State Representative Natalie Higgins and Senator Jen Flanagan Announce Passage of Home Rule Petition for Leominster to Pay Unpaid Bill

For Immediate Release                     Contact: Natalie Higgins, 978-602-3772
July 21, 2017                           Natalie.Higgins@mahouse.gov

State Representative Natalie Higgins and Senator Jen Flanagan Announce Passage of Home Rule Petition for Leominster to Pay Unpaid Bill
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Boston: State Representative Natalie Higgins and Senator Jen Flanagan, both of Leominster announced this week that a home rule petition filed for the City of Leominster for an unpaid bill has passed by both houses of the Legislature and sent to Governor Baker’s desk to be signed into law. Representative Higgins and Senator Flanagan filed SB1132 in order to allow the City of Leominster to pay D-E Corporation money owed from 2014.

Leominster’s Office of Emergency Management hired D-E Corporation in November 2014 to repair the agency’s heating system, at a cost of $33,000. However, there was no bidding process, citing an emergency with the fast approaching winter. As a result, Leominster only paid the first $9,999, as state law stipulates that all municipal projects costing more than $10,000 must be sent out to bid. This left D-E Corporation with an unpaid bill of nearly $23,500. The bill was filed by Representative Dennis Rosa and Senator Flanagan in the 2015-2016 session, but expired in the House when the session ended. Additionally, in 2014, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a home rule petition to allow payment of an unpaid bill of $77,000 to S.J. Mullaney Engineering Inc. for work completed in 2013.

“I am happy to get this legislation through the House of Representatives for D-E Corporation so that they can receive their full payment from the City of Leominster,” said Representative Higgins. “It is not D-E Corporation’s fault that the proper protocols were not followed. Small businesses like D-E Corp. and S.J. Mullaney Engineering Inc. should not have to wait nearly three years for their payment from a municipality. In the future, I hope the city of Leominster sends out these projects to bid when required by state law.”  
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