Number 1 July 1, 1971

Number 1 July 1, 1971 The Honorable Richard E. McLaughlin Registrar of Motor Vehicles 100 Nashua Street Boston, Massachusetts 02114 Dear Registrar McLaughlin: You have requested my opinion on the following question: "May the specific law-enforcement positions in this agency which were upgraded under the provisions of Chapter 837 of the Acts of 1970, effective November 26, 1970, be upgraded by subsequent budget action or may they only be upgraded again by specific legislation?" You state that the particular positions which were reallocated to higher job groups by St. 1970, c. 837 had formerly been assigned to job groups in accordance with G.L. c. 30, §45, by the Director of Personnel and Standardization (the Director). You state further that you have re- quested that one of the positions upgraded by St. 1970, c. 837 be further upgraded by the Director, and that the request has been approved. The question has now arisen whether in view of c. 837 such approval is effec- tive. In answer to your question, it is my opinion that notwithstanding St. 1970, c. 837, a reallocation of the position may be made by the Director pursuant to G.L. c. 30, §45, without the need for a special act of the Legislature. General Laws, c. 30, §45, requires the Director to establish and ad- minister an office and position classification plan and a pay plan of the Commonwealth. He is directed in paragraph (4) to "allocate, as pro- vided in paragraph five of this section, each such office or position to the appropriate job group in the salary schedule set forth in section forty- six, . . . and he may from time to time, in like manner reallocate any such office or position ..." (emphasis added.) Paragraph (5) of §45 provides that no permanent allocation or reallocation of any office or position shall be effected until certain conditions have been fulfilled, among them the approval by the Director of a request for reallocation, the filing of the Director's recommendation with the Budget Director and the Committees on Ways and Means of the House and Senate, to be considered as a part of the budget preparation, and its inclusion in a schedule of permanent offices and positions approved by the joint Committee on Ways and Means. Section 6 of St. 1970, c. 480, the General Appropriations Act for fiscal 1971, provides in part: "Amounts included for permanent positions in sums ap- propriated in section two for personal services are based upon schedules of permanent positions and salary rates ap- P.D. 12 37 proved by the joint committee on ways and means, and, ex- cept as otherwise shown by the files of said committee, . . . no part of sums so appropriated in section two shall be avail- able for . . . payments on account of reallocations of perma- nent positions ..." (Emphasis added.) In other words, once an office or position has been included in the general schedule approved by the joint Committee on Ways and Means, and considered as part of the budget, that office or position is frozen into its designated job group for the fiscal year. Certain exceptions to this rule were made by St. 1970, c. 837, "An Act Increasing The Salary Ranges of Certain" state employees. Chapter 837 provided in §1: "Notwithstanding any provision of section six of chapter four hundred and eighty of the acts of the current year or any other provision of law to the contrary, the director of person- nel and standardization is hereby authorized and directed to reallocate . . . (certain) positions in the general salary schedule of the commonwealth to . . . (certain higher) job groups ..." Of course the Legislature had the power to assign by special act the particular positions listed in c. 837 to the new job groups on a permanent basis regardless of the provisions of G.L. c. 30, §45. See Boston Elev. Ry v. Commonwealth, 310 Mass. 528, 551. However, a special act should not be interpreted as amending or otherwise affecting the general laws unless there is evident a "clear legislative intent" that it do so. See Burke v. Gloucester, Mass. Adv. Sh. (1970) 1339, 1341; 1961 Op. A.G. 98, 100. It is evident from the terms of c. 837 that it was intended as merely a special act of temporary application, in order to allow a reallo- cation of certain positions to higher job groups for fiscal 1971, even though those reallocations had not been considered as part of the budget before enactment of the appropriations act. It was not intended either to freeze those certain positions permanently into the new job groups or to limit the authority of the Director to reallocate those positions to differ- ent job groups for a subsequent fiscal year under G.L. c. 30, §45. Chapter 837 specifically refers to St. 1970, c. 480, §6 the Appropria- tions Act for Fiscal 1971. By its terms, c. 837 amounts to an amendment of or supplement to the Appropriations Act, and should be construed as applicable only to the fiscal year 1971. See Roccaforte v. Mulcahey, 169 F. Supp. 360, 363 (D. Mass. 1958). In addition, the Legislature in c. 837 "authorized and directed" the Director to reallocate the listed positions rather than simply declaring the reallocations. It is clear that there was no intention on the part of the Legislature to take from the Director the authority to reallocate those positions in the future according to the usual procedure prescribed in G.L. c. 30, §45. Consequently, no special act of the Legislature is necessary for a reallocation of the positions for fiscal years subsequent to fiscal 1971. Very truly yours, ROBERT H. QUINN Attorney General 38 P.D. 12