding source from which the payment originated.
SECTION 15. Subclause (i) of clause (31) of subsection (b) of section 21 of chapter 62C of the General Laws, inserted by section 3 of chapter 368 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “pursuant to” the following words:- this chapter or.
SECTION 16. The second paragraph of section 42A of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following 2 sentences:- The board may enter into agreements with the United States Food and Drug Administration pursuant to 21 C.F.R. 20.88 to obtain records and information. Records and information obtained by the board pursuant to such agreements shall not be public records and shall be exempt from disclosure under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 or section 10 of chapter 66.
SECTION 17. Section 1 of chapter 175M of the General Laws, as appearing in section 29 of chapter 121 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Covered individual” and inserting in place thereof the following 2 definitions:-
“Covered contract worker”, a self-employed individual for whom an employer or covered business entity is: (i) required to report payment for services on IRS Form 1099-MISC; and (ii) required to remit contributions to the Family and Employment Security Trust Fund pursuant to section 6.
“Covered individual”, either: (i) an employee who meets the financial eligibility requirements of subsection (a) of section 24 of chapter 151A; provided, however, that all such employment shall have been with an employer in the commonwealth; (ii) a self-employed individual: (A) who has elected coverage under subsection (j) of section 2; and (B) whose reported earnings to the department of revenue from self-employment meet the financial eligibility requirements of said subsection (a) of said section 24 of said chapter 151A as if the individual were an employee; (iii) a covered contract worker: (A) for whom at least 1 employer or covered business entity is required to remit contributions to the Family and Employment Security Trust Fund pursuant to section 6; and (B) whose payments from such employer or covered business entity satisfy the financial eligibility requirements of said subsection (a) of said section 24 of said chapter 151A as if the covered contract worker were an employee; or (iv) a former employee who has: (A) met the financial eligibility requirements of said subsection (a) of said section 24 of said chapter 151A at the time of the former employee's separation from employment; provided, however, that all such employment shall have been with an employer in the commonwealth; and (B) been separated from employment for not more than 26 weeks at the start of the former employee's family or medical leave.
SECTION 18. Subsection (g) of section 2 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words “clause (iii)” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- clause (iv).
SECTION 19. Subsection (b) of section 3 of said chapter 175M, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (1) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
(1) The weekly benefit amount for a covered individual on family or medical leave shall be determined as follows: (i) the portion of the covered individual's average weekly wage that is equal to or less than 50 per cent of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 80 per cent; and (ii) the portion of the covered individual's average weekly wage that is more than 50 per cent of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 50 per cent. For purposes of the calculation specified in this paragraph, a covered individual’s average weekly wage shall include only those wages or payments subject to the contribution requirements of section 6.
SECTION 20. Subsection (a) of section 6 of said chapter 175M is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- For each employee or covered contract worker, an employer or a covered business entity shall remit to the Family and Employment Security Trust Fund established in section 7 contributions in the form and manner as determined by the department.
SECTION 21. Said section 6 of said chapter 175M, as amended by section 43 of chapter 273 of the acts of 2018, is hereby further amended by striking out subsections (d) and (e) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 subsections:-
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), an employer employing less than 25 employees in the commonwealth shall not be required to pay the employer portion of premiums for family and medical leave; provided, however, that such employer shall remit, for each employee, 100 per cent of the family leave contribution and 40 per cent of the medical leave contribution as otherwise required under subsection (a). An employer or other business or trade that is a covered business entity shall count covered contract workers as employees for the purposes of this subsection.
(e)(1) For medical leave, a covered business entity shall not deduct more than 40 per cent of the contribution required under subsection (a) to the trust fund for the income paid to each covered contract worker.
(2) For family leave, a covered business entity shall not deduct more than 100 per cent of the contribution required under subsection (a) to the trust fund for the income paid to each covered contract worker.
SECTION 22. Subsection (f) of said section 6 of said chapter 175M, as appearing in section 29 of chapter 121 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “wages” the following words:- , earnings of a self-employed individual or payments for services to covered contract workers.
SECTION 23. Subsection (g) of section 8 of said chapter 175M, as appearing in section 6 of chapter 368 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- The department may issue refunds if the contributions required in section 6 have resulted in duplicative charges.
SECTION 24. Subsection (e) of section 49 of chapter 9 of the acts of 2011 is hereby amended by striking out the words “January 1, 2019”, inserted by section 23 of chapter 113 of the acts of 2018, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- January 1, 2021.
SECTION 25. Subsection (f) of said section 49 of said chapter 9 is hereby amended by striking out the words “June 30, 2019”, inserted by section 24 of said chapter 113, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- June 30, 2021.
SECTION 26. Item 7004-8016 of section 2B of chapter 219 of the acts of 2016 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Laws”, the following words:- ; provided, however, that a density bonus payment or production bonus payment, as defined in section 2 of chapter 40R of the General Laws, or a zoning incentive payment made pursuant to section 9 of chapter 40R, may be paid directly to a municipality from this line item.
SECTION 27. Item 7004-0108 of section 2 of chapter 154 of the acts of 2018 is hereby amended by inserting after the words “permanent sustainable housing” the following words:- ; provided further, that the undersecretary of housing and community development may transfer surplus funds appropriated in this item to item 7004-0101 to address deficiencies in said item 7004-0101; provided further, that not more than $5,000,000 shall be transferred from this item in fiscal year 2019.
SECTION 28. Item 8324-0000 of said section 2 of said chapter 154 is hereby amended by striking out the words “expended for bulk” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- allocated for a grant program to provide financial assistance for the.
SECTION 29. Item 7002-1120 of section 2A of chapter 228 of the acts of 2018 is hereby amended by striking the words “OpenCape Corporation to expand fiber optic cable in the village of Hyannis in the town of Barnstable” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- the town of Barnstable to expand access to broadband internet in the village of Hyannis.
SECTION 30. Chapter 273 of the acts of 2018 is hereby amended by inserting after section 64 the following section:-
Section 64A. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the following provisions shall apply to the determination of taxable income under chapter 62 of the General Laws.
(a) Amounts included in federal gross income for a taxable year under section 951(a) of the Code by reason of section 965 of the Code shall be taken into account for purposes of chapter 62 of the General Laws. All such amounts of gross income required to be taken into account for federal income tax purposes in taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2019 shall be taken into account in the determination of Massachusetts gross income in the taxable year ending on December 31, 2019. Solely for purposes of the determination and reporting of income derived from such amounts, the status of a taxpayer as a resident or nonresident shall be determined by the taxpayer’s status as a resident or nonresident in the taxable year in which such income was required to be taken into account for federal income tax purposes. In the case of reporting of such income by nonresidents, as so determined, the sourcing of such income to the commonwealth shall be consistent with the apportionment or other sourcing method used by the taxpayer in the year that the income was taken into account for federal income tax purposes under such rules as may be determined by the commissioner.
(b) Income taken into account pursuant to subsection (a) shall be treated as Part A dividend income.
(c) The deduction under section 965(c) of the Code shall not apply for Massachusetts purposes. A taxpayer shall be entitled in the taxable year ending on December 31, 2019 to a deduction from Part A gross income equal to 60 per cent of the amount included in Part A income pursuant to subsections (a) and (b). The principles set forth in section 965(f)(2) of the Code shall apply in a manner consistent with this section and section 6F of chapter 62 of the General Laws.
(d) Notwithstanding chapter 62C of the General Laws, in the case of a taxpayer with tax liability under chapter 62 of the General Laws attributable to income taken into account under subsections (a) and (b) who has made a valid election pursuant to section 965(h) or 965(i) of the Code, such tax liability shall be due in 8 installments. Such tax liability shall be due generally consistent with the rules set forth in said section 965(h), subject to subsection (f) and any guidance issued by the commissioner.
(e) Except as described in subsections (d) and (f), any tax liability under chapter 62 of the General Laws attributable to income taken into account under subsections (a) and (b) shall be due without regard to any election made pursuant to section 965(i) of the Code. The deferral described in said section 965(i) does not apply for purposes of said chapter 62.
(f) Payment of the tax liability under chapter 62 of the General Laws attributable to income taken into account under subsections (a) and (b), or the first 3 installments of such tax liability in the case of a taxpayer who has made a valid election pursuant to section 965(h) or 965(i) of the Code, shall be due on or before April 18, 2020. Each succeeding installment shall be paid not later than April 18 of the taxable year following the year with respect to which the preceding installment was made. Interest shall not accrue with respect to any liability under this section prior to the due date for such liability.
(g) This section shall apply to all taxable years in which income is required to be taken into account under section 951(a) of the Code by reason of section 965(a) of the Code including, but not limited to, the taxable year beginning on January 1, 2017.
(h) For purposes of this section, “Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code, as amended and in effect for the taxable year.
(i) The commissioner of revenue may issue regulations or other guidance with regard to the interpretation and administration of this section. Such regulations or guidance may require the reporting of income amounts to taxpayers or the department of revenue to ensure compliance with this section.
SECTION 31. Clause (42) of section 67 of said chapter 273 is hereby amended by striking out the word “B33” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- B3L.
SECTION 32. Section 6 of chapter 337 of the acts of 2018 is hereby amended by striking out, in section 1 of chapter 64G of the General Laws, the definition of “Rent” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
“Rent”, the total consideration paid by or on behalf of an occupant, including any service, cleaning or other charge, to an operator or an intermediary collecting and remitting the excise on behalf of an operator under section 13 in exchange for occupancy, valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits and property or services of any kind or nature; provided, however, that “rent” shall not include: (i) bona fide refundable security deposits; (ii) any amount paid by an occupant that is included in the taxable gross receipts of the operator under chapter 64H or 64I where the operator is a vendor for purposes of those chapters; or (iii) amounts paid by an occupant to an operator for services offered by the operator on similar terms to non-occupants in the regular course of the operator’s business.
SECTION 33. Said section 6 of said chapter 337 is hereby further amended by striking out section 3D of chapter 64G of the General Laws and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 3D. (a) A city or town that accepts section 3A may, by a separate vote and in the same manner of acceptance as set forth in said section 3A, impose a community impact fee of not more than 3 per cent of the total amount of rent upon each transfer of occupancy of a professionally managed unit that is located within that city or town.
(b) A city or town that votes to impose a community impact fee under subsection (a) may, by a separate additional vote and in the same manner of acceptance as set forth in section 3A, also impose the community impact fee upon each transfer of occupancy of a short-term rental unit that is located within a two-family or three-family dwelling that includes the operator’s primary residence.
(c) An operator shall pay the community impact fees imposed under this section to the commissioner at the same time and in the same manner as the excise due to the commonwealth under section 3. All sums received by the commissioner under this section as excise, penalties or forfeitures, interest, costs of suit and fines shall, not less than quarterly, be distributed, credited and paid by the state treasurer upon certification of the commissioner to the city or town. A city or town shall dedicate not less than 35 per cent of the community impact fees collected under this section to affordable housing or local infrastructure projects.
SECTION 34. Section 8 of said chapter 337 is hereby amended by striking out, in clause (iii) of subsection (a) of section 13 of said chapter 64G, the word “municipality” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- commissioner.
SECTION 35. Said section 8 of said chapter 337 is hereby amended by striking out, in clause (v) of said subsection (a) of said section 13 of said chapter 64G, the words “to permitting such operator to list or offer an accommodation for rent through the use of the intermediary” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- to the intermediary collecting any rent from an occupant or facilitating the collection or payment of rent on behalf of an operator.
SECTION 36. Section 11 of said chapter 337 is hereby amended by striking out the words “after it has joined the fund, as the municipality may designate” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- following 30 days after the municipality has joined the fund or on the first day of a later calendar quarter, as the municipality may designate by a majority vote of the chief executive officers of the municipality.
SECTION 37. Said chapter 337 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 15 the following section:-
Section 15A. Sections 6 to 8, inclusive, shall take effect for transfers of occupancies in bed and breakfast establishments, hotels, lodging houses and motels beginning on or after July 1, 2019.
SECTION 38. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, this section shall facilitate the orderly transfer of the employees, proceeds, rules and regulations, property, legal obligations and functions of state government from the transferor agency to the transferee agency, defined as follows: the division of capital asset management and maintenance, as transferor agency, to the department of public health, as transferee agency.
(b) Notwithstanding chapter 334 of the acts of 1996, section 22 of chapter 119 of the acts of 2014 or any other general or special law to the contrary, control and custody of the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus located in the Jamaica Plain section of the city of Boston shall be transferred from the transferor agency to the transferee agency. The transferor and transferee agencies shall enter into an agreement to effect the transfer and the transfer shall not occur later than December 31, 2019. Upon the transfer, the transferee agency may assign the use of space within the property to state agencies and may make expenditures and perform maintenance for the property that it considers reasonable and appropriate.
(c) Upon the transfer required in subsection (b), employees of the transferor agency engaged in the maintenance and security of the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus shall be transferred to the transferee agency. The personnel administrator in the human resources division, in consultation with the transferee agency, shall complete a study of job titles of the former transferor agency employees at the laboratory. The personnel administrator, in consultation with the transferee agency, shall determine the appropriate commonwealth job titles for former employees of the transferor agency who are transferred to the transferee agency under this section. Employees transferred to the transferee agency pursuant to this section shall be placed in job titles as determined by the personnel administrator and shall be paid wages and receive benefits consistent with the collective bargaining agreement governing those job titles.
(d) Subject to appropriation, the transferred employees of the transferor agency, including those who immediately before the effective date of this act held permanent appointment in positions classified under chapter 31 of the General Laws or have tenure in their positions as provided by section 9A of chapter 30 of the General Laws or did not hold such tenure, or held confidential positions, shall be transferred to the transferee agency without interruption of service within the meaning of said section 9A of said chapter 30, without: (i) impairment of seniority, retirement or other rights of the employee; (ii) reduction in compensation or salary grade, notwithstanding any change in title pursuant to subsection (c) or duties resulting from such reorganization; (iii) loss of accrued rights to holidays, sick leave, vacation and benefits; and (iv) change in union representation or certified collective bargaining unit as certified by the state labor relations commission or in local union representation or affiliation. A collective bargaining agreement in effect immediately before the transfer date shall continue in effect and the terms and conditions of employment in the agreement shall continue as if the employees had not been so transferred. The reorganization shall not impair the civil service status of any such reassigned employee who immediately before the effective date of this act held a permanent appointment in a position classified under said chapter 31 or had tenure in a position by reason of said section 9A of said chapter 30.
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the transferred employees of the transferor agency shall continue to retain their right to bargain collectively pursuant to chapter 150E of the General Laws and shall be employees for the purposes of said chapter 150E. Nothing in this section shall: (i) confer upon any employee any right not held immediately before the date of the transfer; (ii) prohibit any reduction of salary grade, transfer, reassignment, suspension, discharge or layoff not prohibited before such date; or (iii) prohibit the abolition of any management position within the transferor agency after the transfer to the transferee agency.
(f) All petitions, requests, investigations, filings and other proceedings concerning the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus or such employees appropriately and duly brought before the transferor agency or pending before it before the effective date of this act shall continue unabated, remain in force and be assumed and completed by the transferee agency.
(g) All orders, advisories, findings, rules and regulations duly made and all approvals concerning the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus duly granted by the transferor agency that are in force immediately before the effective date of this act shall continue in force and shall thereafter be enforced until superseded, revised, rescinded or canceled, in accordance with law, by the transferee agency.
(h) All books, papers, records, documents, equipment, buildings, facilities, cash and other property, both personal and real, including all such property held in trust, concerning the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus that are in the custody of the transferor agency immediately before the effective date of this act shall be transferred to the transferee agency.
(i) All duly existing contracts, leases and obligations of the transferor agency concerning the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory Campus shall continue in effect but shall be assumed by the transferee agency. No such existing right or remedy of any character shall be lost, impaired or affected by this section.
SECTION 39. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for fiscal year 2019, 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, 4000-0601, 4000-0641, 4000-0700, 4000-0875, 4000-0880, 4000-0885, 4000-0940, 4000-0950, 4000-0990, 4000-1400, 4000-1420 and 4000-1425.
SECTION 40. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any unexpended balances, not exceeding a total of $20,000,000, in items 4000-0700 and 4000-1425 of section 2 of chapter 154 of the acts of 2018 shall not revert to the General Fund until September 1, 2019 and may be expended by the executive office of health and human services to pay for services enumerated in said items 4000-0700 and 4000-1425 provided during fiscal year 2019.
SECTION 41. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, if the committee for public counsel services determines that there exists a limited availability of qualified private counsel appointed or assigned to care and protection cases in any county, the committee may, by a majority vote, declare an emergency in that county.
(b) Upon the declaration of an emergency pursuant to subsection (a), the committee may authorize a temporary increase in the rate of compensation for private counsel appointed or assigned to care and protection cases in that county who, prior to the declaration of an emergency, have billed not less than 350 hours in the current fiscal year as private counsel appointed or assigned to care and protection cases or who have billed not less than 700 hours in the previous fiscal year as private counsel appointed or assigned to care and protection cases. The committee shall designate a certain minimum number of cases to be taken by each private appointed counsel who is designated eligible to receive the emergency temporary rate of compensation. The temporary increase in the rate of compensation shall be for new case assignments made on or after the date of the declaration of an emergency pursuant to subsection (a). The temporary increase in the rate of compensation shall apply for the duration of those new case assignments. The temporary increase in the rate of compensation for private counsel appointed or assigned to care and protection cases approved by the committee shall not exceed $75 per hour. If the committee determines that the increase in the rate of compensation has not resulted in a sufficient increase in the number of care and protection assignments being taken by private counsel, the committee may modify the eligibility criteria. The chief counsel shall notify the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means upon any such modification.
(c) Upon the declaration of an emergency pursuant to subsection (a), the chief counsel of the committee may waive the annual cap on billable hours for private counsel appointed or assigned to represent clients in care and protection cases in the specified county; provided, however, that any counsel appointed or assigned to such cases shall not be paid for any time billed in excess of 2,000 billable hours.
(d) The committee may limit the availability of the rate of compensation authorized under subsection (b) based on the committee’s monitoring and evaluation of the performance of counsel under section 10 of chapter 211D of the General Laws or to attorneys whose offices are located in particular counties.
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: (i) between the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and DOT Unit A - National Association of Government Employees, Clerical and Administrative Workers; (ii) between the University of Massachusetts and the Maintenance and Trades Unit/MTA/NEA, Lowell Campus, Unit L93; (iii) between the sheriff of Hampden county and the National Correctional Employees Union Mental Health Staff Unit, Local 131, Unit SH1; (iv) between the University of Massachusetts and the New England Police Benevolent Protection Organization, Amherst Campus, Unit A07; (v) between the University of Massachusetts and Classified and Technical Union, Lowell Campus, Unit L92; (vi) between the sheriff of Bristol county and the National Association of Government Employees, Maintenance Workers, Unit C; and (vii) between the sheriff of Worcester county and the New England Police Benevolent Association, Local 550, Unit SW6.
SECTION 43. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the special commission established in section 103 of chapter 154 of the acts of 2018 is hereby revived and continued to June 30, 2019. The special commission shall file the results of its study and its recommendations, including drafts of legislation necessary to carry those recommendations into effect, with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on consumer protection and professional licensure and the house and senate committees on ways and means not later June 30, 2019.
SECTION 44. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the special commission established in section 136 of chapter 47 of the acts of 2017, inserted by section 26 of chapter 113 of the acts of 2018, is hereby revived and continued to December 31, 2019. All appointments to the commission shall be made not later than June 30, 2019. The commission shall report its findings, including any recommendations for legislation, to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate not later than December 31, 2019.
SECTION 45. Section 41 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 46. Sections 32 to 35, inclusive, and section 37 shall take effect on March 27, 2019.
SECTION 47. Section 45 shall take effect on July 1, 2020.
Approved, March 29, 2019.