Bill S.47

This bill establishes certification requirements for professionals and para-professionals that provide services to deaf or hard of hearing pupils pursuant to an individualized education plan. It would also establish an advisory council on the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and would require the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide schools with information on the educational, medical, cultural and linguistic issues of deafness.

Bill S.106 

This bill would make a Massachusetts Identification Card an acceptable proof of age for the purchase of alcoholic beverages.

Bill S.107

This bill would prohibit the simulcast betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs in the Commonwealth after be January 1, 2013.

S. 106
This legislation protects Massachusetts consumers against aggressive telephone calls from creditors in the same way that they are currently protected against such phone calls from collection agencies.  Many Massachusetts residents are harassed by creditors who call the alleged debtor multiple times a day and demand payment or threaten to file lawsuits.  This is particularly a problem for the elderly on fixed incomes because many have found themselves indebted to credit card companies.  Often a telephone is an elder’s only connection to a child, a doctor, emergency services, and the world, but these constant calls have made some elders hesitant to answer the telephone.

Bill S.1852

S 240
This legislation would treat established charter schools like other public schools.  In calculating a district’s chapter 70 aid, DESE bases first quarter payments on the previous year’s enrollment.  Subsequent quarters would be based on actual figures submitted by the school. This bill would calculate charter school enrollment in an identical manner, except in the case of charter schools that have been open less than five years or charter schools that have received approval from DESE to increase enrollment in the past year.  In these cases first quarter tuition payments would be based on their previous year's enrollment figure, with payments in subsequent quarters based on actual enrollment figures as of October 1. For charter schools that have been open less than five years or schools that have received approval from DESE to increase enrollment in the past yea, first quarter payments will be based on projected enrollment figures.
 

S. 238
This legislation would require sign language proficiency (American Sign Language/Total Communication) for certification as a teacher of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.  It also requires the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Department of Secondary Education to jointly develop a timetable for the assessment of registered education interpreters' proficiency in sign language interpretation.

S 241
Most communities in the state have a cap of 9% on the amount of tuition that can be sent to charter schools.  However, communities in the bottom 10% of MCAS scores have an 18% cap.  This legislation would determine the lowest 10% of communities, for the purposes of lifting the cap, using the growth rather than static measures.

s 239
Most communities in the state have a cap of 9% on the amount of tuition that can be sent to charter schools.  However, communities in the bottom 10% of MCAS scores have an 18% cap.  This legislation would determine the lowest 10% of communities, for the purposes of lifting the cap, using the growth rather than static measures.

S 581
The bill would apply sections 11A and 11A½ of chapter 30A of the General Laws to meetings of the Trustees of the University of Massachusetts held for the purpose of awarding honorary degrees or tenure.  The trustees may hold an executive session to consider the award of honorary degrees.  Executive sessions may also be held to consider an award of tenure to a member of the faculty if the member consents, provided that certain procedural requirements are met.

S 1233
This bill would allow part-time faculty of one or more state higher education institutions, including a division of continuing education, to be eligible for membership in the state-retirement system.  This legislation is limited to faculty members who teach at least two three-credit courses per semester or four three or more credit courses per calendar year, at one or more higher education institutions. 

Bill S.293

Despite efforts to increase options for people to receive long term care supports in settings other than nursing homes, there will always be some need for 24-hour skilled nursing care that cannot be met in many community-based settings including in individuals’ own homes or assisted living.  There is a growing movement to create small house nursing homes (such as the Green House ™) that create truly residential environments where individuals can receive the skilled care they need. This legislation would establish a task force to identify the barriers to small house development in Massachusetts and propose recommendations to encourage the development of small house nursing homes in Massachusetts.

Bill S.294
The bill establishes an advisory committee on residential care facilities (rest homes). The committee would review the status of RCFs in Massachusetts, including the profile of their residents, the role of RCFs in the long term care system/aging network and related regulatory and reimbursement barriers.  The committee will make recommendations to EOHHS on a quarterly basis.

Bill S.274

This  legislation aims  to establish further consumer protections for residents of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) by ensuring the ability of residents to participate in resident associations, engage in communications with management, as well as gain adequate, timely access to information regarding future contract changes, facilities’ planning and financial statements.

S 292
This legislation will:
• Allow ASAPs to create 24/7 residential programs with services as alternatives to nursing home placement
• Allow people to seamlessly transfer from an acute care setting to community care while their Medicaid application is being finalized.
• Allow a spouse to be a paid caregiver to keep a loved one out of an institution.
• Broaden the Personal Care Attendant program to help people who have some form of cognitive impairment that requires them to be supervised or cued to accomplish the daily activities of living.

S 295
This legislation would create an Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Acute Care Advisory Committee to:
• Craft a strategy to address dementia-capable care in all acute care settings in the Commonwealth
• Present a strategy to state legislature and all pertinent state agencies and departments as well as participate in implementing said strategy
• Help ensure acute care settings are dementia-capable
• Coordinate with federal government bodies to integrate and inform dementia-capable care in acute care settings
• Provide information and coordination of Alzheimer’s and related dementia care in acute care settings across state agencies