FILED ON: 8/10/2018

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4887

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act providing for a special legislative commission to study certain joint support programs.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide for a special legislative commission to study certain joint support programs, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

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

(a) There shall be a special commission, governed by section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws, to study data related to programs that provide joint support for stable housing and to increase economic self-sufficiency. The commission shall examine various program components, program outcomes including changes in earned income, education and state and federally funded services and the feedback of participants and those not enrolled in programs, for the purpose of producing a report with recommendations for criteria for economic mobility and financial stability programs for families and individuals with extremely low incomes, as defined by the federal United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, that may be offered across the commonwealth. The commission shall examine the impacts of cliff effects on households with low incomes and determine ways to adjust assistance in response to changes in income, including automatic adjustments tied to minimum wage increases.

(b)  The commission shall be chaired by the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities. The commission shall consist of, but shall not be limited to, the following members or their designees: the secretary of administration and finance; secretary of education; the secretary of labor and workforce development; the undersecretary of housing and economic development, the commissioner of transitional assistance; the president of the senate; the speaker of the house of representatives; the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on housing; the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on labor and workforce development; and 1 representative of each of the following organizations: Abt Associates; Cambridge housing authority; Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance; Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Inc.; Compass Collaborative; CONNECT; Economic Mobility Pathways, Inc.; Father Bill’s & MainSpring; Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority; Homes for Families, Inc.; Housing Assistance Corporation; Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Organizations; Massachusetts Association for Community Action; Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless; Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Inc.; Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, Inc.; Metro Housing Boston; MIDAS Collaborative, Inc.; Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, Inc.; United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Inc.; United Way of Merrimack Valley, Inc.; the University of Massachusetts center for social policy; Way Finders; and People Acting in Community Endeavors, Inc.

(c)  The commission shall file a report of its findings and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry out the recommendations, with the clerks of the the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate and chairs of the joint committee on housing and the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than December 31, 2019.