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HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4518
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
________________________________________
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES , April 4, 2024.
The committee on Public Service, to whom were referred the annual
report of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission
(under sections 21, 102 and 103 of Chapter 32 of the General Laws)
relative to the percentum change in the average cost-of-living as shown by
the United States consumer price index for the year 2023 compared with
such index for the year 2022 (House, No. 48); the communication from the
Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission PERAC (under
the provisions of Section 50 of Chapter 7 of the General Laws) submitting
proposed amendments to the rules and regulations governing retirement of
public employees in Massachusetts (840 CMR 3.00 and 13.00) (House,
No. 49); the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2429) of Brian M.
Ashe relative to establishing an elected and appointed board for the
Hampden County Regional Retirement System; the petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2430) of Brian M. Ashe and Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.,
relative to pay parity for county correctional officers; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2432) of Bruce J. Ayers relative to the
retirement group of the secretary and undersecretaries of the Executive
Office of Public Safety and Security; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2433) of Bruce J. Ayers, Deborah B. Goldberg (Treasurer and
Receiver General) and Lindsay N. Sabadosa relative to public employee
retirement group classifications; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2434) of Christine P. Barber, Lindsay N. Sabadosa and Sal N.
DiDomenico relative to retirement system investments in certain
corporations utilizing environmental, social, and corporate governance
policies; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2438) of F. Jay
Barrows that the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System be
authorized to credit Diane Galanti with certain creditable service benefits;
the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2439) of Donald R.
Berthiaume, Jr., relative to evaluations on certain veterans retired for
disability; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2440) of Donald
R. Berthiaume, Jr., relative to increasing the amount of hours that retired 2 of 12
public employees may work for certain additional public service; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2441) of Donald R. Berthiaume,
Jr., relative to increasing the police and fire retirement age from 65 to 67;
the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2444) of David Biele for
legislation to further define the term “legislative body” relative to
retirement boards in cities and towns; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2445) of David Biele relative to post retirement earnings and
hours limitations for certain professional services; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2446) of David Biele and Natalie M.
Blais relative to the employment of attorneys by county retirement boards;
the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2449) of Natalie M. Blais
relative to non-membership service in public safety for certain uniformed
members of paid fire or police departments; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2450) of Antonio F. D. Cabral and others relative to
public pension fund divestment from the Republic of the Union of
Myanmar; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2451) of Daniel
Cahill relative to certain persons enrolled in the alternative superannuation
retirement program; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2452)
of Daniel Cahill relative to the disability retirement law for public
employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2454) of Daniel
Cahill relative to creditable service for retirement purposes for service in
the armed forces of the United States; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2457) of Peter Capano relative to collective bargaining of
employment, assignment and promotion for employees of the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2459) of Gerard J. Cassidy and Steven S. Howitt for
legislation to grant creditable service time for Massachusetts National
Guard service; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2460) of
Tackey Chan for legislation to define the word “person” for retirement
purposes; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2464) of Tackey
Chan and David Holway relative to employees of the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority under the retirement law for public employees; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2465) of Tackey Chan and
David Holway relative to the monthly premium rate for the group health
and medical insurance plan for employees of the Commonwealth; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2466) of Tackey Chan and
David Holway relative to attorney services or management consultants for
services performed for collective bargaining or issues arising from
collective bargaining contracts; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2467) of Tackey Chan and David Holway relative to expenses 3 of 12
incurred in defending against unfair labor practices; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2468) of Tackey Chan and David
Holway for legislation to provide that decisions of the Labor Relations
Commission in representation cases shall be subject to judicial review; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2470) of Tackey Chan and
David Holway relative to placing certain employees of the Department of
Transportation in Group 2 of the contributory retirement system for public
employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2471) of Tackey
Chan and David Holway for legislation to eliminate Group 1 of the
contributory retirement system for public employees and reclassify
persons currently classified in said group to Group 2; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2472) of Tackey Chan and David
Holway for legislation to include sewerage treatment plant operators for
the Department of Correction in Group 2 of the public employee
retirement system; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2473) of
Tackey Chan and David Holway relative to placing licensed electricians
employed by the Commonwealth in Group 4 of the contributory retirement
system for public employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2474) of Tackey Chan and David Holway for legislation to include
certain co-generation steam firemen and engineers in Group 4 of the
contributory retirement system for public employees; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2477) of Tackey Chan and David
Holway relative to injuries sustained in service of probation officers; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2480) of Mike Connolly and
others relative to the divestment of state pension funds from nuclear
weapons; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2481) of Rob
Consalvo and others relative to the Group Insurance Commission Trust
Fund; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2482) of Rob
Consalvo relative to the retirement group of certain licensed pipefitters
and refrigeration technicians; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2484) of Mark J. Cusack and Patrick M. O'Connor relative to
retirement benefits for Brian P. Costello, Jr; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2485) of Mark J. Cusack relative to creditable service for
contract work by certain public retirees; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2498) of Marjorie C. Decker, Lindsay N. Sabadosa and David
Paul Linsky relative to collective bargaining rights of teachers and other
school employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2499) of
David F. DeCoste for legislation to authorize employees of the South
Shore Charter School to join the state employees retirement system; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2500) of Angelo L. D'Emilia 4 of 12
relative to directing the State Retirement Board to pay a certain retirement
benefit to Virginia Wise, the surviving spouse of Raymond Wise, an
officer of the Bridgewater State College Police Department; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2503) of Mindy Domb and others for
legislation to require the public pension fund to divest from ammunition
and firearms; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2509) of Paul
J. Donato and Paul McMurtry for legislation to place certain employees in
the Department of Fire Services in Group 4 of the contributory retirement
system for public employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2510) of Michelle M. DuBois and others relative to the retirement
benefits of certain employees of the Department of Public Health; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2513) of Tricia Farley-Bouvier,
Vanna Howard and Mary S. Keefe relative to the membership of the board
of the Group Insurance Commission; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2514) of Tricia Farley-Bouvier and others relative to pension
benefits for surviving spouses of Department of Children and Families
social workers killed in the line of duty; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2517) of Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Deborah B. Goldberg
(Treasurer and Receiver General) relative to employees whose
compensation is sourced from the deferred compensation program
SMART Plan; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2519) of
Christopher Richard Flanagan relative to the retirement classification of
harbormasters; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2521) of
Paul Nordberg relative to the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System
benefit calculation; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2524) of
Sean Garballey for legislation to include certain employees in the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation in Group 2 of the
contributory retirement system for public employees; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2525) of Sean Garballey relative to
retirement benefits for court service coordinators; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2526) of Sean Garballey relative to the
retirement classification of certain court employees and other employees
whose duty and responsibilities bring them in contact with criminal
defendants; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2538) of Susan
Williams Gifford, Colleen M. Garry and Angelo L. D'Emilia relative to
increasing the amount of earnings that a retired public employee may be
paid for certain additional public service; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2542) of Danielle W. Gregoire relative to the participation
of surviving spouse beneficiaries in contributory retirement board
elections; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2544) of Richard 5 of 12
M. Haggerty relative to court officers injured in service of the
Commonwealth; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2545) of
Richard M. Haggerty relative to line-of-duty death and survivor benefits
for police officers and firefighters; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 2551) of James K. Hawkins and Angelo L. D'Emilia that the
State Board of Retirement be directed to grant an increased accidental
disability retirement allowance to Howard S. Levine; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2552) of James K. Hawkins, Danillo A.
Sena and Michelle M. DuBois relative to cancer presumption for police
officers; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2553) of James K.
Hawkins for legislation to provide certain employees in the Department of
Correction with line-of-duty death benefits; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2554) of James K. Hawkins relative to minimum staffing
discussions in collective bargaining negotiations of municipal police
officers and firefighters; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2559) of Russell E. Holmes relative to compensation of members of the
General Court; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2561) of
Daniel J. Hunt for legislation relative to pension parity; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2562) of Daniel J. Hunt relative to the
definition of regular interest for retirement systems; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2563) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and
others relative to the Group Insurance Commission and Medicare health
benefit supplement plans; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2564) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and others relative to establishing a
universal public employee sick leave bank policy; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2566) of Patrick Joseph Kearney
relative to retirement and pensions during the COVID 19 pandemic; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2568) of Patrick Joseph
Kearney relative to retirement eligibility for certain Group 4 retirees; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2570) of Kay Khan relative to
authorizing the granting of certain creditable service to Robin Blatt, a
member of the state employees' retirement system; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2572) of Meghan Kilcoyne relative to
benefits of employees who are required to respond to emergencies or work
in hazardous environments; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2576) of Michael P. Kushmerek and Steven George Xiarhos relative to
work limitations for municipal police retirees; the joint petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2580) of David Henry Argosky
LeBoeuf, Michael O. Moore and others relative to pensions for children of
public safety officers killed in the line of duty; the petition (accompanied 6 of 12
by bill, House, No. 2582) of David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf and others
relative to health insurance benefits for certain state employees; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2584) of David Henry Argosky
LeBoeuf and others relative to health insurance for municipal employees;
the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2587) of Kate Lipper-
Garabedian and Jason M. Lewis relative to the active service buy-back
program for firefighters and police officers; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2591) of Jay D. Livingstone, Deborah B. Goldberg
(Treasurer and Receiver General) and Lindsay N. Sabadosa relative to
requiring public pension fund divestment from ammunition and firearms;
the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2593) of John J. Mahoney
relative to group insurance costs for certain public retirees; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2596) of Joseph D. McKenna for an
investigation by a special commission relative to the feasibility of
replacing the defined benefit pension plan for public employees with a
defined contribution plan for future employees; the petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2597) of Joseph D. McKenna relative to credible
service in the retirement system for elected officials; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2599) of Paul McMurtry relative to
applications for public employee retirement system creditable service buy
backs for veterans; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2600) of
Paul McMurtry relative to veteran judges' pensions; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2602) of Paul McMurtry relative to state
police pensions; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2603) of
Paul McMurtry for legislation to further regulate the retirement benefits of
certain public safety employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2606) of Lenny Mirra relative to student loan payments for those
working in law enforcement; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2607) of Lenny Mirra for legislation to authorize tuition
reimbursements for students seeking a degree in criminal justice; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2608) of Lenny Mirra relative
to retirement benefits for certain elected officials; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2609) of Rady Mom relative to the
retirement group of University of Massachusetts, Massport police, and
state university and community college police; the petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2613) of Mathew J. Muratore and Kathleen R. LaNatra
relative to the retirement of Charles Bletzer, an employee of the Trial
Court of the Commonwealth; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2614) of James M. Murphy relative to the retirement earnings and
benefits of certain senior justices; the petition (accompanied by bill, 7 of 12
House, No. 2617) of James J. O'Day, Daniel M. Donahue and Sal N.
DiDomenico relative to authorizing the Executive Office of Health and
Human Services and the Department of Early Education and Care to
establish an individual retirement account program for personal care
attendants; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2619) of James
J. O'Day and Daniel M. Donahue relative to authorizing certain public
employees’ creditable retirement service; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2620) of James J. O'Day and others relative to public
higher education collective bargaining funding; the petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2621) of James J. O'Day and Daniel M. Donahue
relative to the retirement benefits of certain employees of the Department
of Children and Families; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2623) of Steven Owens relative to creditable service for certain state
contract employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2624)
of Steven Owens relative to appeals to the Contributory Retirement
Appeal Board; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2629) of
Alice Hanlon Peisch relative to the State Retiree Benefits Trust Fund
Board of Directors; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2632) of
Edward R. Philips that the Massachusetts State Retirement Board provide
a certain pension to Mary Coulter-Bennett, the surviving beneficiary of
former State Police Detective Lieutenant William Coulter; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2636) of Edward R. Philips that the
State Board of Retirement provide a certain pension allowance to Cynthia
Smith Wilder, the surviving spouse of Kevin Wilder; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2639) of Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr., and
Brian M. Ashe relative to retirement credit for private or parochial school
teaching; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2641) of Angelo J.
Puppolo, Jr., relative to providing for special death benefits to fallen
public safety officers; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2642)
of Orlando Ramos relative to retirement systems and pensions for
correctional officers; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2644)
of David Allen Robertson and Rodney M. Elliott relative to the Group 4
and Group 2 retirement classifications of the University of Massachusetts
police; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2645) of David
Allen Robertson relative to the retirement of public authority law
enforcement employee groups; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2646) of David Allen Robertson that the State Retirement Board grant
certain creditable service for retirement purposes to Stephen Gerald
Roche; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2647) of David
Allen Robertson and Vanna Howard relative to injured and incapacitated 8 of 12
state-employed police officers; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2651) of Daniel J. Ryan relative to the funding ratio of the public
employee retirement system; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2655) of Paul A. Schmid, III and William M. Straus (with the
approval of the county commissioners) that the Bristol County Retirement
Board grant creditable service to Michael Cioper; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2656) of Danillo A. Sena and Vanna
Howard relative to benefits for certain firefighters; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2658) of Alan Silvia relative to
providing prescription drug cost reimbursements to certain retirees; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2659) of Alan Silvia and Paul
A. Schmid, III relative to retirement for disability or death caused by
certain conditions of cancer to certain explosive device canine handlers
and bomb technicians; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2660) of Alan Silvia relative to payment of pensioners for services after
retirement; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2663) of Todd
M. Smola and Paul J. Donato relative to authorizing Brian Cardrant to
purchase creditable service from the Worcester Regional Retirement
System; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2664) of Todd M.
Smola for legislation to provide the next of kin of state police officers
killed in the line of duty with a flag during memorial services; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2666) of Todd M. Smola that police
officers of the Office of Environmental Law Enforcement be included
under the “heart law”, so-called; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No. 2668) of Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida and David F. DeCoste relative
to the retirement benefits of certain public safety employees; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2669) of Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida
and others relative to COVID-19 mandatory vaccinations and
immunization passports for public employees; the petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2670) of Chynah Tyler for legislation to authorize the
State Board of Retirement to grant Bernard Wheeler, an employee of the
Boston Municipal Court, an additional retirement benefit of four years of
creditable service; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2676) of
Erika Uyterhoeven relative to certain investments of the Massachusetts
Pension Reserve Investment Management; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2684) of Bud L. Williams relative to public employee
retirement and pensions for certain veterans; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 2685) of Steven George Xiarhos that certain employees of
the Massachusetts Port Authority be included in Group 4 of the
contributory retirement system for public employees; the petition 9 of 12
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2686) of Steven George Xiarhos that the
State Board of Retirement be directed to grant an increased accidental
disability retirement allowance to Lieutenant Virginia E. Cummings of the
town of Bourne; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2687) of
Steven George Xiarhos and others relative to fair worker representation on
joint purchasing group committees; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 3640) of Kip A. Diggs and Steven George Xiarhos for
legislation to impose a surcharge on certain retirement earnings to be used
for recreational opportunities; the joint petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 3647) of Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Paul W. Mark relative to
authorizing June Tooley, an employee of Berkshire Community College,
to become a member of the State Employees Retirement System; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3649) of Sean Garballey
relative to teachers' retirement funds; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 3650) of Vanna Howard relative to the withdrawal of local
subscribers from the Group Insurance Commission; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3718) of Marjorie C. Decker (with the
approval of the city council) relative to expanding the definition of
dependent for the purposes of municipal employee benefits in the city of
Cambridge; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3793) of Mark
J. Cusack for legislation to provide local option for retirement boards to
grant retirement to totally and permanently incapacitated workers; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3794) of Christopher Richard
Flanagan relative to higher education incentives for certain municipal
employees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3851) of
William M. Straus and others for legislation to provide funding of certain
collective bargaining agreements; the petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 3857) of Carmine Lawrence Gentile for legislation to provide
retirement incentives in public higher education; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3892) of William M. Straus that the
Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement Board be directed to grant creditable
service to Eileen Mullen for certain service rendered at the Greater New
Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School; the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3898) of Jack Patrick Lewis relative to
creditable service for retirement purposes for certain employees who
served in more than one retirement group; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 3925) of David Allen Robertson relative to work hours
for state retirees; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3987) of
Ruth B. Balser, Cynthia Stone Creem and Kay Khan (with the approval of
the mayor and city council) relative to retired fire fighters in the city of 10 of 12
Newton; the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4060) of Natalie
M. Blais relative to the rate of vacation time for certain employees of the
Commonwealth who are veterans and buyback creditable service; the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4069) of Marc T. Lombardo
relative to retiree work hours and pay limits; the petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 4095) of Simon Cataldo relative to the retirement
classification of Kurt Babick, an employee of the Acton-Boxborough
Regional School District; the petition (accompanied by bill, House,
No.4247) of Paul McMurtry that the State Retirement Board provide a
lifetime monthly allowance to Katherine M. McGuinness, the surviving
spouse of former state police officer James T. McGuinness; and the
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4248) of Paul McMurtry
relative to survivor benefits for the spouses of retired state troopers,
reports recommending that the accompanying order (House, No. 4518)
ought to be adopted [Senator Fattman dissents].
For the committee,
KENNETH I. GORDON. 11 of 12
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4518
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
House of Representatives, April 4, 2024.
1 Ordered, That the committee on Public Service be authorized to sit during a recess of the
2General Court to make an investigation and study of House documents numbered 48, 49, 2429,
32430, 2432, 2433, 2434, 2438, 2439, 2440, 2441, 2444, 2445, 2446, 2449, 2450, 2451, 2452,
42454, 2457, 2459, 2460, 2464, 2465, 2466, 2467, 2468, 2470, 2471, 2472, 2473, 2474, 2477,
52480, 2481, 2482, 2484, 2485, 2498, 2499, 2500, 2503, 2509, 2510, 2513, 2514, 2517, 2519,
62521, 2524, 2525, 2526, 2538, 2542, 2544, 2545, 2551, 2552, 2553, 2554, 2559, 2561, 2562,
72563, 2564, 2566, 2568, 2570, 2572, 2576, 2580, 2582, 2584, 2587, 2591, 2593, 2596, 2597,
82599, 2600, 2602, 2603, 2606, 2607, 2608, 2609, 2613, 2614, 2617, 2619, 2620, 2621, 2623,
92624, 2629, 2632, 2636, 2639, 2641, 2642, 2644, 2645, 2646, 2647, 2651, 2655, 2656, 2658,
102659, 2660, 2663, 2664, 2666, 2668, 2669, 2670, 2676, 2684, 2685, 2686, 2687, 3640, 3647,
113649, 3650, 3718, 3793, 3794, 3851, 3857, 3892, 3898, 3925, 3987, 4060, 4069, 4095, 4247 and
124248, relative to pensions, collective bargaining, spousal benefits and other public service issues.
13 Said committee shall report to the General Court the results of its investigation and study
14and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry such 12 of 12
15recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the Clerk of the House of Representatives
16on or before December 31, 2024.