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H 3159

Law enforcement officers

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Jay Kilmartin and 3 co-sponsors

Creates an advisory council on family caregiving and a state respite voucher program to help unpaid caregivers with up to $1,500/year in eligible respite costs.

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Wickensimer
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Bill Summary · H 3159

Summary — H.3159 (House Docket No. 3456): "An Act supporting family caregivers"

Bill at a glance

  • Bill number: H 3159 (House Docket No. 3456)
  • Primary sponsors: Rep. Michael P. Kushmerek and Rep. David M. Rogers (additional sponsors added)
  • Subject: Establishes an advisory council on family caregiving and creates a caregiver respite voucher program; includes reporting and administrative requirements.
  • Referred: Committee on Revenue (2/27/2025). Other procedural actions include earlier referral to Judiciary and multiple sponsor additions. Hearing scheduled for 09/16/2025 (per docket).

Purpose / intent

To strengthen supports for unpaid family caregivers in Massachusetts by (1) creating a permanent advisory council to guide state caregiving policy and (2) establishing a state-funded respite voucher program to offset respite care costs for eligible family caregivers.

Key provisions

1. Advisory Council on Family Caregiving (new §16GG in Chapter 6A)

  • Membership: Secretaries (or designees) of Health & Human Services, Aging & Independence, Public Health, Veterans’ Services, Labor & Workforce Development; House and Senate chairs (or designees) of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs; plus 10 gubernatorial appointees chosen to maximize geographic/demographic diversity: 2 caregiver advocates, 2 family caregivers, 2 health care providers, 2 representatives from state-based academic institutions (including one gerontologist), and 2 representatives of state-based advocacy organizations serving caregivers.
  • Duties: Meet at least quarterly; advise the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) and the General Court; identify resources, service gaps and costs.
  • Reporting: Annual report due March 1 to EOHHS, clerks of the legislature, and relevant joint committees. Reports must include recommendations and an evaluation of state-funded caregiving efforts (research, clinical care, institutional, home- and community-based services).

2. Respite Voucher Program (new §4E in Chapter 19A)

  • Definitions provided for “activities of daily living,” “eligible family member,” “family caregiver,” and “respite services.”
  • Voucher benefit: Pays up to 100% of eligible respite expenditures, capped at $1,500 per family caregiver per year.
  • Income eligibility: Individual annual income ≤ $135,000 OR combined household income ≤ $250,000. One year after enactment—and annually thereafter—income limits increase to reflect any Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.
  • Eligible expenses: Costs associated with respite services.
  • Limits: Prohibits duplicate claims for the same expenditures by more than one caregiver.
  • Administration: Secretary of the Executive Office of Aging and Independence to promulgate implementing regulations.
  • Reporting: Annual report (due Sept. 1) to House and Senate Ways & Means and Joint Committee on Elder Affairs listing caregiver respite voucher usage totals by municipality.

Who is affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: Unpaid family caregivers (Massachusetts residents) who care for eligible family members requiring assistance with at least one activity of daily living and who meet the income limits.
  • Providers/administrators: Respite service providers, the Executive Office of Aging & Independence, EOHHS, and municipal agencies (for reporting).
  • Policy stakeholders: State agencies named to the advisory council, legislative committees receiving reports.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Advisory council must produce its first annual report by March 1 following enactment and then annually thereafter.
  • Respite voucher income thresholds will be adjusted annually beginning one year after enactment to mirror Social Security COLA (if any).
  • Annual municipal-level voucher-claim reporting due each Sept. 1.

Additional notes / docket irregularities

  • The posted bill text in the provided materials truncates Section 3 (references to chapter 62 §6) so any tax-related provisions referenced there are not available in the supplied text.
  • The version content also includes unrelated South Carolina statutory language about retired law enforcement officers and concealed-carry permits; that material appears to be extraneous and is not part of H.3159.

If you would like, I can:
- Draft a one-page brief highlighting fiscal and implementation considerations; or
- Extract the exact statutory text for inclusion in a legislative bill tracker once the truncated Section 3 is available.

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

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