§ 222 — State agencies; responsibilities

[ Text of section added by 2023, 28, Sec. 6 effective July 1, 2023. See 2023, 28, Sec. 115.]Section 222. (a) For the purposes of this section, "state agency'' shall mean the executive and judicial branches of the government of the commonwealth, any special legislative commission created by the general court and any agency, department or quasi-state agency(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a state agency required by law to file reports with the general court or a committee thereof shall provide an electronic copy of the report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives. The clerks of the senate and house of representatives shall: (i) make all such reports available online to the public in an accessible, searchable format through the general court's website; and (ii) create and maintain an archive of all such reports that is available online in a searchable format. The clerks of the senate and house of representatives shall develop procedures and requirements for the preparation of such reports to facilitate their collection and storage. A state agency submitting a report shall notify, in writing, every entity that is required by law to receive the report of the availability of the report on the general court's website and of the means of accessing the report. A state agency shall provide a hard copy of any such report upon request from an entity that is required by law to receive the report. Compliance with this section shall fulfill any general or special law requirement for the filing of a report by a state agency with the general court.