Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3080 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. 1576 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3080
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kip A. Diggs
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 embarkation fees.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kip A. Diggs2nd Barnstable1/15/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1576 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3080
18	18	By Representative Diggs of Barnstable, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3080) of Kip
19	19	A. Diggs relative to the imposition of embarkation fees from ferry services. Revenue.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 2873 OF 2023-2024.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to embarkation fees.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 Section 129 of Chapter 46 of the acts of 2003, as amended by Section 11 of Chapter 55 of
31	31	2the acts of 2003, is hereby amended by striking out the section in its entirety and inserting in
32	32	3place thereof the following section:-
33	33	4 Section 129. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any city or
34	34	5town within the counties of Barnstable, Nantucket, Dukes and Bristol shall impose an
35	35	6embarkation fee upon all passenger ferry trips, excluding those ferry boats that are licensed to
36	36	7transport not more than 100 passengers, originating from a port located within such city or town,
37	37	8at a rate of $2.00 per passenger per departing trip.
38	38	9 (b) The operator of the ferry service shall pay revenues from the embarkation fee
39	39	10imposed under this section to the commissioner of revenue on a quarterly basis. The operator 2 of 3
40	40	11shall record the number of passengers subject to the embarkation fee departing from each port
41	41	12and forward said records to the commissioner of revenue at the time of payment of the
42	42	13embarkation fee for the purpose of crediting the embarkation fee revenues in accordance with
43	43	14this section.
44	44	15 The commissioner shall credit the embarkation fee revenues as follows:
45	45	16 25 per cent to a fire district that provides fire or public safety services to a port within a
46	46	17city or town that provides ferry service;
47	47	18 12.5 per cent to a city or town which does not provide ferry service but shares a harbor or
48	48	19port with a city or town in which a port is located; and
49	49	20 62.5 per cent to a city or town which contains a port and provides ferry service.
50	50	21 (c) All sums received by the commissioner under this section as embarkation fees,
51	51	22penalties or forfeitures, interest, costs of suit and fines shall be distributed, credited and paid by
52	52	23the state treasurer at least quarterly upon certification of the commissioner to each city, town, or
53	53	24fire district.
54	54	25 (d) Any city, town or fire district which is credited revenues pursuant to this section shall
55	55	26deposit such funds in a special fund which shall be appropriated solely for operations to mitigate
56	56	27the impacts of ferry service on the city, town or fire district including, but not limited to, harbor
57	57	28services, public safety services, emergency services or infrastructure improvements within and
58	58	29around the harbor of such city, town or fire district.
59	59	30 (e) A passenger with valid commuter fare, student fare, commuter excursion fare or
60	60	31school-related fare for ferry services shall be exempt from the embarkation fee. For the purposes 3 of 3
61	61	32of this section, "commuter fare" shall mean any fare paid for through the purchase of a book of
62	62	33multiple tickets or through the Steamship Authority's Islands Preferred Excursion Program.