FILED ON: 3/7/2016

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2166

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act to relative to the hiring of persons with a disability.

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

SECTION 1. Section 61 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (r) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 subsections:-

(r) SDO shall, in consultation with the Massachusetts office on disability, the department of mental health, the department of developmental services, the Massachusetts rehabilitation commission, the Massachusetts commission for the blind, the Massachusetts commission for the deaf and hard of hearing, develop standards to identify and recruit, with the intent to hire, qualified applicants with disabilities.  The standards shall apply to all contractors and sub-contractors providing goods and services under contracts or grants funded by state agencies within the executive offices. Those standards shall include, but shall not be limited to,  a commitment to hiring persons with a disability and providing training and education to all state employees involved in hiring decisions pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.

SDO shall submit to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives a report on the standards and recruitment efforts of the preceding year by not later than February 15 of each year.  The clerks of the senate and the house of representatives shall forward the same to the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the joint committee on labor and workforce development. The report shall, at a minimum, describe the office’s efforts and progress in developing and implementing the standards and detail the number of persons by enumerating percentages with a disability employed by state agencies within the executive offices at the beginning and end of each contract period.

(s) The director shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the supplier diversity office shall provide notice to the general court prior to the effective date of regulations promulgated pursuant to subsection (r) of section 61 of chapter 7 of the General Laws.

SECTION 3.  The supplier diversity office shall file a report with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives which shall include recommendations on how to best measure employment rates of persons with a disability by all contractors and sub-contractors providing goods and services under contracts or grants funded by state agencies within the executive offices not later than March 15, 2017.