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H 4161

An Act relative to a sick leave bank for Mark Kratman, an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Barry Finegold and 2 co-sponsors

Massachusetts legislature creates special sick leave bank for MassDOT employee Mark Kratman, allowing coworker donations to supplement his medical leave eligibility outside standard policy.

Signed by the Governor, Chapter 12 of the Acts of 2025
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Bill Summary · H 4161

Legislative bill overview

H 4161 creates a special sick leave bank for Mark Kratman, an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The bill allows accumulated sick leave from other MassDOT employees to be transferred to Kratman's account, enabling him to use these donated hours for his own medical needs.

Why is this important

This represents an exception to standard civil service rules that typically prohibit sick leave transfers between employees. The bill addresses an individual employee's medical situation through legislative action rather than established HR policy, raising questions about precedent and fairness in how public sector benefits are administered.

Potential points of contention

  • Precedent concerns: Creating individual legislative exceptions for employee benefits could encourage similar requests and complicate uniform personnel policies across state government
  • Equity questions: Other state employees facing medical hardships lack this legislative remedy, raising fairness issues about who receives assistance and through what process
  • Emergency designation: The bill's emergency preamble and expedited passage (introduced and enacted within days) bypassed normal deliberative review periods typical for legislation

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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