Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1698 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 256 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1698
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Joan B. Lovely
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to the SMART plan.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Joan B. LovelySecond EssexDeborah B. Goldberg, Treasurer
16	16	and Receiver General
17	17	Treasurer1/20/2023 1 of 4
18	18	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 256 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
19	19	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1698
20	20	By Ms. Lovely, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1698) of Joan B. Lovely and
21	21	Deborah B. Goldberg, Treasurer and Receiver General for legislation relative to the SMART
22	22	plan. Public Service.
23	23	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
24	24	SEE SENATE, NO. 1746 OF 2021-2022.]
25	25	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
26	26	_______________
27	27	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
28	28	(2023-2024)
29	29	_______________
30	30	An Act relative to the SMART plan.
31	31	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
32	32	of the same, as follows:
33	33	1 SECTION 1. Section 64 of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
34	34	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking, in line 31, the words “independent contractors”
35	35	3and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
36	36	4 contracted employees
37	37	5 SECTION 2. Said section 64 of said chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
38	38	6hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following paragraphs:-
39	39	7 The state treasurer, on behalf of the deferred compensation program, may adopt annual
40	40	8budgets and supplemental budgets as necessary. Said budgets may include salaries for treasury
41	41	9employees tasked with working on and/or administering the deferred compensation program, and 2 of 4
42	42	10said budgets may be funded from the administrative expense account of the deferred
43	43	11compensation program. Any such treasury employee whose compensation is sourced from the
44	44	12deferred compensation program shall be an “employee” as that term is defined in section 1 of
45	45	13chapter 32 and shall be a member of the Massachusetts state employees’ retirement system.
46	46	14 The state treasurer, on behalf of the commonwealth, may establish an automatic
47	47	15enrollment feature within the deferred compensation program. The automatic enrollment feature
48	48	16does not require advance authorization by an employee, and is hereby deemed to be an exception
49	49	17to the provisions of the Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee
50	50	18authorization for a payroll deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. The
51	51	19details of the automatic enrollment feature shall be set forth in the deferred compensation plan
52	52	20document and shall include:
53	53	21 (a) A provision that automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of the
54	54	22commonwealth, meaning employees hired on or after June 1, 2022; but that for any
55	55	23commonwealth agencies or departments that have Code section 403(b) eligible employees,
56	56	24automatic enrollment shall only apply at the commonwealth agency’s or department’s discretion
57	57	25and affirmative election;
58	58	26 (b) A provision that automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of a
59	59	27“governmental body”, as defined in section 64B of chapter 29 of these general laws, if the
60	60	28governmental body elects to implement the automatic enrollment feature for its employees;
61	61	29 (c) A provision that automatic enrollment may not require more than the IRS safe harbor
62	62	30maximum deferral percentage; 3 of 4
63	63	31 (d) A provision that the amount of compensation deferred by an automatically-enrolled
64	64	32employee shall automatically increase by a specified amount each year unless the participating
65	65	33employee elects not to participate in auto escalation or elects to defer a different amount than
66	66	34specified;
67	67	35 (e) A provision that an employee who is automatically enrolled shall have as long as
68	68	36ninety days to discontinue participation in the plan;
69	69	37 (f) A provision that an automatically-enrolled employee who discontinues participation in
70	70	38the plan within ninety days shall receive a refund of their account as soon as practicable after
71	71	39discontinuing participation;
72	72	40 (g) A provision that the plan shall specify a qualified default investment option to receive
73	73	41contributions by any automatically-enrolled employee who does not choose an investment
74	74	42alternative to receive the employee’s contributions; and
75	75	43 (h) A provision that the plan shall adhere to notice requirements to automatically-enrolled
76	76	44participants in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code and applicable IRS Rulings.
77	77	45 SECTION 3. Section 64B of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
78	78	46Edition, is hereby amended by inserting between the third and fourth paragraphs the following
79	79	47paragraph:-
80	80	48 The treasurer or, if there is no treasurer, the chief financial officer by whatever name that
81	81	49person is called, on behalf of a governmental body, may, at its own election, implement an
82	82	50automatic enrollment feature within its deferred compensation program established pursuant to
83	83	51this section 64B, chapter 29. The automatic enrollment feature does not require advance 4 of 4
84	84	52authorization by an employee and is hereby deemed to be an exception to the provisions of the
85	85	53Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee authorization for a payroll
86	86	54deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. Subject to the election of each
87	87	55governmental body, any such auto enrollment feature permitted as a part of a governmental
88	88	56body’s deferred compensation program shall only apply to new employees of a governmental
89	89	57body hired on or after June 1, 2024 and such deferred compensation program will be required to
90	90	58include the specifications for auto enrollment detailed in subsections (b)-(h) of section 64 of
91	91	59chapter 29 of the General Laws.