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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2561 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2516
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Dylan A. Fernandes
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to disability pensions for violent crimes.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Dylan A. FernandesBarnstable, Dukes and Nantucket1/19/2023Angelo L. D'Emilia8th Plymouth2/6/2023 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2561 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2516
By Representative Fernandes of Falmouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2516) of
Dylan A. Fernandes and Angelo L. D'Emilia relative to disability pensions for violent crimes
committed against certain public employees. Public Service.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2642 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to disability pensions for violent crimes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “inclusive”, in line 603, the
3following definition:-
4 “Violent act injury”, a serious and permanent personal bodily injury sustained as a direct
5and proximate result of a violent attack upon a person by means of a dangerous weapon,
6including, but not limited to, a firearm, knife, automobile, explosive device or other dangerous
7weapon.
8 SECTION 2. Said chapter 32 is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (1) of
9section 7 and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- 2 of 5
10 Section 7. (1) Conditions of Allowance. Any member in service classified in Group 1,
11Group 2 or Group 4, or any member in service classified in Group 3 to whom the provisions of
12subdivision (2) of section twenty-six are not applicable, who is deemed to be physically unable
13to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of the member’s job and that such inability is
14likely or deemed permanent before attaining the maximum age for the member’s group by reason
15of a personal injury or violent act injury sustained or a hazard undergone as a result of, and while
16in the performance of the member’s duties at some definite place and at some definite time on or
17after the date of becoming a member or prior to such date while any provision of this chapter
18relating to noncontributory pensions was applicable to the member, without serious and willful
19misconduct on the member’s part, upon the member’s written application on a prescribed form
20filed with the board and the member’s respective employer or upon such an application by the
21head of the member’s department after a hearing, if requested, as provided for in subdivision (1)
22of section sixteen and subject to the conditions set forth in said section and in this section, shall
23be deemed retired for an accidental disability as of a date which shall be specified in such
24application and which shall be not less than fifteen days nor more than four months after the
25filing of such application but in no event later than the maximum age for the member’s group.
26Except as provided for in subdivision (3) of this section, no such retirement shall be allowed
27unless such injury or violent act injury was sustained or such hazard was undergone within two
28years prior to the filing of such application or, if occurring earlier, unless written notice thereof
29was filed with the board by such member or on the member's behalf within ninety days after its
30occurrence. No retirement under clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, shall be allowed unless the board,
31after a review of the evidence it deems appropriate, and after a review by the commission,
32pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-one, and including in any event on examination by 3 of 5
33the regional medical panel provided for in subdivision (3) of section six and including a
34certification of such incapacity by a majority of the physicians on such medical panel, shall find
35that such member is physically unable to perform the essential duties of the member's job and
36that such inability is likely to be permanent, and that the member should be so retired. No
37retirement under clause (iv) shall be allowed unless the board, after a review of the evidence it
38deems appropriate, and after a review by the commission, pursuant to the provisions of section
39twenty-one, and including in any event on examination by the regional medical panel provided
40for in subdivision (3) of section six and including a certification of such incapacity by a majority
41of the physicians on such medical panel, shall find that such member is physically unable to
42perform the essential duties of the member's job because of a violent act injury and that such
43inability is likely to be permanent, and that the member should be so retired. Any member who
44was injured while a member of a retirement system established in any governmental unit other
45than that by which the member is presently employed, and who has complied with the provisions
46of this section as to notice, or whose case falls under paragraph (3), shall file such application
47with the retirement board of the unit where he is presently employed. Such board shall secure a
48statement of facts and records, which it shall be the duty of the retirement board of the first
49governmental unit to furnish, and on which it shall be entitled to make recommendations.
50 Prior to the determination of a retirement under this section, a member shall submit to the
51retirement board a written statement authorizing release of information from the federal internal
52revenue service and the department of revenue relative to the annual gross earned income of the
53member in pursuant to an agreement between the federal internal revenue service, the department
54of revenue, and the public employee retirement administration commission in accordance with
55section ninety-one A. 4 of 5
56 SECTION 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of said section 7 of said chapter 32 is hereby
57amended by inserting after clause (iii) the following clause:-
58 (iv) A yearly amount of pension for any member classified as Group 4, paid monthly,
59equal to 100 per cent of their regular compensation, including all applicable benefits and
60stipends, that the member was earning on the date that such injury was deemed a violent act
61injury, as defined in section 1 of this chapter. The annual amount of pension payable to such
62member shall be equal to the regular rate of compensation which the member would have been
63paid had the member continued in service at the grade held by the member at the time of their
64retirement until their death or reaching mandatory retirement age, whichever comes first;
65provided that, if the member reaches the mandatory retirement age, the member shall be entitled
66thereafter to 80 per cent of the average annual rate of compensation paid to the member in the
67previous 12 months, including any cost of living increases, as defined in sections 102 and 103 of
68this chapter. Upon retirement, the member shall receive a lump sum payment from the applicable
69retirement board equal to the member’s total accumulated retirement deductions. In the event
70that the member shall predecease their spouse, the member’s spouse shall be entitled to 75 per
71cent of the member’s annual pension, paid monthly, as long as such spouse shall live; provided
72that, when the member would have reached the mandatory retirement age, the member’s spouse
73shall continue to be entitled to 75 per cent of the member’s annual pension, including any cost of
74living increases, as defined in sections 102 and 103 of this chapter, that the member would have
75received upon reaching the mandatory retirement age. In the event that the member and the
76member’s spouse predecease their children, the member’s surviving unmarried children, if any,
77who are under age 18 or, if over that age and under age 22, are full-time students at an accredited
78educational institution, or who are over age 18 and physically or mentally incapacitated from 5 of 5
79earning income on the date of such member’s retirement, shall be entitled to receive a pension of
80equal proportion, paid monthly, which shall total 75 per cent of the amount of the pension
81payable to the member at the time of their death. The words “full-time student” and “accredited
82educational institutions” shall have the same meaning that they have under clause (iii). When a
83child no longer meets the qualifications for receipt of a pension allocation under this section, said
84child’s pension allocation shall cease and any remaining qualified children shall continue to
85receive the same amount each received before any child’s allocation ceased.
86 Any member eligible to receive a pension under clause (iv) shall be indemnified for all
87hospital, medical and other healthcare expenses, not otherwise covered by health insurance,
88related to treatment of injuries that have been or may be incurred after the date of the member’s
89retirement as a result of the injuries sustained by the member while in the performance of the
90member’s duties.
91 Nothing in this section or any other section of the general laws or regulations shall limit
92the member’s aforementioned retirement benefit or restrict the member from seeking
93accommodating employment by any entity or agency which is not classified under Groups 1-4,
94inclusive, of the retirement system.
95 Nothing in this section shall prohibit a member under clause (iv), or such member’s
96eligible spouse or children, from receiving additional retirement benefits not required by this
97section.