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MA Legislature Wraps Up 2015/16 Formal Session The MA House and Senate adjourned just after midnight on August 1st, concluding their formal business for the 2015-2016 legislative session. The Legislature will continue to meet in informal session until the end of the year, where historically only non-controversial matters are handled, as there are no roll call votes taken and the objection of any one member can block the further progress of any bill. Both branches closed out the final day this year focusing on veto overrides, land takings, and just a few high profile issues, including energy and economic development. The following is a brief update on RAM’s priority issues and a snapshot of some of the other actions of interest taken in the final weeks.
PRIORITY ISSUE: Sales Tax Holiday Legislative leaders refused to allow a vote on authorizing a Sales Tax Holiday (STH) for August 2016. Despite the lobbying efforts of RAM and our members, legislators cited uncertainty in the state’s revenue collections as the reason for forgoing the Holiday this year. All RAM members are encouraged to discuss this issue with their legislators in the months ahead and document the impact the loss of the STH will have on your business. RAM thanks Rep. Paul McMurtry of Dedham for his strong advocacy on this issue on behalf of local sellers. PRIORITY ISSUE: Sunday Premium Pay Repeal RAM sponsored legislation, H.1752, to repeal the statutory requirement of Sunday time and a half pay for retail employees was not taken up, and we were unable to attach the language to another moving legislative vehicle. We will continue to highlight and focus on this discriminatory law going into the next session. Thank you once again to our legislative sponsor, Rep. Mathew Muratore of Plymouth, and to Rep. John Scibak of South Hadley, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, for their many efforts on this issue on behalf of the retail industry. PRIORITY ISSUE: Small Business Health Insurance Reform / RAMHIC Our language to provide additional flexibility to state authorized Health Insurance Cooperatives, like RAMHIC, was included in the final Economic Development Conference Committee Report, H.4569, An Act Relative to Job Creation and Workforce Development, and is now on the Governor’s desk. Section 118 of the bill amends the Cooperatives law to allow for yearend financial incentives in place of expiring state rating factors. We would like to thank our sponsor of this language, Rep. Kate Hogan of Stow, for her strong advocacy on our behalf, as well as lead House Conferee, Rep. Joseph Wagner of Chicopee, for his efforts to retain the language in the final bill. The bill is now on the Governor’s desk and we will be urging his approval of this section. **** Economic Development – Again, we were very pleased to see the Cooperatives language included in this bill. However, we were disappointed that the Sales Tax Holiday didn’t make it in, nor did the Sunday Premium Pay repeal, particularly when a Blue Law clarification was included to reaffirm that warehouses are allowed to operate on Sundays and are exempt from premium pay requirements. The bill also includes language to allow grocery stores that sell alcohol to hold both off-premise and on premise licenses, provided certain circumstances are met, and proposes to change the law to allow alcohol sales on Memorial Day after 12:00 Noon, and on Monday, December 26th. Another provision in the bill creates a new tax deduction for parents saving for college tuition. Energy Diversity – H.4568, An Act to Promote Energy Diversity, relative to the state’s energy supply mix, made it through the Legislature just minutes before the close of the formal session and is now on the Governor’s desk. RAM was pleased that the final bill did not include earlier Senate proposed provisions that attempted to restrict the development of new natural gas pipelines. The bill requires utilities to contract for and purchase over time some 1,600 megawatts of both offshore wind and hydropower, likely to be imported from Canada. While further transitioning the Commonwealth toward a more diversified and renewable portfolio of energy resources, the bill does not effectively reduce energy costs, which are now amongst the highest in the nation. Pay Equity – Governor Baker recently signed into law legislation designed to promote gender pay equity in the Commonwealth. Under the law, employees performing comparable work must be paid equal wages unless a differential in wages is based upon certain allowable circumstances. The law also makes certain employment practices pertaining to wages unlawful. Employers that conduct a self-audit to determine the existence of gender pay disparities are provided a three year safeguard against any claims arising from this law so long as the audit is conducted in good faith and reasonable efforts are made to address any findings of inequity. Veteran’s Benefits – Gov. Baker also recently signed into law Chapter 141 of the Acts of 2016, An Act Relative to Housing, Operations, Military Service, and Enrichment. The law includes new language mandating that any employee, of an employer of 50 or more, who is a Veteran, be granted a leave of absence, with pay, on Veterans Day to participate in an exercise, parade or service in their community of residence. The law maintains the previous requirement allowing all Veterans unpaid leave on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day to attend services. FY17 State Budget – The proposed plastic bag ban included in the Senate version of the state budget was held in conference and was NOT included in the final budget signed into law by Governor Baker in July. The corrective technical fix to the food store Item Pricing law was included in the final budget and became law. Section 62 of the budget clarifies that for the purposes of the Price Accuracy Guarantee (PAG), grocery items that differ only by color, flavor or scent shall be counted as the same item. H.1566, An Act relative to electronic publication of certain legal notices – RAM was pleased to see this legislation pass this year that will require municipalities to post legal notices, such as hearing notices, to a central statewide website, which shall be “established and maintained as a repository for legal notices and operated as a cooperative effort of a majority of Massachusetts newspapers that distribute newspapers to subscribers residing in the commonwealth.” With the proliferation of local ordinances and bylaws seeking to regulate consumer goods, an improved central notice registry would be extremely helpful to track local activity. Of the two other high profile bills of note in play at the end of the session – Municipal Finance Reform and the Restricting Non-Compete Agreements – only the Muni-reform bill made it to the Governor’s desk. The Conference Committee on the Non-competes legislation failed to deliver a compromise. **** Thousands of bills did not make it across the finish line by midnight last night, many of them detrimental to the retail industry. We will continue to monitor them to ensure that none move during the informal sessions, but you can also expect most to be back next session. That list of legislation includes bills on topics such as:
As always, RAM would like to hear from YOU, with your feedback on these important issues. Please do not hesitate to contact Bill Rennie, RAM’s Vice President, at [email protected] with your questions, thoughts and/or comments. |