SENATE DOCKET, NO. 114        FILED ON: 1/13/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2162

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Diana DiZoglio

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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 transparency, accountability, and fairness impacting utility rates.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 114        FILED ON: 1/13/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2162

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1954 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

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

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An Act relative to transparency, accountability, and fairness impacting utility rates.

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 25 of the General Laws shall be amended by inserting the following after Section 18A:

Section 18B

(a) Public utility companies licensed to do business within the commonwealth shall disclose: the annual total compensation package of the Chief Executive Officer of the operations in the commonwealth even if said operation is a subsidiary of a larger publicly traded utility required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to disclose employment compensation information of its parent company and not its subsidiaries or divisions.

(b) Publicly traded utilities shall disclose the median annual total compensation of all its employees, including any contractors, except the Chief Executive Officer. It shall disclose the ratio of these two amounts. Each company must determine its own median and may not rely on industry estimates or Bureau of Labor Statistics. The calculation shall include only individuals working for the utility who work in the commonwealth. Utilities may seek guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s interpretation of calculating a median for purposes of the Dodd-Frank law.

(c) All publicly traded utilities subject to taxation in the commonwealth must pay a surtax on the tax paid if the CEO-to-median worker compensation ratio is equal to or above 100:1. If the ratio is equal to or above 100:1 but less than 250:1, the surtax is 10%. If the ratio is equal to or above 250:1 the surtax is 25%. All taxes collected under this section shall be deposited into the Department of Utilities Disaster Mitigation Trust Fund created in GL c. 25 Section 12Q.

(d) Any publicly traded utility subject to taxation pursuant to paragraph 3 of this section shall be prohibited from raising rates until such time as the pay ratio is in compliance with the 100:1 ratio.