HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4626
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
________________________________________
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 13, 2024.
The committee on Public Service, to whom was referred the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 2536) of Jessica Ann Giannino and
others relative to disability pensions for violent crimes committed against
certain public employees, reports recommending that the accompanying
bill (House, No. 4626) ought to pass.
For the committee,
KENNETH I. GORDON. 1 of 7
FILED ON: 5/2/2024
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4626
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
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 2016
2Official Addition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “inclusive”, in line 599, the
3following definition:-
4 “Violent act injury”, a catastrophic, life-threatening and/or life altering and permanent
5bodily injury sustained as a direct and proximate result of a violent attack upon a person by
6means of a dangerous weapon, including a firearm, knife, automobile, explosive device or other
7dangerous weapon, which for the purposes of this section shall be defined as “an item which is
8designed for the purpose of causing serious injury or death.”
9 SECTION 2. Said chapter 32 is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (1) of
10section 7 and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
11 Section 7. (1) Conditions of Allowance. Any member in service classified in Group 1,
12Group 2 or Group 4, or any member in service classified in Group 3 to whom the provisions of
13subdivision (2) of section twenty-six are not applicable, who is unable to perform the essential 2 of 7
14duties of the member’s job and that such inability is likely to be permanent before attaining the
15maximum age for the member’s group by reason of a personal injury or violent act injury
16sustained or a hazard undergone as a result of, and while in the performance of the member’s
17duties at some definite place and at some definite time on or after the date of becoming a
18member or prior to such date while any provision of this chapter relating to noncontributory
19pensions was applicable to the member, without serious and willful misconduct on the member’s
20part, upon the member’s written application on a prescribed form filed with the board and the
21member’s respective employer or upon such an application by the head of the member’s
22department after a hearing, if requested, as provided for in subdivision (1) of section sixteen and
23subject to the conditions set forth in said section and in this section, shall be deemed retired for
24an accidental disability as of a date which shall be specified in such application and which shall
25be not less than fifteen days nor more than four months after the filing of such application but in
26no event later than the maximum age for the member’s group. Except as provided for in
27subdivision (3) of this section, no such retirement shall be allowed unless such injury or violent
28act injury was sustained or such hazard was undergone within two years prior to the filing of
29such application or, if occurring earlier, unless written notice thereof was filed with the board by
30such member or on the member's behalf within ninety days after its occurrence. No retirement
31under clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, shall be allowed unless the board, after a review of the
32evidence it deems appropriate, and after a review by the commission, pursuant to the provisions
33of section twenty-one, and including in any event on examination by the regional medical panel
34provided for in subdivision (3) of section six and including a certification of such incapacity by a
35majority of the physicians on such medical panel, shall find that such member is physically
36unable to perform the essential duties of the member's job and that such inability is likely to be 3 of 7
37permanent, and that the member should be so retired. No retirement under clause (iv) shall be
38allowed unless the board, after a review of the evidence it deems appropriate, and after a review
39by the commission, pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-one, and including in any event
40on examination or re-examination by the regional medical panel provided for in subdivision (3)
41of section six and including a certification of such incapacity by a majority of the physicians on
42such medical panel, shall find that such member is physically unable to perform the essential
43duties of the member's job because of a violent act injury and that such inability is likely to be
44permanent, and that the member should be so retired. Any member who was injured while a
45member of a retirement system established in any governmental unit other than that by which the
46member is presently employed, and who has complied with the provisions of this section as to
47notice, or whose case falls under paragraph (3), shall file such application with the retirement
48board of the unit where he is presently employed. Such board shall secure a statement of facts
49and records, which it shall be the duty of the retirement board of the first governmental unit to
50furnish, and on which it shall be entitled to make recommendations.
51 Prior to the determination of a retirement under this section, a member shall submit to the
52retirement board a written statement authorizing release of information from the federal internal
53revenue service and the department of revenue relative to the annual gross earned income of the
54member in pursuant to an agreement between the federal internal revenue service, the department
55of revenue, and the public employee retirement administration commission in accordance with
56section ninety-one A.
57 SECTION 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of said section 7 of said chapter 32 is hereby
58amended by inserting after clause (iii) the following clauses:- 4 of 7
59 (iv) A yearly amount of pension for any firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary,
60intermittent or reserve firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary, intermittent or reserve
61emergency medical services provider who is a member of a police or fire department and who is
62not subject to chapter 152, any police officer, any auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time or
63reserve police officer, any municipal or public emergency medical technician or licensed health
64care professional who is unable to perform the essential duties of the member’s job by reason of
65a violent act injury, paid monthly, shall be equal to 100 per cent of their regular compensation,
66including all applicable benefits and stipends, that the member was earning on the date of such
67violent act injury, as defined in section 1 of this chapter. The annual amount of pension payable
68to such member shall be equal to the regular rate of compensation which the member would have
69been paid had the member continued in service at the grade held by the member at the time of
70their retirement until their death or reaching mandatory retirement age, whichever comes first;
71provided that, if the member reaches the mandatory retirement age, the member shall be entitled
72thereafter to 80 per cent of the average annual rate of compensation paid to the member in the
73previous 12 months, including any cost of living increases, as defined in sections 102 and 103 of
74this chapter. Upon retirement, the member shall receive a lump sum payment from the applicable
75retirement board equal to the member’s total accumulated retirement deductions. In the event
76that the member shall predecease their spouse the member’s spouse shall be entitled to 75 per
77cent of the member’s annual pension, paid monthly, as long as such spouse shall live; provided
78that, when the member would have reached the mandatory retirement age, the member’s spouse
79shall continue to be entitled to 75 per cent of the member’s annual pension, including any cost of
80living increases, as defined in sections 102 and 103 of this chapter, that the member would have
81received upon reaching the mandatory retirement age; provided, however, that if a beneficiary is 5 of 7
82eligible for benefits under this section and under option (c) of section 12, the beneficiary shall
83elect to receive either a benefit under option (c) or a benefit pursuant to this section but shall not
84be eligible for both benefits. In the event that the member and the member’s spouse predecease
85their children, the member’s surviving unmarried children, if any, who are under age 18 or, if
86over that age and under age 22, are full-time students at an accredited educational institution, or
87who are over age 18 and physically or mentally incapacitated from earning income on the date of
88such member’s retirement, shall be entitled to receive a pension of equal proportion, paid
89monthly, which shall total 75 per cent of the amount of the pension payable to the member at the
90time of their death.
91 The words “full-time student” and “accredited educational institutions” shall have the
92same meaning that they have under clause (iii). When a child no longer meets the qualifications
93for receipt of a pension allocation under this section, said child’s pension allocation shall cease
94and any remaining qualified children shall continue to receive the same amount each received
95before any child’s allocation ceased. Any member eligible to receive a pension under clause (iv)
96shall be indemnified for all hospital, medical and other healthcare expenses, not otherwise
97covered by health insurance, related to treatment of injuries that have been or may be incurred
98after the date of the member’s retirement as a result of the injuries sustained by the member
99relating to the violent act injury while in the performance of the member’s duties.
100 Notwithstanding the hours and earnings limitations of section 91 or 91A of chapter 32 of
101the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the annual earnings of such
102member of the retirement system from employment in the service of the commonwealth, county,
103city, town, district or authority, including as a consultant or independent contractor or as a person
104whose regular duties require that his time be devoted to the service of the commonwealth, 6 of 7
105county, city, town, district or authority during regular business hours, may equal up to one-half
106the amount of his or her retirement allowance without refund penalty. Such member shall not be
107eligible for employment under Groups 3-4, inclusive, of the retirement system while receiving
108benefits for accidental disability retirement outlined under clause (iv) of paragraph (a) of
109subsection (2) of said section 7 of said chapter 32. A member who is receiving benefits under
110clause (iv) of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of said section 7 of said chapter 32 may be
111employed by a private entity (or in the private sector, one or the other) without refund penalty
112provided that their service is not devoted to the commonwealth, county, city, town, district or an
113authority. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a member under clause (iv), or such member’s
114eligible spouse or children, from receiving additional retirement benefits not required by this
115section.
116 (v) Critical Incident Stress Management
117 Any firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary, intermittent or reserve firefighter, any call,
118volunteer, auxiliary, intermittent or reserve emergency medical services provider who is a
119member of a police or fire department and who is not subject to chapter 152, any police officer,
120any auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time or reserve police officer, any municipal or public
121emergency medical technician shall participate in critical incident stress management debriefing
122following any incident involving exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual
123violence as defined in the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
124Disorders, or any other incident reasonably warranting a critical incident stress management
125debriefing, as determined by an emergency service provider certified by the Massachusetts Peer
126Support Network or International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. At the discretion of
127the emergency service provider, or at the request of any member, the member will seek a 7 of 7
128behavioral health consultation on his or her own time. Anything discussed during the behavioral
129health consultation shall be kept in confidentiality in the following manner:
130 a. All conversations, records, recordings, or other documents resulting from the
131behavioral health consultation will be subject to physician-patient privilege and will not be
132provided to the employer except at the request of the member;
133 b. The employer may contact the behavioral health professional to confirm the date and
134attendance of the member and credentials of the professional.