HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 968        FILED ON: 1/29/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3115

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Tackey Chan

_________________

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 ensuring equitable representation in the Commonwealth.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Tackey Chan

2nd Norfolk

1/29/2021

Vanna Howard

17th Middlesex

2/1/2021

Maria Duaime Robinson

6th Middlesex

2/1/2021

Mindy Domb

3rd Hampshire

2/3/2021

David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf

17th Worcester

2/8/2021

Rady Mom

18th Middlesex

2/16/2021

Donald H. Wong

9th Essex

2/19/2021

Sheila C. Harrington

1st Middlesex

2/24/2021

Tami L. Gouveia

14th Middlesex

2/26/2021

Michelle M. DuBois

10th Plymouth

2/26/2021

Joanne M. Comerford

Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester

3/24/2021

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

4/7/2021

Tram T. Nguyen

18th Essex

4/12/2021

Erika Uyterhoeven

27th Middlesex

4/22/2021

Natalie M. Higgins

4th Worcester

5/10/2021

Liz Miranda

5th Suffolk

8/5/2021

Jon Santiago

9th Suffolk

8/13/2021

Nika C. Elugardo

15th Suffolk

9/27/2021

Steven Ultrino

33rd Middlesex

10/18/2021

Tommy Vitolo

15th Norfolk

10/21/2021

Marcos A. Devers

16th Essex

10/22/2021

Mary S. Keefe

15th Worcester

11/4/2021

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

11/4/2021

Steven C. Owens

29th Middlesex

11/11/2021

Jay D. Livingstone

8th Suffolk

11/15/2021


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 968        FILED ON: 1/29/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3115

By Mr. Chan of Quincy, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3115) of Tackey Chan and others for legislation to require that government agencies make certain demographic data available to the public.  State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

 

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2681 OF 2019-2020.]

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

_______________

 

An Act ensuring equitable representation in the Commonwealth.

 

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. Chapter 6A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 104 the following section:-

Section 105.

For the purposes of this section “government agency” shall be defined as any state agency, quasi-state agency, sub-divisions of a state agency, or board, commission or entity created by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Every government agency that collects demographic data  as to the race or ethnicity of residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall use separate collection and tabulations for the following: (i) each major Asian group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Laotian, Cambodian, Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Nepalese, Burmese, Tibetan, and Thai; (ii) each major Pacific Islander group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including but not limited to, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Fijian and Tongan; (iii) other Asian or Pacific Islander group; (iv) each major Black or African American group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including but not limited to African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Cape Verdean, and Somali; (v) each major Latino group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including but not limited to, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican and Colombian; and (vi) each major White or Caucasian group, as reported by the United States Census Bureau, including but not limited to, German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and French. Individuals may choose more than one subgroup, write in their own, or choose the aggregate category.  If collection of data on race or ethnicity was not previously conducted or required then the information in this section shall not apply. Individuals not participating in this data collection shall not be denied services. No government agency shall fill out racial or ethnic information unless directed by the individual.  

Except for Personal Identifying Information, which shall be deemed confidential, each government agency shall make the data available to the public in accordance with state and federal law. Personal Identifying Information is defined as information: (i) that directly identifies an individual (e.g., name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code) or (ii) by which an agency intends to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, which shall include indirect identification which can compile an identity, such as a combination of gender, race, birth date, geographic indicator, and other descriptors. Additionally, information permitting the physical or online contacting of a specific individual is the same as personally identifiable information. This information can be maintained in either paper, electronic or other media. To prevent identification of individuals, the information may be aggregated into data categories at a state, county, city, census tract, or ZIP code to facilitate comparisons, identify disparities, and be part of studies and reports. This paragraph shall not be construed to prevent any other government agency from posting data collected on the agency’s website, in a manner prescribed in this section.

The Executive Office of Administration and Finance shall establish regulations and guidelines on the collection of demographic data, which may include a standardized form for information collection, expanding the categories of race or ethnicity, a standard format for agencies to make data publicly available and to update said data on an annual basis, a method to ensure no personal identifying information is publically released, a standardized written disclosure to the individual filling the form out that this information collected is voluntary, nonparticipation of completing the form will have no impact of eligibility on state services, annual cost impact and annual review on the successfulness of collecting information. There shall at least be one annual public hearing about the implementation or changes in the regulations and guidelines. A report on the progress of data collection shall be provided to the House and Senate Clerks and the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight every August 1st of each year.      

All data collected by the state shall be subject to both state and federal privacy laws; including Title 13 of the U.S. Code and Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93H, Section 2(c).

SECTION 2.  Paragraph  4 of Section 1 shall go into effect on January 1, 2021.  The remainder of the act shall go into effect on January 1, 2022.