Amendment ID: S2564-34-R2

2nd Redraft GOV 34

Public Tracking System

Ms. Chang-Diaz, Ms. Rausch, Messrs. Montigny and Eldridge, Ms. DiZoglio, Messrs. Gomez, Moore and Hinds, Ms. Jehlen, Messrs. Lesser, Collins, Cyr, Feeney, Tarr and Crighton move that the proposed new text be amended by striking out section 92 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

"SECTION 92. (a) There shall be within the executive office for administration and finance, but not subject to the control of the office, an equity and accountability review panel. The panel shall consist of: 1 member appointed by the deputy chief of the office of access and opportunity, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the Coalition for an Equitable Economy, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the state auditor; 1 member appointed by the comptroller; 1 member appointed by the inspector general; 1 member appointed by the executive director of the supplier diversity office; the chief data officer for the commonwealth or a designee; the chief digital officer or a designee; 2 members appointed by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Inc. with expertise in the non-profit and human services sector serving communities disproportionately impacted by the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic; 1 member appointed by the commission on the status of women; 1 member appointed by Common Cause Massachusetts; 1 member appointed by the Center for Women and Enterprise, Inc.; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations; 1 member appointed by the commission on the status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; 1 member appointed by the commission on the status of African Americans; 1 member appointed by the commission on the status of persons with disabilities; 1 member appointed by the commission on the status of Latinos and Latinas; 1 member appointed by the North American Indian Center of Boston, Inc.; the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People New England Area Conference or a designee; the president of Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, Inc. or a designee; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts association of regional planning agencies; 1 member appointed by the Massachusetts Minority Contractors Association, Inc.; 1 member appointed by the Green Justice Coalition; and 1 member appointed by the New England Clean Energy Council, Inc. The panel shall meet publicly not less than monthly and appointments shall be made not later than December 31, 2021. The panel shall hold its first meeting not later than 90 days after the effective date of this act. The executive office for administration and finance shall provide administrative support to the panel as appropriate.

(b) The panel shall, in collaboration with the executive office for administration and finance, create a user-friendly tracking system and website through which the public may access, in near real-time, the amount and percentage, by spending category, of funds appropriated under this act spent in communities that were disproportionally impacted by the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic, including, but not limited to: (i) spending received by environmental justice populations as defined in section 62 of chapter 30 of the General Laws or communities that score in the top half of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s social vulnerability index; (ii) a breakdown of contract and sub-contract dollars awarded to diverse businesses, as defined in section 58 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, disaggregated by the category of the business owners of such enterprises; (iii) a breakdown of spending by zip code and statewide; and (iv) any other data or analysis the panel deems necessary to carry out its charge. Information on the website shall be made available in a machine-readable, downloadable format and through data visualization tools on the website. The executive office for administration and finance shall maintain the tracking system and shall load submitted data into the tracking system on an automated basis not more than 24 hours after receiving the data; provided, however, that if the panel determines that submitting the data on an automated basis within the prescribed timeline is not feasible, the executive office shall submit the data as soon as practicable and provide an explanation of why it is not feasible to submit the data on an automated basis within the prescribed timeline to the senate and house committees on ways and means..

(c) All state and municipal agencies receiving funds appropriated under this act or funds expended pursuant to section 4 of chapter 22 of the acts of 2021 shall submit the data required under this section in a timeframe established by the panel and shall comply with any request from the panel for information and data necessary to achieve the purposes of this section. Not later than March 31, 2022, the panel shall create and make available to funding recipients standardized electronic reporting forms for different categories of funding to track the geography and demography of end recipients of funding.

(d) Not later than July 1, 2022, the tracking system and website required under subsection (b) shall be operative and publicly available on the website of the executive office for administration and finance.

(e) The panel shall: (i) set statewide goals, by category of spending, for the percentage of funds appropriated under this act to be received by individuals who are members of communities that were disproportionally impacted by the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic or entities or projects that predominantly serve populations that were disproportionally impacted by the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic; and (ii) catalogue any such funds that are not received by the individuals, entities or projects described in clause (i), including a description of why the funds were allocated elsewhere. Not later than March 15, 2022, the panel shall submit the draft goals to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives and the senate and house committees on ways and means. The panel shall seek public comments on the proposed goals. Not later than May 15, 2022, the panel shall establish final goals and submit the final goals to the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives and the senate and house committees on ways and means. The executive office for administration and finance shall publish the draft goals and final goals on the website created pursuant to subsection (b).

(f) The panel shall regularly review data published in the tracking system and assess performance relative to the benchmarks and participation goals established under section 93 and the goals established under subsection (e). The panel shall make recommendations to the supplier diversity office, state agencies, state authorities or the general court as it deems necessary to improve performance on the benchmarks and participation goals.

(g) The panel shall dissolve on January 1, 2028 or upon a vote of the majority of the members of the panel that the panel has completed its work, whichever is sooner.".