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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 983 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 217 |
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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 | | Paul A. Schmid, III |
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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 relative to income calculation of certain benefits. |
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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:Paul A. Schmid, III8th Bristol1/17/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 983 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 217 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Schmid of Westport, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 217) of Paul |
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| 19 | 19 | | A. Schmid, III relative to income calculation for certain benefits paid for necessary work-related |
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| 20 | 20 | | travel expenses for certain persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Children, |
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| 21 | 21 | | Families and Persons with Disabilities. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to income calculation of certain benefits. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 123B Section 16 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding following 2 paragraphs: - |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 For the purposes of this section, the term “necessary work-related travel expenses” shall |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4mean any expenses incurred for the purposes of commuting to work. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5 The department shall deduct certain necessary work-related travel expenses for persons |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6with a developmental disability or an intellectual disability when calculating an individual’s |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7income for the purposes of determining charges pursuant to this section. Necessary work-related |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8travel expenses shall be deducted if: |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9 (i) an individual uses a vehicle to travel to work and that vehicle requires structural or |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10operational modifications that are directly related to the individual’s disability and critical to the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11individual’s operation or use of the vehicle. The department shall deduct the costs of the 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12modifications and a mileage allowance at a rate determined by the Federal Highway |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13Administration; |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14 (ii) an individual uses driver assistance, taxicabs, or other hired vehicles to travel to work. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15The department shall deduct amounts paid for the hired vehicle service; |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16 (iii) an individual uses public transportation to travel to work. The department shall |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17deduct amounts paid for public transportation services; or |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18 (iv) an individual is unable to use public transportation or a hired vehicle service to travel |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19to work due to their disability and uses an unmodified vehicle to travel to work. The department |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20shall request documentation from a physician or other source to verify that the need to drive is |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21caused by the individual’s disability. If the department receives verification, the department shall |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22deduct a mileage allowance at a rate determined by the Federal Highway Administration. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23 SECTION 2. Section 9A of chapter 118E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24amended by adding the following paragraph:- |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25 (17) For the purposes of determining financial eligibility for persons with a |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26developmental disability or an intellectual disability, as defined in section 1 of chapter 123B, the |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27division shall deduct certain necessary work-related travel expenses pursuant to section 16 of |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28chapter 123B from the applicant’s income, if applicable. |
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