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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3444 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 676 |
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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 | | Adrianne Pusateri Ramos and Dawne Shand |
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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 studying the financing of chapter 74 vocational-technical and agricultural school capital |
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| 13 | 13 | | improvements. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex1/17/2025Dawne Shand1st Essex1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3444 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 676 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representatives Ramos of North Andover and Shand of Newburyport, a petition |
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| 20 | 20 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 676) of Adrianne Pusateri Ramos and Dawne Shand that the |
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| 21 | 21 | | Executive Office of Education study the financing of capital improvements in facilities providing |
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| 22 | 22 | | primarily vocational-technical education or agricultural education. Education. |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act studying the financing of chapter 74 vocational-technical and agricultural school capital |
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| 29 | 29 | | improvements. |
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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 SECTION 1. The executive office of education, in coordination with the Massachusetts |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2School Building Authority established pursuant to section 1A of chapter 70B of the General |
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| 34 | 34 | | 3Laws, shall conduct a study into the current state of financing related to capital improvements in |
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| 35 | 35 | | 4facilities providing primarily vocational-technical education or agricultural education, as defined |
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| 36 | 36 | | 5in section 2 of chapter 74 of the General Laws. The study shall include, but not be limited to, an |
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| 37 | 37 | | 6analysis of: (i) the feasibility of establishing a tiered reimbursement formula that separately |
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| 38 | 38 | | 7considers the costs and inherent capital needs of: (A) elementary and middle schools; (B) |
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| 39 | 39 | | 8comprehensive high schools; and (C) vocational-technical or agricultural schools; (ii) summary |
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| 40 | 40 | | 9information related to the fiscal impacts on cities or towns which are served by a regional |
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| 41 | 41 | | 10vocational-technical or agricultural school established pursuant to section 4 of said chapter 74 of |
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| 42 | 42 | | 11the General Laws and which have undertaken a project of capital improvement in the preceding 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | 125 years, whether such project received any financial assistance from the Massachusetts School |
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| 44 | 44 | | 13Building Authority; (iii) campaign finance reporting obligations pursuant to any general or |
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| 45 | 45 | | 14special law or association regulations, rules or guidelines applicable to local approval for capital |
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| 46 | 46 | | 15projects impacting a vocational-technical or agricultural school, including, but not limited to: (A) |
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| 47 | 47 | | 16whether reported expenditures align with reasonably observed campaign activities; and (B) |
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| 48 | 48 | | 17whether there are disparate expenditures reported related to capital projects involving vocational- |
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| 49 | 49 | | 18technical or agricultural schools and comparable capital projects involving comprehensive high |
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| 50 | 50 | | 19schools. As part of the study, the office shall, as needed, consult with the department of |
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| 51 | 51 | | 20elementary and secondary education, the department of labor and workforce development as |
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| 52 | 52 | | 21relates to current labor rates in the construction industry, the department of agricultural resources |
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| 53 | 53 | | 22as related to current workforce needs in the agricultural sector and the office of campaign and |
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| 54 | 54 | | 23political finance. The office shall report on its findings and submit any recommendations to the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 24Massachusetts School Building Authority, the clerks of the house of representatives and the |
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| 56 | 56 | | 25senate, the joint committee on education and the joint committee on election laws not later than 6 |
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| 57 | 57 | | 26months after enactment; provided, however, that the secretary of education may grant up to 1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | 27extension of not more than 3 months. |
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| 59 | 59 | | 28 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon enactment. |
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