SENATE DOCKET, NO. 3166        FILED ON: 5/17/2022

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

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 expanding equal opportunity in state contracting for LGBTQ+ businesses.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 3166        FILED ON: 5/17/2022

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

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

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An Act relative to expanding equal opportunity in state contracting for LGBTQ+ businesses.

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. Section 58 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Diverse business” and inserting in place thereof the following definitions:-

“Composite diverse business enterprise” or “CDBE”, for the purpose of receipt of services from SDO, means a business enterprise that is both owned and controlled by a combination of persons specified in the definitions of minority business enterprise, women business enterprise, veteran business enterprise, service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprise, disability-owned business enterprise or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business enterprise, and any other certification category as established by statute or executive order, who have invested in an ongoing business free of conversion rights, which does not otherwise meet such definitions.

“Diverse business”, a minority business enterprise, women business enterprise, veteran business enterprise, service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprise, disability-owned business enterprise, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business enterprise or composite diverse business enterprise, and any other certification category as established by statute or executive order.

SECTION 2. Section 61 of said chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

Section 61. (a) SDO shall adopt regulations and policies for the establishment and management of the office’s diverse business certification process, including regulations and policies governing the streamlining, approval, denial or revocation of any such certification and for cross-certification by other recognized certification organizations of diverse businesses. Said regulations and policies shall include, but not be limited to, a process for direct certification by SDO for each category of diverse business regardless of the existence of other recognized certification organizations of diverse businesses, and a universal process across categories of diverse businesses to reduce redundancies in the application for certification and to eliminate duplication of associated certification fees for business enterprises qualifying under more than one category of diverse business.

SDO shall develop and manage a small business certification process consistent with section 22O.

The SDO may also provide other procurement-related business certification services for certification categories and programs managed by other agencies if it would result in greater efficiencies to the commonwealth and the businesses applying for certification.

SECTION 3. Said section 61 of said chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after subsection (u) the following subsection:

(v) The SDO shall, every 2 years, establish goals for participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender businesses in all areas of state procurement contracting, including contracts for public construction, design services and commodities and service. In calculating such goals, the SDO shall base the determination on an understanding of the pool of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender businesses available for participation, and shall consult with the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce or other appropriate state agencies or organizations in obtaining such understanding. The SDO shall provide assistance to the secretariats in determining opportunities for contracting with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender businesses to meet the participation goals set forth in this subsection, including contractors and subcontractors providing goods and services under multi-year contracts or grants funded by agencies within the executive offices.

The SDO shall include in the annual report set forth in subsection (l) an update concerning the progress made toward meeting the participation goals set forth in this subsection.

SECTION 4. The SDO shall establish an initial goal for participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender businesses in all areas of state procurement contracting, including contracts for public construction, design services and commodities and service, of not less than 3% of the dollar value of awarded contracts or grants funded by agencies within the executive offices for fiscal year 2023.