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FILED ON: 6/12/2024
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4746
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 and critical incident stress management 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 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Veteran” the following
3definition:-
4 “Violent act injury”, a catastrophic, life-threatening or life-altering and permanent bodily
5injury sustained as a direct and proximate result of a violent attack upon a person by means of a
6dangerous weapon, which is designed for the purpose of causing serious injury or death,
7including, but not limited to, a firearm, knife, automobile or explosive device.
8 SECTION 2. Section 7 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking
9out subsection (1) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
10 (1) Conditions for Allowance. – Any member in service classified in Group 1, Group 2 or
11Group 4, or any member in service classified in Group 3 to whom the provisions of subdivision
12(2) of section 26 are not applicable, who is unable to perform the essential duties of the
13member’s job and that such inability is likely to be permanent before attaining the maximum age 2 of 6
14for the member’s group by reason of a personal injury or violent act injury sustained or a hazard
15undergone as a result of, and while in the performance of the member’s duties at some definite
16place and at some definite time on or after the date of becoming a member or prior to such date
17while any provision of this chapter relating to noncontributory pensions was applicable to the
18member, without serious and willful misconduct on the member’s part, upon the member’s
19written application on a prescribed form filed with the board and the member’s respective
20employer or upon such an application by the head of the member’s department after a hearing, if
21requested, as provided for in subdivision (1) of section 16 and subject to the conditions set forth
22in said section 16 and in this section, shall be deemed retired for an accidental disability as of a
23date which shall be specified in such application and which shall be not less than 15 days nor
24more than 4 months after the filing of such application but in no event later than the maximum
25age for the member’s group. Except as provided for in subdivision (3), no such retirement shall
26be allowed unless such injury or violent act injury was sustained or such hazard was undergone
27within 2 years prior to the filing of such application or, if occurring earlier, unless written notice
28thereof was filed with the board by such member or on the member’s behalf within 90 days after
29its occurrence. No retirement under this subsection shall be allowed unless the board, after a
30review of the evidence it deems appropriate, and after a review by the commission, pursuant to
31the provisions of section 21, and including in any event on examination by the regional medical
32panel provided for in subdivision (3) and including a certification of such incapacity by a
33majority of the physicians on such medical panel, shall find that such member is unable to
34perform the essential duties of the member’s job and that such inability is likely to be permanent,
35and that the member should be so retired; provided, however, that no retirement due to a violent
36act injury shall be allowed unless the board, after a review of the evidence it deems appropriate, 3 of 6
37and after a review by the commission, pursuant to section 21, and including in any event on
38examination or re-examination by the regional medical panel provided for in subdivision (3) and
39including a certification of such incapacity by a majority of the physicians on such medical
40panel, shall find that such member is physically unable to perform the essential duties of the
41member’s job because of a violent act injury and that such inability is likely to be permanent, and
42that the member should be so retired. Any member who was injured while a member of a
43retirement system established in any governmental unit other than that by which the member is
44presently employed, and who has complied with the provisions of this section as to notice, or
45whose case falls under subdivision (3), shall file such application with the retirement board of the
46unit where the member is presently employed. Such board shall secure a statement of facts and
47records, which it shall be the duty of the retirement board of the first governmental unit to
48furnish, and on which it shall be entitled to make recommendations.
49 Prior to the determination of a retirement under this section, a member shall submit to the
50retirement board a written statement authorizing release of information from the federal internal
51revenue service and the department of revenue relative to the annual gross earned income of the
52member in pursuant to an agreement between the federal internal revenue service, the department
53of revenue, and the public employee retirement administration commission in accordance with
54section 91A.
55 SECTION 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of said section 7 of said chapter 32, as so
56appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:-
57 (iv)(A) Notwithstanding clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, a yearly amount of pension for any
58firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary, intermittent or reserve firefighter, any call, volunteer, 4 of 6
59auxiliary, intermittent or reserve emergency medical services provider who is a member of a
60police or fire department and who is not subject to chapter 152, any police officer, any auxiliary,
61intermittent, special, part-time or reserve police officer, any municipal or public emergency
62medical technician or licensed health care professional who is unable to perform the essential
63duties of the member’s job by reason of a violent act injury, paid monthly, shall be equal to 100
64per cent of their regular compensation, including all applicable benefits and stipends, that the
65member was earning on the date of such violent act injury, as defined in section 1. The annual
66amount of pension payable to such member shall be equal to the regular rate of compensation,
67which the member would have been paid had the member continued in service at the grade held
68by the member at the time of their retirement until their death or reaching mandatory retirement
69age, whichever comes first; provided that, if the member reaches the mandatory retirement age,
70the member shall be entitled thereafter to 80 per cent of the average annual rate of compensation
71paid to the member in the previous 12 months, including any cost of living increases, as defined
72in sections 102 and 103. Upon retirement, the member shall receive a lump sum payment from
73the applicable retirement board equal to the member’s total accumulated retirement deductions.
74In the event that the member predeceases their spouse, the member’s spouse shall be entitled to
7575 per cent of the member’s annual pension, paid monthly, as long as such spouse shall live;
76provided that, when the member would have reached the mandatory retirement age, the
77member’s spouse shall continue to be entitled to 75 per cent of the member’s annual pension,
78including any cost of living increases, as defined in sections 102 and 103, that the member would
79have received upon reaching the mandatory retirement age; and provided further, that if a
80beneficiary is eligible for benefits under this section and under option (c) of section 12, the
81beneficiary shall elect to receive either a benefit under option (c) or a benefit pursuant to this 5 of 6
82section but shall not be eligible for both benefits. In the event that the member and the member’s
83spouse predecease their children, the member’s surviving unmarried children, if any, who are
84under age 18 or, if over that age and under age 22, are full-time students at an accredited
85educational institution, or who are over age 18 and physically or mentally incapacitated from
86earning income on the date of such member’s retirement, shall be entitled to receive a pension of
87equal proportion, paid monthly, which shall total 75 per cent of the amount of the pension
88payable to the member at the time of their death. When a child no longer meets the qualifications
89for receipt of a pension allocation under this section, said child’s pension allocation shall cease
90and any remaining qualified children shall continue to receive the same amount each received
91before any child’s allocation ceased. The words “full-time student” and “accredited educational
92institutions” shall have the same meanings as defined in clause (iii).
93 (B) Any member eligible to receive a pension under this clause shall be indemnified for
94all hospital, medical and other healthcare expenses, not otherwise covered by health insurance,
95related to treatment of injuries that have been or may be incurred after the date of the member’s
96retirement as a result of the injuries sustained by the member relating to the violent act injury
97while in the performance of the member’s duties.
98 (C) Notwithstanding the hours and earnings limitations of section 91 or 91A or any other
99general or special law to the contrary, the annual earnings of a member receiving benefits under
100this clause, from employment in the service of the commonwealth, county, city, town, district or
101authority, including as a consultant or independent contractor or as a person whose regular duties
102require that their time be devoted to the service of the commonwealth, county, city, town, district
103or authority during regular business hours, may equal up to ½ the amount of their retirement
104allowance without refund penalty. Such member shall not be eligible for employment under 6 of 6
105Groups 3 and 4 of the retirement system while receiving benefits for accidental disability
106retirement outlined under this clause. A member who is receiving benefits under this clause may
107be employed by a private entity or in the private sector without refund penalty; provided, that
108their service is not devoted to the commonwealth, county, city, town, district or an authority.
109Nothing in this section shall prohibit a member under this clause, or such member’s eligible
110spouse or children, from receiving additional retirement benefits not required by this clause.
111 SECTION 4. Said section 7 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby further
112amended by adding the following subdivision:-
113 (7) Critical Incident Stress Management. – Any firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary,
114intermittent or reserve firefighter, any call, volunteer, auxiliary, intermittent or reserve
115emergency medical services provider who is a member of a police or fire department and who is
116not subject to chapter 152, any police officer, any auxiliary, intermittent, special, part-time or
117reserve police officer, any municipal or public emergency medical technician following any
118incident involving exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence as set
119forth in the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or
120any other incident reasonably warranting a critical incident stress management debriefing, as
121determined by an emergency service provider certified by the Massachusetts Peer Support
122Network or the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc., shall receive notice of
123critical incident stress management debriefing programs, including the location and times for the
124program and contact information.