Bill > S527

This bill amends Massachusetts state law to establish a comprehensive reimbursement mechanism for cities and towns for early voting-related expenses. Specifically, the bill mandates that the commonwealth will fully reimburse municipalities for costs directly associated with implementing early voting, including additional personnel hiring, hourly staff working outside normal business hours, overtime for staff setting up or taking down polling locations, overtime for data entry into the Voter Registration Information System, voting booth costs, and privacy screen expenses. The state auditor will annually determine the incremental costs for each city and town by September 15th, and the state secretary will include these estimated costs in the budget recommendations. The state will distribute the funds to each municipality no more than 30 days before the costs are incurred, and these funds will be deposited in the city or town's general fund and can be spent without requiring additional local appropriation. The goal is to ensure that municipalities are not financially burdened by state-mandated early voting requirements.

Budget and Finance, Government Affairs

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S527