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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3105 FILED ON: 2/18/
HOUSE............... No. 3655
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________ PRESENTED BY: Denise C. Garlick _________________ To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in GeneralCourt assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: An Act to support military personnel and families. _______________ PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED: Denise C. Garlick 13th Norfolk 2/18/ Steven G. Xiarhos 5th Barnstable 2/24/ Timothy R. Whelan 1st Barnstable 2/24/ Kip A. Diggs 2nd Barnstable 2/24/ Mathew J. Muratore 1st Plymouth 3/17/
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3105 FILED ON: 2/18/
HOUSE............... No. 3655
By Ms. Garlick of Needham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3655) of Denise C. Garlick and others for legislation to establish the Massachusetts military family relief fund. Veterans and Federal Affairs.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________ In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court(2021-2022) _______________ An Act to support military personnel and families.
of the same, as follows:^ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority 1 SECTION 1. Section 35CC of Chapter 10 of the General Laws is amended by striking 2 said section and inserting in place thereof the following: - 3 SECTION 35CC. There shall be an expendable trust, to be known as the Massachusetts 4 Military Family Relief Fund, the purpose of which is to help members of the Massachusetts 5 National Guard and Massachusetts residents who are members of the reserves of the armed 6 forces of the United States and who were called to active duty after September 11, 2001, and 7 their families, to defray the costs of food, housing, utilities, medical services, and other expenses. 8 The fund shall consist of revenues received by the commonwealth under the provisions of 9 section 6K of chapter 62, from public and private sources as gifts, grants, and donations to 10 further the purposes of the fund. Revenues credited to the fund under this section shall remain in 11 the fund, not subject to appropriation, for application to those purposes. The state treasurer shall 12 not deposit the revenues in, or transfer the revenues to, the General Fund or any other fund other
35 In developing rules and regulations, said awarded organizations shall consult with the military 36 division, military support groups, including, but not limited to, the Family Assistance Fund and 37 family assistance centers.
38 SECTION 14. (a) The awarded organizations shall submit an annual report to the 39 secretary of the department of Veterans’ Services and the house and senate committees on ways 40 and means detailing:-
41 (1) the expenditure of the funds including the amount of assistance provided from the 42 fund by branch of service, regular or reserve duty classification, amount of individual assistance 43 provided, the reason that qualified a member of the military or the member's family for 44 assistance and the balance remaining within the interest income account for future 45 disbursements;
46 (2) the name, address, rank and rating, branch of service, deployment location and 47 amounts of financial assistance provided to each eligible military member and to the member's 48 family.
49 (b) The information provided pursuant to clause (1) of subsection (a) shall be public 50 record. The information provided pursuant to paragraph 2 of subsection (a) shall be confidential 51 and shall be available for inspection only by the secretary of administration and finance and the 52 general court. Names, addresses and deployment locations shall not be in any report available for 53 public access. The secretary of administration and finance and the legislators with legal access to 54 the report shall be required to hold names, addresses and deployment locations confidential.
55 Failure to file said annual reports on a timely basis may result in an immediate 56 termination of the designation for administration of this fund, in accordance with Section 15 of 57 this Act.
58 SECTION 15. In the event that the awarded organizations lose their status as a charitable 59 corporation or ceases to exist, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Services shall 60 identify a suitable charitable organization to administer the grants.
