FILED ON: 3/29/2012

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4014

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Twelve

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An Act to ensure diversity in proposal review teams.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 6 the following section:–

  Section 62.   Any state agency or quasi-public nonprofit corporation that solicits state funding through a request for proposals shall ensure , when possible, that there is a diverse group of individuals to evaluate the proposals.   In selecting the members of the proposal review group, the chief procurement officer shall include a sufficient number of individuals to adequately reflect the geographic area and demographics of the population to be served through the grant program under review.   If a state agency or quasi-public nonprofit corporation is unable to ensure that there is a diverse group of individuals to evaluate proposals, it shall issue a written statement explaining why having a diverse proposal review group is not possible under the circumstances.