HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2082        FILED ON: 2/16/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3157

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Patricia A. Haddad

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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 to ensure gender parity and racial and ethnic diversity on public boards and commissions.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2082        FILED ON: 2/16/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3157

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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

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An Act to ensure gender parity and racial and ethnic diversity on public boards and commissions.

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. All appointive boards and commissions of the state established by the Code, if not otherwise provided by law, shall be gender, racially and ethnically balanced. No person shall be appointed or reappointed to any board or commission established by the Code if that appointment or reappointment would cause the number of members of the board or commission of one gender to be greater than one-half the membership of the board or commission plus one if the board or commission is composed of an odd number of members. If the board or commission is composed of an even number of members not more than one-half of the membership shall be of one gender. Appointing authorities shall make a focused effort to appoint women of color to all boards and commissions, including, but not limited to, developing and implementing a plan to attract and recruit women of color; and working with community based and professional organizations with large networks of people and women of color. The racial and ethnic composition of each board and commission must, at minimum, reflect the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities in the general population. If there are multiple appointing authorities for a board or commission they shall consult each other to avoid a violation of this section.

SECTION 2. All appointive boards, commissions, committees, and councils of a political subdivision of the state that are established by the Code, if not otherwise provided by law, shall be gender balanced as provided by subsection 1 unless the political subdivision has made a good faith effort to appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy on a board, commission, committee, or council in compliance with subsection 1 for a period of three months but has been unable to make a compliant appointment. In complying with the requirements of this subsection, political subdivisions shall utilize a fair and unbiased method of selecting the best qualified applicants. This subsection shall not prohibit an individual whose term expires prior to January 1, 2022, from being reappointed even though the reappointment continues an inequity in gender balance.

SECTION 3. To track and measure progress, an annual report must be published by the governor's office, annually, with support from The Commission on the Status of Women that provides: (1) Demographic data provided by all public board and commission applicants relative to ethnicity, race, gender identity and sexual orientation; (2) Demographic data provided by all public board and commission nominees or appointees relative to ethnicity, race, gender identity and sexual orientation; (3) Any demographic data disclosed or released pursuant to this sectional shall disclose only aggregated statistical data and shall not identify an individual applicant, nominee or appointed board member or commissioner.

SECTION 4. The proposed legislation shall exclude all public boards, commissions, committees, and councils who serve as municipal housing authorities under the “Housing and Economic Development” policy area.

SECTION 5. The legislation proposed shall not apply to those public boards, commissions, committees, or councils whose core mission is to enhance opportunities forspecified gender, race, or ethnicity, and whose membership can be comprised of more than 50% of that gender, race, or ethnicity.