Amendment ID: S2746-4
Amendment 4
Labor Representation and Environmental Justice
Mr. Collins moves to amend the bill by striking section 7a and inserting in place thereof the following section:
"Section 7(a): The authority shall be governed and its corporate powers exercised by a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors that shall consist of 7 members.
The secretary of transportation shall be a member and shall serve ex officio.
The governor shall appoint 4 members, 1 of whom shall have experience in transportation operations and safety, 1 of whom shall have experience in public or private finance, 1 of whom shall have experience in transportation or urban planning, 1 of whom shall be a representative of a labor organization selected from a list of 3 nominees provided by the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
The Mayor of Boston shall appoint 1 member who shall be a rider as defined in section 1 and shall reside in an environmental justice population neighborhood. For the purposes of this section, “environmental justice population neighborhood” shall mean a neighborhood that meets 1 or more of the following criteria: (i) the annual median household income is equal to or less than 65 per cent of the statewide median; (ii) minorities comprise 40 per cent or more of the population; (iii) 25 per cent or more of households lack English language proficiency; or (iv) minorities comprise 25 per cent or more of the population and the annual median income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 per cent of the annual median statewide income.
The advisory board shall appoint 1 member who shall have municipal government experience in the service area constituting the authority. The member appointed by the advisory board shall have experience in transportation operations, transportation planning, housing policy, urban planning or public or private finance.
The member appointed with municipal government experience in the service area constituting the authority shall represent one of the following service areas: (i) the 14 cities and towns; (ii) the 51 cities and towns; or (iii) the other served communities. A vacancy from a member appointed with municipal government experience in the service area constituting the authority who has served for 2 full terms shall be filled with a member with municipal government experience from a different service area of the authority than the departing member.
Not less than 2 of the appointed members shall also be members of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation established under section 2 of chapter 6C.
In making selections to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors, the appointing authority shall strive to ensure a board whose diversity and inclusion are reflective of the population served by the authority.