HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2185
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Andres X. Vargas
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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 provide fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education.
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PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: | Date Added: |
Andres X. Vargas | 3rd Essex | 1/17/2025 |
Lindsay N. Sabadosa | 1st Hampshire | 1/27/2025 |
Vanna Howard | 17th Middlesex | 1/31/2025 |
Michael D. Brady | Second Plymouth and Norfolk | 1/31/2025 |
Christopher Richard Flanagan | 1st Barnstable | 1/31/2025 |
Rodney M. Elliott | 16th Middlesex | 1/31/2025 |
Danillo A. Sena | 37th Middlesex | 1/31/2025 |
Erika Uyterhoeven | 27th Middlesex | 2/6/2025 |
Jacob R. Oliveira | Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester | 2/12/2025 |
Natalie M. Higgins | 4th Worcester | 2/12/2025 |
James K. Hawkins | 2nd Bristol | 2/12/2025 |
Margaret R. Scarsdale | 1st Middlesex | 2/20/2025 |
Mike Connolly | 26th Middlesex | 2/20/2025 |
Mindy Domb | 3rd Hampshire | 2/24/2025 |
James B. Eldridge | Middlesex and Worcester | 3/3/2025 |
James C. Arena-DeRosa | 8th Middlesex | 3/3/2025 |
David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf | 17th Worcester | 3/11/2025 |
Michael P. Kushmerek | 3rd Worcester | 3/31/2025 |
James J. O'Day | 14th Worcester | 4/7/2025 |
Adam J. Scanlon | 14th Bristol | 4/9/2025 |
Marjorie C. Decker | 25th Middlesex | 4/9/2025 |
Michelle L. Badger | 1st Plymouth | 4/16/2025 |
Leigh Davis | 3rd Berkshire | 5/5/2025 |
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2185
By Representative Vargas of Haverhill, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2185) of Andres X. Vargas and others relative to wages and benefits for employees of public institutions of higher education. Labor and Workforce Development. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to provide fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education.
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 6 of said chapter 29 is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
The operating budget in the current and ensuing fiscal years shall include the appropriation necessary to fund all incremental cost items for all years covered by any collective bargaining agreement to which either the board of trustees of the university of Massachusetts or the board of higher education is a party, separate and apart from any appropriation for the general maintenance of the university or public institutions of higher education where the board of higher education is the employer for purposes of collective bargaining under chapter 150E, excluding grant funded and auxiliary enterprises accounts funded positions.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding section 8 of chapter 32A of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the cost of fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, the cost of pensions and health insurance, associated with employees of a public institution of higher education as defined in section 5 of chapter 15A, shall be the obligation of the commonwealth, excluding grant funded and auxiliary enterprises accounts funded positions.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c) of section 7 of Chapter 150E, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is amended in the second paragraph by striking the third sentence and inserting the following the following sentence: -
The board of higher education and the board of trustees of the University of Massachusetts shall include in any such submission a certification that the incremental cost items in such collective bargaining agreement are adequate to ensure that average salaries for faculty and staff in Massachusetts will, by the end of the contract terms, for each broad job category, be at least at the national average, adjusted for cost of living.