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H 4324

North Augusta girls basketball champs

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Alexander and 122 co-sponsors

Creates a one-off sick leave bank for ATB employee Stephanie Bramante Miller, funded by voluntary ATB donations; used only for her illness; administered by ATB; immediate effect.

Introduced and adopted
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · H 4324

Summary — H.4324 (2025): Establishing a sick leave bank for Stephanie Bramante Miller

Note on file contents: The public filing for H.4324 contains two distinct items — (1) a Massachusetts bill titled “An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Stephanie Bramante Miller, an employee of the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board,” and (2) a separate South Carolina House resolution recognizing the North Augusta High School girls basketball team. These are unrelated; this summary covers the Massachusetts sick‑leave bill (H.4324).

Main purpose and intent

H.4324 creates, by special act, a one‑off sick leave bank for a named employee, Stephanie Bramante Miller, who works for the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board. The purpose is to allow coworkers to voluntarily donate leave days to support that employee for an illness or disability.

Key provisions

  • Creates a sick leave bank specifically for Stephanie Bramante Miller at the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board.
  • Operative language begins with “Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary,” making this an employee‑specific exception to ordinary leave rules.
  • Any Appellate Tax Board employee may voluntarily contribute one or more sick, personal, or vacation days to the bank.
  • Use of the bank is limited to absences related to the illness or disability that prompted the bank’s creation; the Appellate Tax Board determines whether an absence qualifies.
  • If Ms. Miller terminates employment or requests dissolution of the sick leave bank, any remaining donated time is transferred to the agency’s extended illness leave bank.
  • The bill is declared an emergency law in its preamble, stating that deferred operation would defeat its purpose; this makes the act effective immediately upon enactment.

Who is affected

  • Direct beneficiary: Stephanie Bramante Miller (named employee).
  • Potential donors: Employees of the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board (voluntary contributors of leave days).
  • Employer/administrator: Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board — responsible for accepting donations, administering the bank, determining qualifying absences, and transferring unused days if required.
  • Fiscal impact: No direct appropriation; transfers are of existing leave balances. Administrative tracking may impose minor operational requirements on the Appellate Tax Board.

Sponsors and procedural/timeline notes

  • Petitioners/sponsors listed: Rep. Sally P. Kerans, Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, Rep. Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
  • Filed as House Docket No. 4907 (filed 7/10/2025); introduced July 16, 2025.
  • Committee and floor actions (selected):
    • 7/10–7/17/2025: Referred to committee(s) (House Rules; Joint Rules; Public Service).
    • 7/24/2025: Senate concurred.
    • 8/04–8/07/2025: Reported favorably by committee; rules suspended; read and ordered to third reading.
    • 8/14/2025: Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed.
    • 8/18/2025: Read, rules suspended, read second and ordered to a third reading.
  • The bill’s emergency preamble means it is intended to take effect immediately upon enactment.

Practical impact and considerations

  • Very narrow, individualized relief: the act benefits a single, named employee and does not change general leave law for others.
  • Uses only voluntarily donated leave; no new paid time off is created by the Commonwealth.
  • Sets an administrative precedent for employee‑specific, legislatively authorized leave banks; similar special‑act leave banks are occasionally used for state employees with extraordinary medical need.
  • The bill text contains an apparent drafting inconsistency (the emergency clause references the Massachusetts Department of Transportation while the substantive provision names the Appellate Tax Board) — the intended agency for administration is the Appellate Tax Board per the operative text.

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

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