HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

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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:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

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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.