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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1654 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2517
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Ann-Margaret Ferrante
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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 the SMART Plan.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Ann-Margaret Ferrante5th Essex1/18/2023Deborah B. GoldbergOffice of the State Treasurer and
Receiver General
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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1654 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2517
By Representative Ferrante of Gloucester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2517) of
Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Deborah B. Goldberg relative to employees whose compensation is
sourced from the deferred compensation program SMART Plan. Public Service.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2643 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 the SMART Plan.
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 64 of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking, in line 31, the words “independent contractors”
3and inserting in place thereof the following:- contracted employees
4 SECTION 2. Said section 64 of said chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
5hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following paragraph:-
6 The state treasurer, on behalf of the commonwealth, may establish an automatic
7enrollment feature within the deferred compensation program. The automatic enrollment feature
8shall not require prior authorization by an employee, and is hereby deemed to be an exception to
9the provisions of the Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee 2 of 3
10authorization for a payroll deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. The
11details of the automatic enrollment feature shall be set forth in the deferred compensation plan
12document and shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions:
13 (a) automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of the commonwealth,
14meaning employees hired on or after June 1, 2022; provided, however, that for any
15commonwealth agencies or departments that purchase or make payments to an individual or
16group annuity contract, custodial account, or any other investment authorized under section
17403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code for its employees, automatic enrollment shall only apply at
18said agency’s or department’s discretion and affirmative election;
19 (b) automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of a “governmental body”,
20as defined in section 64B of chapter 29 of these general laws, if the governmental body elects to
21implement the automatic enrollment feature for its employees;
22 (c) automatic enrollment may not require more than the IRS safe harbor maximum
23deferral percentage;
24 (d) the amount of compensation deferred by an automatically-enrolled employee shall
25automatically increase by a specified amount each year unless the participating employee elects
26not to participate in auto escalation or elects to defer a different amount than specified;
27 (e) an employee who is automatically enrolled shall no more than ninety days to
28discontinue participation in the plan; 3 of 3
29 (f) an automatically-enrolled employee who discontinues participation in the plan within
30ninety days shall receive a refund of their account as soon as practicable after discontinuing
31participation;
32 (g) a qualified default investment option to receive contributions by any automatically-
33enrolled employee who does not choose an investment alternative to receive the employee’s
34contributions; and
35 (h) notice requirements to automatically-enrolled participants in accordance with the
36Internal Revenue Code and applicable IRS Rulings.
37 SECTION 3. Section 64B of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
38amended by inserting between the third and fourth paragraphs the following new paragraph:-
39 The treasurer or, in the absence of the treasurer, the chief financial officer by whatever
40name that person is called, on behalf of a governmental body, may, at its own election,
41implement an automatic enrollment feature within its deferred compensation program established
42pursuant to this section 64B, chapter 29. The automatic enrollment feature shall not require
43advance authorization by an employee and is hereby deemed to be an exception to the provisions
44of the Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee authorization for a
45payroll deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. Subject to the election of
46each governmental body, any such auto enrollment feature permitted as a part of a governmental
47body’s deferred compensation program shall only apply to new employees of a governmental
48body hired on or after June 1, 2022 and such deferred compensation program will be required to
49include the specifications for auto enrollment detailed in subsections (b) through (h), inclusively,
50of section 64 of chapter 29 of said General Laws.