SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1511        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1365

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Pavel M. Payano

_________________

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.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

 

Pavel M. Payano

First Essex

 

Vanna Howard

17th Middlesex

1/30/2025

Michael D. Brady

Second Plymouth and Norfolk

1/30/2025

Jacob R. Oliveira

Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester

2/10/2025

James K. Hawkins

2nd Bristol

2/12/2025

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

2/13/2025

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

3/11/2025

Paul W. Mark

Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire

3/28/2025

Adam J. Scanlon

14th Bristol

4/9/2025

Michelle L. Badger

1st Plymouth

4/11/2025

Adam Gómez

Hampden

4/18/2025

Sal N. DiDomenico

Middlesex and Suffolk

4/18/2025


SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1511        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1365

By Mr. Payano, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1365) of Pavel M. Payano, Vanna Howard, Michael D. Brady, Jacob R. Oliveira and other members of the General Court for legislation to provide fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education.  Labor and Workforce Development.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

_______________

 

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 inserting after the second sentence 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 employed at a Massachusetts institution of public higher education will, by the end of the contract terms, for each job category, be not less than the national average, adjusted for state cost of living.