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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 955 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2070 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Steven S. Howitt |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act creating a commission to study the effects of unfunded mandates on municipalities. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven S. Howitt4th Bristol1/17/2023Norman J. Orrall12th Bristol1/18/2023Kelly W. Pease4th Hampden1/31/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 955 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2070 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2070) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Steven S. Howitt, Norman J. Orrall and Kelly W. Pease relative to establishing a special |
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| 20 | 20 | | commission to study the effects of unfunded mandates on municipalities. Municipalities and |
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| 21 | 21 | | Regional Government. |
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| 22 | 22 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 2177 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 24 | 24 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 28 | 28 | | _______________ |
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| 29 | 29 | | An Act creating a commission to study the effects of unfunded mandates on municipalities. |
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| 30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 1 Section 1. Chapter 39 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2hereby amended by inserting after Section 24 the following new section: - |
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| 34 | 34 | | 3 Section 25. There shall be a commission on unfunded mandates on municipalities, |
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| 35 | 35 | | 4hereinafter referred to as the commission. The commission shall consist of 7 members: three of |
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| 36 | 36 | | 5whom shall be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a municipal official, who shall |
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| 37 | 37 | | 6serve as co-chair; the director of the division of local mandates, hereinafter referred to as |
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| 38 | 38 | | 7director, who shall also serve as co-chair; one member nominated by the Massachusetts |
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| 39 | 39 | | 8Municipal Association; one member nominated by the Massachusetts Treasurer’s and Collector’s |
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| 40 | 40 | | 9Association; and one member nominated by the Massachusetts Town Clerk’s Association. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 10 Said members shall serve a term of two year from the date of appointment, unless sooner |
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| 42 | 42 | | 11removed by the governor upon the recommendation of the nominating organization after |
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| 43 | 43 | | 12consultation with said director. When a vacancy occurs, a new member representing the same |
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| 44 | 44 | | 13office shall be appointed to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 14 Members of the commission shall serve without compensation. The commission shall |
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| 46 | 46 | | 15compile a list of unfunded mandates and their costs to municipal government, and shall file this |
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| 47 | 47 | | 16list with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives together with proposals, if any, |
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| 48 | 48 | | 17to mitigate the effects of such mandates. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 18 The commission shall have the following responsibilities: |
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| 50 | 50 | | 19 1. to review and analyze all unfunded local mandates from state and federal authorities, |
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| 51 | 51 | | 20and to deliver an economic impact report of such effects on municipalities to the governor, and |
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| 52 | 52 | | 21to the minority and majority leadership of the House and Senate; |
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| 53 | 53 | | 22 2. to act as an independent advocate for the interests of local governments in their |
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| 54 | 54 | | 23relations with state and federal governments; |
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| 55 | 55 | | 24 3. to promulgate rules and regulations governing its procedures and those of the executive |
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| 56 | 56 | | 25committee; and |
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| 57 | 57 | | 26 4. to perform such other like services as the commission shall decide upon. |
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