Bill > H65

This bill makes supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2015, providing additional funds for various state agencies and programs, including the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (including a significant amount for group insurance), the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Corrections, and the Office of the State Comptroller, and also establishes a reserve for extraordinary expenses due to severe winter storms in 2015. Additionally, the bill modifies laws related to tax payment deadlines, allowing for extensions when the due date falls on a weekend, holiday, or office closure due to emergencies; permits losses from wagering transactions to be deducted from gains for tax purposes; adjusts withholding requirements for lottery winnings; clarifies reporting requirements for gaming establishments and pari-mutuel wagering; updates references to state finance laws; requires certain healthcare professionals, including physician assistants and psychologists, to apply to participate in the medical assistance program for ordering and referring services; modifies regulations for segregated inmates with serious mental illness; allows for administrative and horseracing operations expenses to be paid from certain racing revenues; updates the procurement system name from "COMPASS" to "COMMBUYS"; expands the list of healthcare providers who can order and refer services under the medical assistance program; makes technical changes to the administration of health and human services; removes restrictions on the use of Turtle Lane for emergency access and rehabilitation; removes a limitation on the total transfers from any single appropriation item; allows cities and towns to amortize snow and ice removal deficits over two fiscal years; extends licensing for a specific horse racing meeting licensee in Suffolk County and modifies simulcast wagering rules; exempts certain lease agreements for the University of Massachusetts, Lowell's satellite campus in Haverhill from specific procurement laws; allows the chief counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services to waive billable hour caps for private counsel in certain circumstances; authorizes salary adjustments and economic benefits for various collective bargaining agreements; exempts dog racing licensees in Suffolk and Bristol counties from paying a premium for interstate horse simulcasts; and specifies the effective date for certain provisions related to gaming operations.