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Bill

S 1911

Clarifies provisions regarding health care professional applications and terminations

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Cordell Cleare and 2 co-sponsors

Expands line-of-duty death benefits and public service scholarships: a $300,000 one-time payment to families and broader eligibility with tuition-fee waivers.

AMENDED ON THIRD READING 1911B
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Bill Summary · S 1911

Summary — S.1911 (Senate No. 1911)

Short title(s) appearing in the filing: Healthy Equipping And Lending Technical Help Panel Act (HEALTH Panel Act). However, the text of this Senate bill (Senate No. 1911 / John C. Velis) actually amends Massachusetts statutory provisions governing line‑of‑duty death benefits and related public service scholarships. The bill was filed Jan. 14, 2025 and has progressed through committee and floor actions; current status: COMMITTED TO RULES (June 13, 2025).

Purpose and intent

To expand and clarify who qualifies as a “deceased public employee” for line‑of‑duty death benefits, increase the one‑time killed‑in‑the‑line‑of‑duty payment, and broaden eligibility for a related public service scholarship program to include survivors of a wider class of public employees.

Key provisions

  • Amends Section 100A of Chapter 32:
    • Replaces existing subsection (c) to establish a one‑time killed‑in‑the‑line‑of‑duty payment of $300,000 to the family of a deceased public employee.
    • Defines “deceased public employee” to include employees of state or county government, Massachusetts public higher education institutions, municipalities, public school departments/districts, and public authorities who were killed or sustained injuries in the performance of duties that were the direct and proximate cause of death.
  • Amends subsection (d) of Section 100A to replace every reference to “public safety employee” with the broader term “public employee,” thereby extending applicable provisions beyond traditional public safety roles.
  • Amends Section 16 of Chapter 15A (public service scholarship program):
    • Expands scholarship eligibility to (i) children and widowed spouses of Massachusetts police, firefighters, corrections officers, and other public employees (as defined above) killed or who died from injuries received in the performance of duties, including authorized training duty; (ii) children of POWs or military/service members missing in action; and (iii) children of veterans credited to the Commonwealth killed in action or who otherwise died as a result of service.
    • Requires the council’s guidelines to include, among other things, a waiver of mandatory fees for eligible recipients attending Massachusetts institutions of higher education.

Who would be affected

  • Directly: families (survivors, widowed spouses, children) of qualifying public employees across state and local government entities, public higher education institutions, public school systems, and public authorities.
  • Indirectly: employers and administrative entities responsible for administering the benefit and scholarship programs; public colleges/universities (fee waivers may affect revenue/financial aid administration).
  • Fiscal agents: the Commonwealth’s funds or trust accounts that pay line‑of‑duty benefits and scholarship administrators.

Fiscal and administrative impact

  • The bill sets a fixed one‑time benefit of $300,000 per qualifying death; overall fiscal impact depends on the number of qualifying incidents annually. No dedicated funding source or offset is specified in the text provided.
  • Expanding scholarship eligibility and mandatory fee waivers may increase costs to state scholarship programs and reduce fee revenue at public institutions; administrative rules and guideline updates will be required.

Legislative status / timeline (selected)

  • Filed/Presented: Jan. 14, 2025 (Senate docket)
  • Referred to Health: Jan. 14, 2025
  • Hearing scheduled: May 28, 2025
  • Read twice & referred to Committee on the Budget: May 22, 2025
  • Advanced to Third Reading (House/Senate procedural entries): May 1, 2025
  • Committed to Rules: June 13, 2025
  • Reported favorably by committee and referred to Senate Ways & Means: Oct. 30, 2025

Notes / caveats

  • The bill text provided and metadata include some inconsistent titles and sponsor lists (multiple named sponsors and prior related bills). This summary relies on the statutory text amendments included in the filing (changes to Chapter 32 §100A and Chapter 15A §16).
  • No explicit appropriation or funding mechanism is included in the text provided; fiscal committees would normally evaluate budgetary impact in subsequent stages.

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

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