Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2745 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. 732 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2745
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Brian M. Ashe
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 establishing an elected and appointed board for the Hampden County Regional
13	13	Retirement System.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Brian M. Ashe2nd Hampden1/13/2025 1 of 6
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 732 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2745
19	19	By Representative Ashe of Longmeadow, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2745) of
20	20	Brian M. Ashe relative to establishing an elected and appointed board for the Hampden County
21	21	Regional Retirement System. Public Service.
22	22	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
23	23	SEE HOUSE, NO. 2429 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 establishing an elected and appointed board for the Hampden County Regional
30	30	Retirement System.
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. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Hampden
34	34	2County regional retirement system, hereinafter referred to in this act as “the system”, shall be
35	35	3governed by administrators, hereinafter referred to in this act as “administrators”, and a board of
36	36	4directors, hereinafter referred to in this act as “the board”.
37	37	5 (A) The administrators of the Hampden County regional retirement system shall be
38	38	6comprised of one individual appointed by the chief elected official or governing body of each
39	39	7member agency of the Hampden County regional retirement board (Mayor, Select Board, School
40	40	8Committee, Board of Directors, Town Council). Administrators from communities must be
41	41	9elected or appointed town officials. Administrators from fire and water districts must be a full- 2 of 6
42	42	10time employee of that agency. Administrators from all other retirement member agencies
43	43	11(including regional school districts, veteran’s service districts, emergency dispatch services and
44	44	12regional retirement boards) shall be an elected or appointed official of that organization. None of
45	45	13these administrators need be participants in the Hampden County regional retirement system.
46	46	14 (1) The administrators of the Hampden County regional retirement system shall meet no
47	47	15less than two times per fiscal year. Their meeting shall be governed by the Open Meeting Law
48	48	16requirements of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
49	49	17 (2) It shall be the responsibility of the administrators to:
50	50	18 (a) Elect three of the seven members of the board as described in section B(2)(b),
51	51	19B(2)(c) and B(2)(d)
52	52	20 (b) Approve by a 2/3 vote, changes to the bylaws of the Hampden County retirement
53	53	21board as described in section 2.
54	54	22 (3) Administrators shall serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority and their
55	55	23appointment shall be renewed annually. There is no limit to the terms for which an administrator
56	56	24may serve.
57	57	25 (B) The board of the Hampden County regional retirement system shall consist of seven
58	58	26members, six of whom are elected and one of whom is appointed.
59	59	27 (1) It shall be the responsibility of the board to:
60	60	28 (a) Hire and oversee the system administrator or director
61	61	29 (b) Approve the budget and operations of the system 3 of 6
62	62	30 (c) Oversee the operations and administration of the system
63	63	31 (2) Six members of the board shall be elected as follows:
64	64	32 (a) Three members of the board shall be elected at large by a majority of the
65	65	33members of the Hampden County regional retirement system. Both active and retired members
66	66	34shall be eligible to vote for these board members. Each of these 3 members' terms shall expire in
67	67	35a different year; The election of these board members will be supervised by the board and staff
68	68	36of the Hampden County regional retirement board with the vote totals posted on the system’s
69	69	37website.
70	70	38 (b) One member shall be elected from and by the administrators who represent
71	71	39member community agencies. This representative shall be one of the community administrators.
72	72	40This individual need not be a member of the Hampden County regional retirement system.
73	73	41 (c) One member shall be elected from and by the administrators who represent the
74	74	42housing authorities and fire and water districts agencies. The elected individual need not be a
75	75	43member of the Hampden County regional retirement system; and
76	76	44 (d) One member shall be elected from and by the administrators who represent all
77	77	45other Hampden County regional retirement member agencies including regional school districts,
78	78	46veteran's service districts, emergency dispatch services and regional retirement boards. The
79	79	47elected individual need not be a member of the Hampden County regional retirement system.
80	80	48 (e) The election of each of the three administrators in sections (B)(2)(a), (B)(2)(b)
81	81	49and (B)(2)(c) shall be conducted by roll-call vote, and the record of each election, including vote
82	82	50totals, shall be reported back to the agencies’ chief elected official or body. 4 of 6
83	83	51 (3) One member of the board shall be appointed by the treasurers of the system member
84	84	52agencies. This member shall serve for a 3-year term. The selection of this board member shall
85	85	53be supervised by the treasurers.
86	86	54 (4) A board member may serve no more than three consecutive terms.
87	87	55 (5) The terms of the 7 board members shall be staggered so that 2 members are elected
88	88	56in 2 consecutive years and 3 members are elected in the third year.
89	89	57 (6) Every 2 years, the board by majority vote shall elect 1 of its members to serve as
90	90	58chair of the board.
91	91	59 (7) Board members shall be 7 distinct individuals and no more than 2 members of the
92	92	60board shall be affiliated with the same member agency of the Hampden County regional
93	93	61retirement system.
94	94	62 SECTION 2. The board shall create, or direct to be created, by-laws of the organization.
95	95	63The by-laws shall include, but not be limited to the organizational structure, voting and election
96	96	64procedures, including a procedure for the filling of board vacancies, the role of the treasurers'
97	97	65advisory board, investment policies, frequency and responsibility for agency financial reporting
98	98	66and audits, committee and subcommittee structure as well as other policies and procedures of the
99	99	67organization.
100	100	68 The by-laws of the Hampden County regional retirement board shall take effect when
101	101	69ratified by a vote of 2/3 of the administrators. Subsequent revisions to the by-laws shall also
102	102	70require a 2/3 approval vote of the administrators. All such votes require a publicly recorded vote
103	103	71of the agency governing body. 5 of 6
104	104	72 SECTION 3. (a) Elections of board members as described in section 1B shall be
105	105	73completed within 120 days following the passage of this act.
106	106	74 (b) The term of office for all persons serving as members of the board of the Hampden
107	107	75county regional retirement system at the time of passage of this act shall end on the earlier date
108	108	76of 120 days following the passage of this act or upon the election of the board as proscribed in
109	109	77section 1.
110	110	78 (c) For the 6 members initially elected to the board as described in sections B(2)(a),
111	111	79B(2)(b), B(2)(c) and B(2)(d), initial terms shall be staggered as follows:
112	112	80 (i) For the three members elected by the members (Section B(2)(a)) one member shall
113	113	81serve for 1 year, one member for 2 years, and one member for 3 years.
114	114	82 (ii) The member elected through Section B(2)(b) shall serve an initial term of 1 year
115	115	83 (iii) The member elected through Section B(2)(c) shall serve an initial term of 2 years
116	116	84 (iv) The member elected through Section B(2)(d) shall serve an initial term of 3 years
117	117	85 (d) The board member appointed by the treasurers of the system shall serve a 3-year term.
118	118	86 (e) Subsequent terms for all elected board members shall be three years in duration.
119	119	87 (f) All board terms shall expire at the end of the state fiscal year so the first terms of all
120	120	88elected officials may be less than a full 1, 2 or 3 years.
121	121	89 (g) The initial draft of by-laws for the Hampden county regional retirement board shall be
122	122	90presented to the administrators for ratification within 180 days of the formation of the 7-member
123	123	91board of directors. Agency operations may be conducted under these by-laws on an interim basis 6 of 6
124	124	92following their presentation to the administrators. Ratified by-laws shall be in place within 270
125	125	93days of the formation of the 7-member board of directors.
126	126	94 SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon its passage.