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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 76 FILED ON: 1/7/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 797 |
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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 | | Michael O. Moore |
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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 reforming auto body labor rates. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 76 FILED ON: 1/7/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 797 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Moore, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 797) of Michael O. Moore for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to reform auto body labor rates. Financial Services. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 688 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act reforming auto body labor rates. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 Chapter 100A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2amended by adding the following two sections:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 15. There shall be, within the division of insurance, an auto body labor rate |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4advisory board to address any issues related to auto body labor rates. The advisory board shall |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5consist of: 1 member appointed by the commissioner of insurance; 1 member appointed by the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6attorney general; 1 member appointed by the director of the division of insurance standards; 3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7members from the auto insurance industry appointed by the Automobile Insurers Bureau of |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8Massachusetts, 1 of whom shall be chosen by the three members to serve as co-chair; 3 members |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9from the auto repair industry from different geographic regions of the Commonwealth appointed |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Massachusetts, Inc., 1 of whom shall be 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11chosen by the three members to serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12State Automobile Dealers Association, Inc.; and 4 members appointed by the co-chairs, 1 of |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13whom shall be from vocational-technical schools, 2 of whom shall be from a consumer advocacy |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14group and 1 of whom shall be an economists with expertise on the insurance industry. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15 The advisory board shall meet not less than 2 times per year. The advisory board shall be |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16responsible for creating, implementing and overseeing an annual survey given to relevant auto |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17body shops as determined by the advisory board. The survey should compile data pertaining to |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18contracted hourly labor rates, posted hourly labor rates and prevailing hourly labor rates and any |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19additional information the advisory board deems relevant. The advisory board shall collect |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20industry data including, but not limited to: (i) labor rates in neighboring states; (ii) auto body |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21shop costs; (iii) total labor costs; (iv) inflation data; (v) work force data; (vi) vocational school |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22trends; (vii) insurance premiums; and (viii) any additional information as requested by the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23advisory board. The results of the survey and the data collected shall be reviewed and analyzed |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24by the advisory board annually and the board shall make a recommendation for a fair and |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25equitable labor rate. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26 Annually, not later than December 31, the advisory board shall file a report of its |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27findings, conclusions and any recommendations with the clerk of the senate and house of |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28representatives, the joint committee on financial services, the senate and house committees on |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29ways and means and the division of insurance. |
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| 59 | 59 | | 30 Section 16. Not more than 30 days after receiving the annual report from the auto body |
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| 60 | 60 | | 31labor rate advisory board under section 15, the commissioner of insurance shall set a minimum |
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| 61 | 61 | | 32hourly labor rate that insurers shall pay on insured claims for repairs made by registered motor 3 of 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 33vehicle repair shops; provided, however, that the minimum hourly labor rate shall not be less |
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| 63 | 63 | | 34than $55. The minimum hourly labor rate shall go into effect 30 days after it is set by the |
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| 64 | 64 | | 35commissioner. |
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