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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 733 FILED ON: 1/13/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2735 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Steven George Xiarhos and Steven S. Howitt |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act establishing a fund for the care of retired police dogs. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable1/13/2025Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida7th Plymouth2/5/2025Colleen M. Garry36th Middlesex1/25/2025Michael J. Soter8th Worcester2/13/2025Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester2/6/2025David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/22/2025Donald R. Berthiaume, Jr.5th Worcester2/11/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 733 FILED ON: 1/13/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2735 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Xiarhos of Barnstable and Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by |
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| 19 | 19 | | bill, House, No. 2735) of Steven George Xiarhos, Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida and others |
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| 20 | 20 | | relative to establishing a fund for the care of retired police dogs. Public Safety and Homeland |
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| 21 | 21 | | Security. |
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| 22 | 22 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 2424 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 24 | 24 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 28 | 28 | | _______________ |
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| 29 | 29 | | An Act establishing a fund for the care of retired police dogs. |
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| 30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 1 Chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2amended by inserting after section 2QQQQQ thereof the following new section:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 3 Section 2RRRRR. (a) There shall be a Retired Police Dog Care Fund that shall be |
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| 35 | 35 | | 4administered by the secretary of the executive office of public safety and security. The fund shall |
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| 36 | 36 | | 5consist of amounts credited to the fund from: (i) any appropriations, grants, gifts or other money |
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| 37 | 37 | | 6authorized by the general court or other parties and specifically designated to be credited to the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 7fund; and (ii) any income derived from the investment of amounts credited to the fund. Any |
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| 39 | 39 | | 8unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund |
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| 40 | 40 | | 9and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 10 (b) All amounts credited to the fund shall be used without further appropriation to make |
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| 42 | 42 | | 11grants to non-profit institutions located within the commonwealth for the purpose of providing |
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| 43 | 43 | | 12care and medical services to retired police dogs. The secretary of the executive office of public |
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| 44 | 44 | | 13safety and security shall be responsible for ensuring that funds are properly allocated to and used |
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| 45 | 45 | | 14by reputable organizations for the care and medical needs of retired police dogs. For purposes of |
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| 46 | 46 | | 15this section, a "police dog" shall be defined in section 1 of chapter 111C. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 16 (c) Annually, not later than March 1, the secretary of the executive office of public safety |
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| 48 | 48 | | 17and security shall issue a report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the joint |
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| 49 | 49 | | 18committee on public safety and homeland security, and the senate and house committees on |
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| 50 | 50 | | 19ways and means on the fund's activities including, but not limited to, amounts credited to the |
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| 51 | 51 | | 20fund, amounts expended from the fund and any unexpended balance. |
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