LEGISLATION

This bill exempts any citizen over the age of 65, whose annual income is at or below the federal poverty guideline, from the motor vehicle excise tax on one vehicle owned and registered for personal use.

Co-filed by: Rep. Simon Cataldo | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez 

This bill creates a municipal opt-in for cities and towns to impose a cap on property taxes for low-income seniors. Cities and towns may impose a property tax cap for homeowners aged 65+ as long as single filers income is $50,000 or less, or married filers income is $60,000 or less and assets (not including primary residence and 1 motor vehicle) are $75,000 or less.

Co-filed by: Rep. Simon Cataldo | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez

This bill establishes a pilot program for a universal senior property tax deferral program in the Commonwealth. The pilot program will include approximately 10,000 eligible households and around 2,000 participants; eligible households and participants will be representative of the broader demographics of the Commonwealth. Participating senior households will be able to defer their taxes by checking a box on their property tax bill, which will indicate that they would like to defer their property taxes in that given year. The city/town will forward a copy of the bill of the Department of Revenue, which will return an amount equal to the deferred taxes. Interest will accrue on the deferral will be set at the state’s borrowing costs plus a 50-basis point (0.5%) buffer to account for administrative costs.

Homeowners may defer property taxes until the sum of deferrals, interest, and mortgages reach 60% of the first million dollars of assessed home value. The Commonwealth will be repaid the principal plus interest within one year of the homeowner’s death or sale of the home. The total borrowing cost of the pilot program is estimated to be $81.5 million; however, the program is revenue neutral in the long term, as deferred taxes plus interest and administrative costs are eventually returned. It is projected that by year 10 of the program, the amount taken in will be approximately the same as the amount provided by the program.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez 

This bill exempts any veteran, whose annual income is at or below the federal poverty guideline, from the motor vehicle excise tax on one registered vehicle owned or leased for personal use.

Co-filed by: Rep. Simon Cataldo | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez

This bill makes it easier for veterans and military medics to become EMTs in the Commonwealth. The bill establishes that the department will develop criteria for determining if veteran and military medic education and training requirements are substantially equivalent to the education and training requirements for EMTs in the Commonweal. The bill mandates that EMT licensing and certification can be waived, for veterans and military medics, if the education and training requirements are substantially equivalent.

Co-filed by: Rep. Shirley B. Arriaga | Senate Sponsor: Sen. John C. Velis

This bill exempts any veteran, whose annual income is at or below the federal poverty guideline, from the motor vehicle excise tax on one registered vehicle owned or leased for personal use.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez

This bill allows municipalities to reserve parking spaces for non-handicapped veterans in off-street parking lots, large retail parking lots, and parking garages. Municipalities shall be permitted to reserve not more than two parking spaces in parking lots with more than one thousand parking spaces. Municipalities shall also be permitted to reserve not more than two additional spaces for every additional five hundred parking spaces in a parking lot.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Pavel M. Payano

This bill establishes a commission that will provide a better understanding of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and our Commonwealth’s ability to meet current and future school facility needs. MSBA resources and expertise are essential in supporting the construction of sustainable and cost-effective public school facilities. The commission will provide better insight into the existing condition of the Commonwealth’s school facilities, the resources we have available to meet any needs for renovation and rebuilding, and how MSBA funds are appropriated to support our communities. The commission will consist of a wide range of elected officials, appointed officials, and education experts; it will conduct a comprehensive study of the MSBA’s scope, grant formula, and reimbursement rate policies.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Barry R. Finegold

This bill ensures that no applicant is required to take any standardized college entrance exam for admittance to a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. This bill gives applicants the option to submit results from a college entrance exam if they chose to do so.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Adam Gomez

This bill will require charter schools to host bi-monthly meetings with five-member student advisory committees, as well as allow one student to serve as a non-voting member on the Board of Trustees. To ensure fair and adequate representation, students will elect five peers to the advisory committee. The advisory committee will, by majority vote, select one chairperson to serve as a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees for one year. The Board of Trustees will be permitted to designate a student outreach coordinator to foster the establishment of the advisory committee in their charter school. The student outreach coordinator will work with the selected chairperson of the advisory committee to keep the committee informed on the Board of Trustees' agenda. The student advisory committee will meet with the Board of Trustees every other month the school is in session.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Paul R. Feeney

This bill allows local communities to have a say on any new charter schools opening in their area, specifically requiring local approval before charter schools have access to public funding. Charter schools have a definitive impact on local school budgets without any form of elected accountability. Therefore, this process would ensure elected representation in discussions on any new charter schools in that community's area. Local approval would be provided by: an elected School Committee for each school district from which the charter school is expected to enroll students; voters at a town meeting of each of the towns from which the charter school is expected to enroll students; or, in the case of a city without an elected school committee, by a vote of the city council and the Mayor.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Michael O. Moore

The bill allows the Massachusetts School Building Authority to offer up to 6 incentive points for cities and towns that have either a 40R or 40S district, increasing cost reimbursement for said cities and towns.

This bill substantially invests in vocational education and re-commits the Commonwealth to trades-based, labor-market-focused, education. The bill establishes the office of vocational-technical education in DESE to oversee chapter 74 programs and specifically work to increase program capacity and opportunities across the Commonwealth. The bill also creates a $3 billion infrastructure fund for vocational-technical schools and programs and provides expansion grants to offset costs for voc-techs that experience substantial enrollment increases. The bill further directs fair share amendment funding to the MSBA to increase reimbursement rates for construction costs related to regional vo-techs, agricultural schools, and schools offering 5 or more chapter 74 programs.

Co-filed by: Rep. Frank A. Moran | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Paul R. Feeney

This bill expands eligibility for Chapter 70B school building assistance to special education collaboratives.

Co-filed by: Rep. Michael P. Kushmerek | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Jacob R. Oliveira

This bill uses the December 2020 Report on Improving Efficiencies relative to School Transportation and recommendations from the Office of the State Auditor report on Fulfilling the promise, to increase oversight and monitoring of school transportation and potential monopolies; and, to provide for 5-year grants to incentivize transportation collaboratives.

Co-filed by: Rep. Michael P. Kushmerek | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Jacob R. Oliveira

This bill establishes a Special Commission to study Chapter 71B and make recommendations toward the long-term fiscal health and sustainability of Special Education throughout the Commonwealth and make recommendations to consider all matters on the improvement of budgetary health and educational outcomes.

Co-filed by: Rep. Michael P. Kushmerek | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Jacob R. Oliveira

This legislation is intended to address uncertainty and create an environment in which businesses can confidently use independent contractors. If a business entity meets the following conditions, it should not be deemed to be an employee, under any state test, if the business entity: is registered with the Secretary of the Commonwealth and is in good standing; including the compensation it receives for the services it renders on federal and state income tax schedules as income from an independent business or profession; reports the compensation paid to its employees, if any, to the Internal Revenue Service and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; and, complies with federal and state tax, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and labor and employment law obligations concerning its employees.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Joan B. Lovely

This bill allows local licensing authorities to issue a special license, to farmer-wineries or farmer-distilleries/breweries, for the sale of wine or distilled products produced by or for the licensee in sealed containers for off-premise consumption at an indoor or outdoor agricultural event. The licensees will be permitted to provide free samples to prospective customers. No more than 5 samples can be served to a single prospective customer; wine samples are no more than 1 oz, malt beverage samples are no more than 2 oz, and distilled product samples are no more than ¼ oz.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. James B. Eldridge

This bill clarifies the existing exemption from pipefitter licensure, granted to a person “regularly employed” by an industrial plant, firm, corporation, college, gas company, and electric company for work exclusively performed on their premises or property. The exemption would now be extended to a person indirectly employed by one of the above organizations, through a contractor or subcontractor, who performs the same work exclusively on the organization’s premises or property. Licensure should not depend upon whether a person is directly or indirectly compensated by one of the above organizations for work exclusively performed on their premises and property. This would further provide all the above-referenced organizations with more efficient operations, and potential cost savings, in the future.

The bill prioritizes local businesses by enhancing information and resource accessibility, preventing consumer flight, and promoting public awareness. The bill modernizes the existing Buy Massachusetts Program into an interactive Supply Mass/Buy Mass program and charges the Massachusetts Office of Business Development with recommending policy to prevent consumer flight from the Commonwealth to tax-advantaged border states. The bill creates the MassMakers Portal to serve as a one-stop-shop interactive web portal for prospective and established businesses in the Commonwealth where state agencies will be tasked with simplifying and streamlining the regulatory processes and providing countless resources. Economic impact review of rules and regulations on small businesses will increase from every 12 years to contemporaneously with the economic development policy during the first year of each new gubernatorial administration, allowing for the reviews to inform the governor’s economic development policy.

The bill also makes massive steps forward in strategic planning and revitalization, next-generation employment, and advancing diversity equity, and inclusion in the Commonwealth. The bill establishes Mass Main Streets, to oversee the protection, coordination, promotion, and revitalization of downtowns and commercial districts, and establishes the H⇧RE MASS program to connect residents with trade skills to business and potential employers; the legislation also officially defines microbusinesses and establishes a micro business and minority business strategy commission to enhance the economic vitality of the Commonwealth’s microbusinesses and minority business. The bill empowers the Supplier Diversity Office, and it reinforces our commitment to promoting minority, women, and veterans’ businesses.

The bill modifies the membership of the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board, requiring the following: a management representative, a labor representative, and a neutral party. Currently, the only stipulation for membership is that no more than two members can be from the same political party. Party affiliation is not an adequate proxy for an individual’s leanings toward labor or management. CERB decisions are incredibly impactful and sometimes costly for municipalities, and in turn, their taxpayers, so having a structure like other arbitrative boards (like the Joint Labor Management Committee) is preferred.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Bruce E. Tarr

This bill makes significant investments in direct care workers and would help ensure continued access to quality nursing home care.  Specifically, this legislation would require the state to update Medicaid rates using resident care and labor costs no more than 2 years before the rate year; require a yearly inflation increase for staff wages and patient care expenses; better recognize resident care nursing costs, provide an upward adjustment for facilities that care for high Medicaid populations and ensure a fair capital rate for construction projects to convert rooms with three or more residents to one- and two-bedded rooms.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Julian Cyr

This bill improves access to behavioral health services by expanding the number of behavioral health settings that must be covered without prior authorization. This legislation also requires medical necessity to be determined by the patient’s treating clinician and noted in the patient’s medical record. The legislation also makes some technical fixes to address regulatory barriers related to Chapter 177’s elimination of prior authorization for inpatient psychiatric services. Finally, the legislation prohibits the denial of medically necessary behavioral health services due to a technical defect in the claim.

Co-filed by: Rep. Kate Donaghue | Senate Sponsor: Sen. John F. Keenan

This bill enables spouses to serve as caregivers for all MassHealth programs that permit family members to be paid to provide care.

Co-filed by: Rep. Normal J. Orrall | Senate Sponsor: Sen. Joanne M. Comerford

This bill reimburses cities and towns for costs associated with mandatory early voting including additional personnel hired to staff the mandated early voting polling location, hourly municipal staff working outside their normal business hours to staff the mandated early voting polling location, overtime for hourly municipal staff working beyond regular hours to set up or take down early voting polling locations, overtime for hourly municipal staff working beyond regular hours to input data into the secretary of state’s Voter Registration Information System, the cost of voting booths, and the cost of privacy screens.

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Julian Cyr

This bill removes the 15-year statute of limitations for prosecuting a rape case where DNA is matched to a rape kit. There are currently 28 states which have exceptions for statutes of limitations for DNA evidence, many of which are exceptions that eliminate the statute of limitation. For more information, please see RAINN’s State-by-State Guide on Statutes of Limitations (https://www.rainn.org/state-state-guide-statutes-limitations). These exceptions have been key efforts to protect survivors and promote justice throughout the United States; if Massachusetts wants to be a leader in social and criminal justice, then we must resolve policies, like that of this statute of limitation, which keeps perpetrators of sexual violence on the street.

Co-filed by: Rep. Hannah Kane