Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2824 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. 3441 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2824
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Ann-Margaret Ferrante
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 :DATE ADDED:Ann-Margaret Ferrante5th Essex1/17/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3441 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2824
18	18	By Representative Ferrante of Gloucester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2824) of
19	19	Ann-Margaret Ferrante relative to employees whose compensation is sourced from the deferred
20	20	compensation program SMART Plan. Public Service.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 2517 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to the SMART Plan.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Section 64 of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
32	32	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking, in line 31, the words “independent contractors”
33	33	3and inserting in place thereof the following:- contracted employees
34	34	4 SECTION 2. Said section 64 of said chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
35	35	5hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following paragraph:-
36	36	6 The state treasurer, on behalf of the commonwealth, may establish an automatic
37	37	7enrollment feature within the deferred compensation program. The automatic enrollment feature
38	38	8shall not require prior authorization by an employee, and is hereby deemed to be an exception to
39	39	9the provisions of the Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee 2 of 3
40	40	10authorization for a payroll deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. The
41	41	11details of the automatic enrollment feature shall be set forth in the deferred compensation plan
42	42	12document and shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions:
43	43	13 (a) automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of the commonwealth,
44	44	14meaning employees hired on or after June 1, 2022; provided, however, that for any
45	45	15commonwealth agencies or departments that purchase or make payments to an individual or
46	46	16group annuity contract, custodial account, or any other investment authorized under section
47	47	17403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code for its employees, automatic enrollment shall only apply at
48	48	18said agency’s or department’s discretion and affirmative election;
49	49	19 (b) automatic enrollment shall apply only to new employees of a “governmental body”,
50	50	20as defined in section 64B of chapter 29 of these general laws, if the governmental body elects to
51	51	21implement the automatic enrollment feature for its employees;
52	52	22 (c) automatic enrollment may not require more than the IRS safe harbor maximum
53	53	23deferral percentage;
54	54	24 (d) the amount of compensation deferred by an automatically-enrolled employee shall
55	55	25automatically increase by a specified amount each year unless the participating employee elects
56	56	26not to participate in auto escalation or elects to defer a different amount than specified;
57	57	27 (e) an employee who is automatically enrolled shall no more than ninety days to
58	58	28discontinue participation in the plan; 3 of 3
59	59	29 (f) an automatically-enrolled employee who discontinues participation in the plan within
60	60	30ninety days shall receive a refund of their account as soon as practicable after discontinuing
61	61	31participation;
62	62	32 (g) a qualified default investment option to receive contributions by any automatically-
63	63	33enrolled employee who does not choose an investment alternative to receive the employee’s
64	64	34contributions; and
65	65	35 (h) notice requirements to automatically-enrolled participants in accordance with the
66	66	36Internal Revenue Code and applicable IRS Rulings.
67	67	37 SECTION 3. Section 64B of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
68	68	38amended by inserting between the third and fourth paragraphs the following new paragraph:-
69	69	39 The treasurer or, in the absence of the treasurer, the chief financial officer by whatever
70	70	40name that person is called, on behalf of a governmental body, may, at its own election,
71	71	41implement an automatic enrollment feature within its deferred compensation program established
72	72	42pursuant to this section 64B, chapter 29. The automatic enrollment feature shall not require
73	73	43advance authorization by an employee and is hereby deemed to be an exception to the provisions
74	74	44of the Massachusetts Wage Act or any other state law requiring employee authorization for a
75	75	45payroll deduction or any similar ordinance of a governmental body. Subject to the election of
76	76	46each governmental body, any such auto enrollment feature permitted as a part of a governmental
77	77	47body’s deferred compensation program shall only apply to new employees of a governmental
78	78	48body hired on or after June 1, 2022 and such deferred compensation program will be required to
79	79	49include the specifications for auto enrollment detailed in subsections (b) through (h), inclusively,
80	80	50of section 64 of chapter 29 of said General Laws.