Bills Filed by Sen. Kennedy for the 2023-2024 Session
“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence or a good piece of music – everybody can recognize it. They say ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’” — President Barack Obama
Education
S298 – An Act relative to increased material costs in school construction projects: This bill would provide funding and authority to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to reimburse certain school districts facing cost overruns due to increased material costs.
UPDATE: This legislation was adopted as part of the FY24 Massachusetts Budget
S1851 – An Act encouraging employer student loan repayment: Incentivizes employer-based student loan repayment by allowing employers to claim a tax credit equal to the loan payments they made on behalf of their employees up to $2,000.
S1852 – An act establishing the Massachusetts student relief and retention tax credit: Allows graduates of Massachusetts institutions of higher education that remain in the Commonwealth to receive a state income tax credit.
S831 – An act investing in public higher education: Creates a mechanism for increasing the number of tenure-track faculty, provides adjunct faculty with access to benefits, and requires pay parity.
Firearm Safety
S1015 – An act prohibiting gunfire directed at dwelling houses: Makes directing gunfire at dwellings and houses a criminal offense.
UPDATE: This legislation was adopted as part of Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024
Environment
S513 – An Act to assess the future of mattress recycling in the Commonwealth: This legislation would establish an extended producer responsibility (EPR) law for mattresses in Massachusetts. EPR laws would require mattress manufacturers to set up and operate recycling programs that make it easy for consumers to recycle old mattresses, and relieve municipalities from the burden of managing this bulky waste. Under this proposal, consumers would pay a nominal fee at the time of purchasing a mattress, which would be put into a fund to pay for mattress recycling. This bill builds upon existing mattress recycling in the Commonwealth by including strong protections for social enterprise organizations currently participating in mattress recycling by requiring nonprofit organizations that meet certain criteria to be eligible for a mattress recycling contract.
S509 – An Act re-establishing the Clean Environment Fund: Re-establishes the Clean Environment Fund, previously discontinued during the recession, which will provide funding to cities and towns for projects that enhance recycling and waste management programs, promote urban forestry, maintain parkland, protect water resources, and improve air quality.
S510 – Resolve providing for an investigation and study of enhancing statewide recycling programs: Requires the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to conduct an investigation and study of the feasibility of enhancing statewide recycling programs and municipal waste management.
Health Care
S1256 – Resolve to ensure delivery of mental health services to adults with acute mental illness: This bill would create a commission to study staffing levels and delivery of services for case managers at the Department of Mental Health who serve adults with acute mental illness. The commission will also examine the feasibility of reestablishing outpatient clinics to reduce waitlists at community clinics and private practices, look at language accessibility in the realm of mental health work, study recruitment strategies, and develop incentives for people to pursue careers as mental health case workers.
Addiction Treatment & Recovery
S1254 – An Act to inform prescribers of non-opioid alternative care: This legislation would add information about how chiropractic treatments can be used to relieve pain as an alternative to opioids to the training programs provided to practitioners who prescribe controlled substances.
S1196 – An act raising employment and combating opioids through vocational education and rehabilitation (RECOVER): Increases vocational opportunities by creating a competitive grant program to support partnerships between treatment providers and vocational service providers, creating a program for people in recovery at risk for homelessness to provide housing stabilization and job training, and makes people in recovery eligible for the Vocational Rehab Services program.
S1255 – An Act to enhance patient education and informal consent before issuance of opioids: This legislation would mandate that when practitioners prescribe opioids for long-term pain management their written pain management treatment agreement must not only address the benefits and risks of the drugs but also provide information on alternative therapies including chiropractic care.
Food & Agriculture
S98 – An Act concerning food insecurity and supporting the restaurant industry: Adjusts the way SNAP is implemented in Massachusetts to allow benefits to be used at participating restaurants for seniors. Under the Restaurant Meals Program, households containing elderly or disabled members and their spouses, as well as homeless individuals, shall have the option to redeem their SNAP benefits at establishments that contract with the Department of Transitional Assistance to offer meals at concessional prices.
S1855 – An act to promote urban agriculture and horticulture: Allows gateway cities with populations over 50,000 to adopt an optional property tax credit of up to 100 percent for small parcels (less than two acres) intended for agricultural use.
S1390 – An act decreasing food waste by standardizing the date labeling of food: Standardizes labeling of food products to mitigate consumer confusion and reduce waste. Establishes the “quality date” and “safety date” to advise consumers of when the quality of food may begin to deteriorate vs. when it becomes hazardous to eat; Allows for donation of items after the quality date has passed.
S1016 – An act encouraging the donation of food to persons in need: Promotes food donation by expanding liability protections for food donations and creating a tax deduction for farmers who donate crops.
S2469 – An Act defining Agritourism: This bill would add a definition for agritourism to the Massachusetts General Laws.
UPDATE: This legislation was adopted as part of the 2024 Economic Development Bond Bill in the Senate. Pending House approval.
Housing
S883 – An act relative to creating statutory housing restrictions and providing remedies related to statutory housing: Prevents the loss of affordable housing within a community by providing mechanisms to the holder of an affordable housing restriction to protect the public subsidy that makes the home affordable and by establishing obligations of the owners’ homes with affordable housing restrictions.
S1017 – An act establishing a foreclosure review division: Establishes a foreclosure review division with jurisdiction in all issues concerning foreclosures on mortgages on residential properties.
S1854 – An act providing property tax relief for older adults: Allows communities offering deferral of property taxes to reduce post-death interest rates on deferred taxes below 16 percent, allows a one-year grace period of heirs of properties with deferred taxes, and allows local assessors discretion to issue hardship waivers to adults with disabilities younger than 65-years-old.
S1853 – Resolve providing for an investigation and study by a special commission relative to a senior state property tax deferral program: Establishes a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of creating a state property tax deferral program for qualifying seniors. Creates a commission to review the pilot and make recommendations to the Legislature for its wider implementation.
Additional Priorities
S1537 – An Act establishing a public safety building authority and assistance program.
S1303 – An Act establishing a municipal building assistance program and building authority.
These two bills approach the issue of rising costs for municipal facilities and use the model established by the Massachusetts School Building Authority to create a similar program. S1537 would apply specifically to public safety buildings, while S1303 would apply to all municipal buildings.
S1018 – An act incentivizing the use of public transportation by jurors: Provides free access to all services offered by the MBTA and regional transit authorities to jurors in order to make juror service less burdensome and to ease traffic congestion around courthouses.
S183 – An Act Relative to the cancellation of gym memberships: This bill would require gyms to allow members the option of canceling their membership online.
S2326 – Resolution condemning political oppression and encouraging free and fair elections in Cambodia: A resolution against the dissolution of opposition political parties in Cambodia.