SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1741        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 724

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Linda Dorcena Forry

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the Economic Mobility and Stability Program.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1741        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 724

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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

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An Act relative to the Economic Mobility and Stability Program.

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.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary; there is hereby established a special commission to study data related to programs that provide joint support for stable housing and to increase economic self-sufficiency, 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 an economic mobility and financial stability program for families and individuals with extremely low incomes, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, that can be offered across the Commonwealth. The commission shall examine the impact 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.

SECTION 2. The commission shall be chaired by the House and Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. The commission shall consist of, but not limited to, the following members or their designees:

(a) The secretary of education; the secretary of the department of labor and workforce development; the undersecretary of the department of housing and community development; the commissioner of the department 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;

(b) One representative of each of the following organizations: Abt Associates, Cambridge Housing Authority, Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Compass Collaborative, CONNECT, Economic Mobility Pathways, Homes for Families, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Organizations, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, MIDAS Collaborative, Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, the University of Massachusetts Center for Social Policy.

SECTION 3. 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 senate and the house of representatives, the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on housing, and the house and senate committees on ways and means within 6 months of the passage of this act.