Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2153 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1393 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2153
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Steven Owens and Tommy Vitolo
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 expanding access to commuter transit benefits offered by employers.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven Owens29th Middlesex1/14/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/9/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/11/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1393 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2153
18	18	By Representatives Owens of Watertown and Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by
19	19	bill, House, No. 2153) of Steven Owens, James B. Eldridge and James K. Hawkins relative to
20	20	expanding access to commuter transit benefits offered by employers. Labor and Workforce
21	21	Development.
22	22	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
23	23	SEE HOUSE, NO. 1929 OF 2023-2024.]
24	24	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
25	25	_______________
26	26	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
27	27	(2025-2026)
28	28	_______________
29	29	An Act expanding access to commuter transit benefits offered by employers.
30	30	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
31	31	of the same, as follows:
32	32	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
33	33	2is hereby amended by inserting after section 203 the following section:-
34	34	3 Section 204 (a) As used in this section, the following words, unless the context clearly
35	35	4requires otherwise, shall have the following meanings:-
36	36	5 “Employee”, shall have the same meaning as provided in clause (h) of section 1 of
37	37	6chapter 151A.
38	38	7 “Employer”, shall have the same meaning as provided in subsection (i) of section 1 of
39	39	8chapter 151A; except the United States government shall not be considered an employer; 2 of 3
40	40	9provided, however, that an individual employer shall be determined by the Federal Employer
41	41	10Identification Number.
42	42	11 “Pre-tax transportation fringe benefit,” a pre-tax election transportation fringe benefit that
43	43	12provides commuter highway vehicle and transit benefits, consistent with the provisions and
44	44	13limits of section 132(f)(1)(A), (B), and (D) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986
45	45	14(26 U.S.C. s.132(f)(1)(A), (B), and (D)) at the maximum benefit levels allowable under federal
46	46	15law, to be deducted for those programs from an employee’s gross income pursuant to section
47	47	16132(f)(2) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.132(f)(2)).
48	48	17 (b) Every employer in the commonwealth of Massachusetts that employs at least 50
49	49	18persons shall offer to all of that employer’s employees, that are not covered by a collective
50	50	19bargaining agreement, the opportunity to utilize a pre-tax transportation fringe benefit; provided,
51	51	20nothing herein shall prevent an employer and employees covered by a collective bargaining
52	52	21agreement from bargaining to include a pre-tax transportation fringe benefit in such agreement.
53	53	22 (c) Any employer found to be in violation of this section shall be liable for a fine of $100
54	54	23for a first violation. For each additional month in which an employer fails to offer a pre-tax
55	55	24transportation fringe benefit shall constitute a subsequent violation and a fine of $250 shall be
56	56	25imposed for each subsequent violation. A fine shall not be imposed on any individual employer
57	57	26more than once in a month.
58	58	27 (d) The department of revenue shall direct a public multilingual awareness campaign in
59	59	28conjunction with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that encourages the public to
60	60	29contact employers about pre-tax transportation fringe benefits and shall coordinate such
61	61	30campaign with regional planning agencies, transportation management associations, regional 3 of 3
62	62	31transportation authorities, chambers of commerce, private and non-profit providers of public
63	63	32transportation, and other transportation stakeholders. The department of revenue shall prepare
64	64	33and disseminate model multilingual written materials to be used by employers to notify
65	65	34employees of the pre-tax transportation fringe benefits offered.
66	66	35 (e) The commissioner of the department of revenue shall adopt regulations to ensure
67	67	36compliance and implementation of the provisions of this section, including but not limited to, a
68	68	37process by which employees and others can confidentially report non-compliant employers.
69	69	38 SECTION 2. Subsection (c) of Section 1 shall take effect one year after the passage of
70	70	39this act.