Relative to a transfer of retirement benefits for Valeria D'Orazio an associate professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Summary
H4977 is a narrow, individual-specific retirement bill for Valeria D'Orazio, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. It directs the State Board of Retirement to grant her a one-time transfer of creditable service from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s optional retirement system, established under chapter 15A, section 40(3), into the state employees’ retirement system.
The bill is written as an emergency law, stating that immediate enactment is necessary to avoid defeating its purpose. In practical terms, it would allow the named employee to move retirement service credit between systems, which can affect eligibility, benefit calculation, and retirement status under state pension law.
Impact
The bill creates a special, one-person exception to existing retirement rules by overriding any contrary general or special law and requiring the State Board of Retirement to process the transfer of creditable service. Its effect is limited to Valeria D'Orazio, but it touches the administration of public employee pensions, the optional retirement system for Massachusetts Maritime Academy personnel, and the state employees’ retirement system. It does not broadly amend retirement statutes, but it establishes a specific statutory directive that pension administrators must follow for this individual.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or recorded vote information is available, so there is no documented debate or roll-call sentiment in the provided materials. Based on the bill text, the measure appears routine and supportive of the named employee’s retirement interests, with the emergency preamble indicating legislative intent to act quickly. The filing by a sponsoring representative and the absence of recorded opposition in the provided context suggest the bill is likely a private relief measure rather than a contested policy proposal.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the bill’s individualized nature: it grants a retirement benefit adjustment to a single named person rather than changing the law generally for all similarly situated employees. Such private or special legislation can raise fairness concerns about preferential treatment, precedent, and whether comparable cases should be handled through general policy instead. However, no specific objections, amendments, or opposing arguments are included in the provided record.