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Mass. bill would add UMass Lowell reactor staff to state retirement list
Summary
House Bill No. 2817, filed Jan. 10, 2025, would amend Chapter 32, Section 3 of the Massachusetts General Laws to include specified University of Massachusetts Lowell employees who operate or supervise the campus nuclear reactor in a special retirement category.
A bill filed Jan. 10, 2025, in the Massachusetts House would amend state retirement law to include specified University of Massachusetts Lowell employees who operate or supervise the campus nuclear reactor, sponsors said.
Representatives Rodney M. Elliott of the 16th Middlesex District and Tommy Vitolo of Brookline presented House Bill No. 2817 (House Docket No. 606) to the General Court. The filing lists ‘‘Public Service’’ as the committee assignment at the time of filing.
The bill text would amend Section 3 of Chapter 32 of the General Laws by inserting, after the word "managers;", a list of University of Massachusetts Lowell job titles. The titles named in the filed text are Director of Radiation Safety, Radiation Safety Specialist, Accelerator Supervisor, Radiation Services Manager, Nuclear Reactor Supervisor, Chief Reactor Operator, Nuclear Reactor Operator — professional, and Reactor Engineer.
If enacted, the bill would place employees holding those titles within the class of positions identified in Section 3; the filing does not itself change benefit formulas or specific retirement ages. The measure was introduced as a petition and, at filing, no committee action or vote had been recorded.
The bill continues an earlier effort: the filing notes similar matter in House No. 2512 from the 2023–2024 session. Further action on HB 2817 would proceed through the normal legislative process, including any hearings or committee votes by the House Committee on Public Service.
For now, the change exists only in the bill language submitted to the General Court; any impact on individual employees, payroll or agency responsibilities would depend on subsequent committee recommendations and votes by the full Legislature.
