Sponsored Legislation

Education

An Act establishing a three year phase-in of transportation costs into the special education circuit breaker.

I sponsored this bill because the extraordinary cost of special education transportation is ever increasing and is not among the items currently eligible for reimbursement by the state.  This bill seeks to include special education transportation as a reimbursable cost.  However, knowing that the costs are so high, it caps the amount of reimbursable costs for the first three years to $18,6000,000. This bill will provide necessary relief going forward to cash strapped municipalities.

An Act relative to teaching the history of working people 

This Act restores the history of working people and the labor movement as a mandatory subject of the standard curriculum in the public schools and both the positive and negative results labor has had on our communities.   

Trade unions in Massachusetts and throughout the nation have made significant contributions to our way of life—the 8-hour workday, health care insurance, vacations and holidays, fair wage cycle, safe and healthy working conditions, Social Security and Medicare, unemployment and workers compensation, civil rights, the end to child labor, voting rights, public education (public schools exist because the labor movement championed Horace Mann's call for free, universal education—organized labor successfully challenged the elites who argued that access to education should be based only on wealth and intellect), etc.

Labor unions are also part of Massachusetts’s heritage— Carpenters in Boston were the first to stage a strike for the 10-hour workday; the first child labor law was passed in Massachusetts; Massachusetts’s Commonwealth v. Hunt case (1842) ruled for the first time that a trade union was lawful and that its members were not collectively responsible for the illegal acts committed by individuals; action taken by Massachusetts trade unions led to the first governmental investigation into working conditions; the first state labor bureau was created in Massachusetts; and the Bread and Roses strike in Massachusetts led to a bill being passed that created the Department of Labor. 

The cost to school districts will be minimal because the law leaves to each district the ability to develop its own unique method of teaching about labor history and collective bargaining that works for it (teaching materials are also readily available if needed).

Financial Services

An Act relative to insurer responsibility for collecting co-insurance and deductibles

All healthcare providers, including hospitals, are currently forced to expend significant resources to comply with administrative functions resulting from the unreasonable administrative complexity of health insurer rules and requirements.   The most considerable expense is dedicated to the monitoring and collection efforts of payments required from patients as co-insurance and deductibles.

Unlike co-payments, which providers can easily track and collect since they are a fixed amount and often printed on a patient's insurance card, co-insurance and deductibles are generally unknown at the time of the visit and often result in significant bad debt for hospitals.

Under the current system, healthcare providers do not know a patient's financial obligations for deductibles and co-insurance until long after services are rendered and claims have been adjudicated. Insurers design the benefits that include these payment obligations, possess the claims information that is used to calculate the amounts owed, and have a distinct financial relationship with patients.  As a result, insurers have an obligation to assist in the collection of patient financial liability. 

This legislation shifts the responsibility for collection of co-insurance and deductibles from providers to insurers.  Under these provisions, healthcare providers will still be responsible for the collection of co-payments.

Labor and Workforce

An Act requiring recordkeeping at public construction worksites in order to protect first responders

This Act requires contractors and subcontractors to keep records of workers entering and exiting public construction worksites so that first responders who respond to workplace accidents and incidents can account for the number of potential victims. 

In the event of a fire or explosion at a public construction site, currently first responders do not have any way of knowing how many workers may be present at the work site.  In an effort to ensure that all individuals have been accounted for at the rescue and recovery stages, when they don't know how many workers are present at the site, first responders may unnecessarily enter buildings that are on fire or that otherwise harbor hazardous conditions.  By requiring workers to sign in and sign out of the work site, first responders can have an accurate account of individuals who may be in danger and in need of intervention.

An incident exemplifying the problem occurred in Connecticut at the Kleen Energy Systems Power Plant.  The plant had a massive explosion and firefighters had no clear idea about how many individuals were at the worksite at the time.  As a result, they had to make multiple sweeps of the area in hazardous conditions.

An Act relative to paying prevailing wages to tree maintenance workers

This bill amends sections 26 and 27 of chapter 149 to include in the prevailing wage laws contractors and subcontractors who trim or cut trees on public property. 

An Act establishing a middle-skills council and the creation of regional skills academies in the Commonwealth

The Massachusetts’ Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs Report found that forty-five percent of all jobs in the state require "middle-skill" training, but only thirty-two percent of the state’s workers have the education required to fill those positions.  These jobs, requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree, will make up a large portion of the Commonwealth’s jobs for years to come. 

Massachusetts cannot address its middle-skill challenges by focusing solely on the next generation of workers coming out of high school.  Currently the jobs needing to be filled outnumber available skilled workers.  Nearly two-thirds of the people who will be in Massachusetts’ workforce in the year 2020 were already working adults in 2005—long past the traditional high school-to-college pipeline.  Moreover, increasing the number of adults with middle-skills and middle-skill credentials will give our state the skills to compete in the global economy and enhance state and local economies through increased tax revenues. 

The purpose of this act is to promote and support activities and programs that will increase the education, skills and employment of our citizens and their successful integration into the commonwealth’s economy. The Middle Skills Solutions Act, organized in three main sections, will build upon existing resources to develop a more comprehensive and effective system to prepare adult, non-traditional students for employment in economic sectors targeted by the Commonwealth for increased growth and investment.  The Act will:

1. Create a high level middle-skills council to review and make recommendations for systemic change in the delivery of education to adults and non-traditional students that will support the goals of the Act;
2. Create regional skills academies which are geographic clusters of community colleges, vocational-technical high schools, community-based organizations, and employers that will focus on increasing the number of Massachusetts residents with middle-skills and middle-skill credentials aligned to employee needs; and
3. Convene regional teams to review labor market information and develop the regional plans to address the goals of the Act.

Public Service

An Act relative to Medicare part B premium reimbursement for certain public retirees

Currently the Commonwealth has the discretion of whether to refund the Medicare Part B premium that is paid by retirees and survivors insured through the GIC.  However, since 2002, no refund has been paid.  This bill makes it mandatory that the GIC pay the refund at the same contribution rate as currently paid by those retirees and survivors. 

The bill also adds a provision to the mandatory Medicare law (Ch. 32B, § 18) requiring any municipality that mandates enrollment in Medicare to reimburse retirees for the cost of the Part B premium.  This requirement only applies to communities that adopt section 18 after the act's effective date.

An Act relative to the minimum pension for certain retirees

This act increases the minimum pension for 25 years creditable service from $10,000 to $15,000 annually.  Since 1999, the minimum pension for "career" employee state/teacher retirees has been $10,000.  Inflation has eroded the value of the minimum pension amount for these long-term retirees.  This bill raises the amount of the pension.  In addition, because long-term retirees of municipalities, regions, counties, districts and other authorities are not currently eligible for the minimum pension, the bill grants local officials with the option to offer a $15,000 pension to retirees who have at least 25 years of creditable service.

An Act relative to the annual allowance for widows and widowers of certain public employees.

As we take steps to reform the pension system and correct abuses at the top, it is important to consider those who have seen their minimal pension benefits eaten away by a rising cost of living.  This bill updates the minimum pension benefits for Option (d) survivors.  Option (d) survivors are the spouses of active employees who died from a non-work related cause before retiring.  Currently, they receive a minimum annual pension benefit of only $3,000 – an amount that has not been increased since 1990.  This bill would raise the minimum benefit to $6,000 annually for these survivors. 

This bill applies to members of the state teachers’ and state employees’ retirement system.  It can also take effect for the members of the retirement system of any other political subdivision by a majority vote of the board of such system and by the local legislative body. 

An Act clarifying teacher eligibility for creditable service

This bill clarifies and limits the teachers who are eligible for additional creditable service so as to remedy an ambiguity and potential loophole identified by the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement Board.  Specifically, the amendment clarifies that only certain teachers may buy back additional years of creditable service for the years that they taught in private school.   The creditable years must be for years teaching in a publicly funded special education program and in which the individual's position would have been defined as a "teacher" if it had been performed in a public school.   The statute already limits eligibility for such creditable service to no more than 10 years, to no more years than the individual spent teaching in a public school system, and to service for which the individuals will not receive a pension, annuity or other retirement allowance from any other source.

An Act relative to health reimbursement accounts

Giving cities, towns and Regional School Districts that join the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) the ability to offer Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) as part of a negotiated public employee agreement would serve as a great incentive to join the GIC.  In addition, in light of the recent deductible and co-pay increases in the GIC plans, as well as the negotiated agreements by some state unions, it is more important than ever to allow municipalities to create HRAs.

An HRA would be set up by the city, town or Regional School District to reimburse employees for qualified medical expenses.  HRAs are federally recognized as tax-exempt health benefits.  The reason for creating an HRA is to provide protection to employees who end up with high out-of-pocket medical expenses in a given year, for instance, from a series of co-pays or paying a high deductible for treatment of a condition. 

Cities, towns and Regional School Districts would be able to bargain with their unions over the specific details of an HRA plan.  Together, they could decide what qualifies as a reimbursable medical expense and how much money will be reimbursed each year.

An Act relative to dental insurance for certain retired teachers

This bill requires that the GIC offer to its retired teacher subscribers its dental plan on a self-funded basis provided they were enrolled previously in the GIC’s Retired Municipal Teachers Plan.

State Administration

An Act to enhance the quality of security services on state property

This bill requires contractors that provide security guard services for state buildings and property or property rented by the state to pay the prevailing wage to the security guards. 

Security contractors hired by state agencies should provide high-quality service, decent employment opportunities, and good value for taxpayers. Unfortunately, the lowest-bid criteria currently used in awarding public security contracts do not serve these goals. When contractors that do business with the state are permitted to offer jobs with substandard pay and benefits, workers and taxpayers ultimately pay the price. 

Officers who are tasked with securing some of the state’s most valuable assets and protecting the lives of thousands of public employees should be well-qualified, highly-trained, and able take pride in their work. By mandating that security contractors provide a livable wage and modest benefits to their employees, the state can expect improved quality and reliability of service, increased productivity, and lower turnover among security personnel.

When a low-bid contractor fails to provide employees with sufficient means to cover basic necessities, this burden falls squarely on the taxpayer in the form of public assistance programs such as food stamps, subsidized housing, and Commonwealth Care. Such significant back-door costs assumed by the public must be taken into account. 

Decent jobs are good for the economy and working families. In difficult economic times, decent jobs for Massachusetts residents are vital to sustain a lasting recovery. Ensuring that workers have access to well-paying, stable employment encourages consumption and stimulates economic growth. 

An Act relative to flying flags at half-staff upon the death of a police officer or firefighter

This act honors police officers or firefighters killed in the line of duty at the hands of an adversary or by adversarial force by flying flags at half staff beginning at the time of death until time of interment.  This is intended to serve public safety officials who were actively engaged in a dangerous situation at the time of death.  For example, a police officer/firefighter struck and killed by a motor vehicle while performing their duties, a police officer shot and killed by a perpetrator, a firefighter killed while involved with a dangerous search and rescue effort or while battling a fire, etc. 

Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy

An Act relative to the failure to remove existing poles

This act imposes a penalty on utility companies for failure to remove an old utility pole when a new one is installed.

An Act requiring a plan for electrical service restoration in the event of a disruption

The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that communications procedures between utility officials and a municipality's first responders are in place in the event of a loss of service and that those procedures are adhered to when the loss of service takes place.

The need for this legislation was brought into sharp focus during the Christmas storms of 2010 when local fire chiefs were, for extended periods of time, unable to reach utility officials when electrical lines were downed by the storms.  Their inability to communicate with utility officials caused public safety personnel and equipment to be diverted to ensure the safety of residents until utility personnel were contacted and arrived at the scene of the downed wires.  It also extended the duration of the service outage.

Transportation

An Act to increase the speed limit on US Route 3

This bill increases the speed limit on US Route 3 from 55 Miles Per Hour to 65 Miles Per Hour.