State-mandated costs of municipal employment
Official text rightpowerlimitif conditionlegal term
No law imposing additional costs upon two or more cities or towns by the regulation of the compensation, hours, status, conditions or benefits of municipal employment shall be effective in any city or town until such law is accepted by vote or by the appropriation of money for such purposes, in the case of a city, by the city council in accordance with its charter, and in the case of a town, by a town meeting or town council, unless such law has been enacted by a two-thirds vote of each house of the present and voting thereon, or unless the , at the same session in which such law is enacted, has provided for the assumption by the commonwealth of such additional cost.
Simplified explanation
A law imposing additional costs on two or more cities or towns by regulating municipal employment is not effective in a city or town until accepted there, unless enacted by a two-thirds vote of each house or the general court provides for the commonwealth to assume the cost.