HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5199 FILED ON: 7/23/2020
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Bud L. Williams
_________________
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 the Commonwealth Housing, Economic, Education and Equity in Recovery and
Reconstruction.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS:
Bud L. Williams 11th Hampden
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 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5199 FILED ON: 7/23/2020
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
[Pin Slip]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)
_______________
An Act the Commonwealth Housing, Economic, Education and Equity in Recovery and
Reconstruction.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to
address stark racial, social, and economic disparities, therefore it is hereby declared to be an
emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Whereas Black and Latino residents of the Commonwealth have been
2 impacted in
3 ways disproportionate to their respective numbers in the population; and, the disparate
4 impacts of
5 the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has revealed in stark ways existing social and
6 economic
7 disparities, which Black and Latino residents have endured for far too long; it is the
8 intention of
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 9 the general court, during the recovery from the pandemic and after, to take meaningful
10 actions to
11 redress said disparities and the social and economic determinants that are at the root of
12 them. To
13 achieve the purposes as stated in this section and sections 2 through 8, inclusive, this Act
14 shall be
15 known as the Commonwealth Housing, Economic, Education and Equity in Recovery
16 and
17 Reconstruction Act or the CHEEERR ACT.
18 SECTION 2. As used in sections 2 through 13, inclusive, the following words shall,
19 unless the
20 context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—
21 “Agencies”, non-profit organizations located and operating within disparately impacted
22 communities with whom the commission may enter into contracts pursuant to section 9
23 for the
24 operation of corps projects.
25 “Commission”, the commonwealth corps commission established pursuant to section
26 “Bureau”, the Massachusetts Bureau on Social and Economic Equity in Recovery and
27 Reconstruction established pursuant to section 3.
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28 “Corps”, the commonwealth housing, economic, education and equity in recovery and
29 reconstruction service corps or CHEEERRS corps established pursuant to section 11.
30 “Corps members”, individuals who commit to no more than 24 months of full or part-
31 time
32 service in the commonwealth service corps pursuant to section 12.
33 “Corps projects”, programs established pursuant to this act to satisfy unmet community
34 needs.
35 “Disparately impacted community”, shall mean (a) a defined geographic area in which
36 Black and
37 Latino residents whose rate of infection for the coronavirus exceeds their proportionate
38 share of
39 the population of said geographic area as of May 1, 2020; or, (b) a medically underserved
40 community or (c) low and moderate income community; or, (c) an educationally
41 disadvantaged
42 community;
43 “Educationally disadvantaged community”, shall mean a local school district in which the
44 percentage of children attending school in the district eligible for free or reduced cost
45 lunches
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46 under eligibility guidelines promulgated by the federal government under 42 USC 1758
47 exceeds
48 the forty percent;
49 "Low and moderate income community", a geographic area, within a city or town,
50 consisting of
51 either (a) three or more contiguous census tracts or (b) a zip code or (c) a neighborhood,
52 in which
53 either: (1) a majority of the households are low and moderate income households as
54 defined
55 herein; or (2) the unemployment rate is at least 20 per cent higher than the annual
56 statewide
57 average unemployment rate where such statewide unemployment rate is less than or
58 equal to 5
59 per cent; provided that, if the annual statewide average unemployment rate is greater than
60 5 per
61 cent, the community's unemployment rate need only be 10 per cent higher;
62 "Low and moderate income households", households which have incomes that do not
63 exceed 80
64 per cent of the median income for the area, with adjustments made for smaller and larger
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65 families, as such median shall be determined from time to time by the Secretary of
66 Housing and
67 Urban Development pursuant to 42 USC section 1437(a)(B)(2);
68 “Medically underserved community”, shall have the same meaning as used pursuant to
69 section
70 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p); and,
71 “Small business”, shall mean a business (i) owned or controlled by a Black or Latino
72 individual
73 or individuals (ii) whose annual net revenue is less than $5,000,000 and (iii) located in a
74 low or
75 moderate income community.
76 “Unmet community needs”, needs including, but not limited to, those pertaining to
77 education,
78 public health, public safety, the environment and other human needs in underserved
79 populations
80 in disparately impacted communities in the commonwealth.
81 SECTION 3. (a) There shall be a Massachusetts bureau on social and economic equity in
82 recovery and reconstruction, in this section and in sections 4 through 15, inclusive, called
83 the
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 84 bureau. Said bureau shall consist of an administrator and an advisory council, as
85 described in
86 section 15. The administrator shall be appointed by the governor pursuant to paragraph
87 (b), shall
88 serve a term of five years, and shall be removed only for cause. Notwithstanding the
89 foregoing,
90 the administrator shall be eligible for reappointment to an additional five-year term.
91 (b) The administrator shall be appointed by the governor and shall serve a term of five
92 years; provided that in making said appointment, the governor shall choose the
93 administrator
94 from a list of three candidates presented to the governor from a committee, consisting of
95 seven
96 individuals comprised as follows: one member appointed to be appointed by the
97 governor, two
98 members to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, one member to
99 be
100 appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives, two members to be
101 appointed
102 by the senate president, and one member to be appointed by the senate minority leader;
103 provided
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104 further , that said all said appointments shall be made within thirty days of passage of this
105 Act.
106 (c) The position of administrator shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five
107 of chapter thirty, and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six
108 C of
109 said chapter thirty. The administrator shall devote his or her full time during business
110 hours to
111 the duties of the office.
112 (d) The administrator shall, with the advice of the advisory council, have sole charge of
113 the supervision and administration of the office. The administrator may, subject to fiscal
114 resources available to support the operations of the bureau, employ and remove such
115 assistant
116 administrators and other employees and consultants as administrator may deem necessary
117 to
118 enable the performance of the functions of the bureau; provided that not more than ten
119 percent of
120 said resources shall be expended on staff in any fiscal year. The provisions of chapter
121 thirty-one
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122 and section nine A of chapter thirty shall not apply to the administrator or to such
123 assistant
124 administrators and consultants as may be appointed. In making such appointments, the
125 administrator shall hire individuals who reflect the racial, ethnic and gender make-up of
126 disparately impacted communities.
127 SECTION 4. Subject to the advice of the advisory council, the administrator may apply
128 for and
129 accept on behalf of the commonwealth any federal, local or private grants of money or
130 property,
131 whether real or personal, from any source, whether public or private, bequests, gifts or
132 contributions to aid in the financing of any of the programs or policies of the bureau.
133 Such funds
134 shall be received by the state treasurer on behalf of the commonwealth and deposited in a
135 separate account and shall be expended under the direction of the administrator.
136 SECTION 5. The bureau, in fulfillment of its purposes, shall have the following duties
137 and
138 functions:
139 (a) to administer and manage the Commonwealth Health, Economic, Education, and
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140 Equity Recovery and Reconstruction Fund, established pursuant to section 2DDDDD of
141 chapter
142 29, and to effectuate the purposes of the bureau as outlined in this section and in sections
143 4
144 through 14, inclusive.
145 (b) to identify, analyze, evaluate and monitor public policies, programs, services and
146 regulations promulgated by state agencies (i) in response to recovery efforts pursued in
147 response
148 to the Covid-19 pandemic and (ii) in the course of state agency activity; provided that a
149 particular focus shall be on the affect said policies, programs, services or regulations may
150 have
151 or are likely to have on persons residing in disparately impacted communities. In
152 addition, the
153 bureau shall have the following specific functions:
154 (i) to identify and recommend to the secretary of housing and community development
155 and to the director of the department of business and technology sources of state,
156 federal and private funds which are available to mitigate, or can be used to mitigate,
157 the disparate access to capital and technical assistance available to small businesses
158 owned or operated by individuals who reside in disparately impacted communities;
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159 (ii) to identify and recommend to the undersecretary for housing and community
160 development and public instrumentalities with the department of housing and
161 community development sources of state, federal and private funds which are
162 available to mitigate, or can be used to mitigate, the disparate access to affordable
163 and adequate housing on the part of individuals and households who reside in
164 disparately impacted communities;
165 (iii) to identify and recommend to the commissioner of public health sources of state,
166 federal and private funds which are appropriated or otherwise are available to
167 mitigate, or can be directed to mitigate, existing and emerging disparate incidences
168 of illness and disease experienced by individuals and households who reside in
169 disparately impacted communities; provided that in mitigating such incidences, the
170 commissioner of public health shall expend said monies in a manner proportionate
171 to the prevalence of said diseases and illnesses among racial and ethnic minorities;
172 provided further, that the administrator may consult with the office of health equity
173 as necessary and appropriate to effect the purposes of this subsection;
174 (iv) to identify and recommend to the commissioner of elementary and secondary
175 education sources of state, federal and private funds which are appropriated or
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176 otherwise available to mitigate, or can be utilized to mitigate, disparate access to
177 and outcomes in educational instruction and programs experienced by students
178 attending schools in disparately impacted communities;
179 (c) to set aside an amount not less than fifty million dollars to implement innovative and
180 strategic re-entry programs targeted to returning citizens, as such term is defined in
181 section ___;
182 provided, that in implementing said innovative and strategic re-entry programs, the
183 bureau is
184 hereby authorized to enter into grants, not to exceed five hundred thousand per annum,
185 with
186 nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated track record of assisting returning citizens in
187 integrating back into the community; provided further, that the bureau is hereby
188 authorized to
189 undertake, solely or in conjunction with state agencies, public instrumentalities,
190 municipalities in
191 which disparately impacted communities are located or nonprofits located in disparately
192 impacted communities the following activities:
193 (i) the development and implementation of family resource and reunification centers in
194 numerous quadrants of a disparately impacted community;
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195 (ii) the development and implementation of community-led or neighborhood based,
196 long-term substance use treatment services dispersed in numerous locations
197 throughout a disparately impacted community;
198 (iii) the development and implementation of community-led counseling services
199 dispersed in locations throughout a disparately impacted community;
200 (iv) the development and implementation of transitional to permanent housing for
201 returning citizens; and,
202 (v) the development and implementation of community-led post incarceration support
203 to replace parole and probation
204 In fulfillment of paragraphs (a) and (b), the bureau is hereby authorized to contract with
205 or provide grant funding to individuals, organizations, corporations, associations or
206 nonprofit
207 organizations located in disparately impacted communities to carry out the purpose and
208 functions
209 of the bureau. In fulfillment of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), the administrator shall
210 establish and
211 promulgate public guidelines to govern contracts and grants.
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212 SECTION 6. In order to fulfill the functions of the bureau such information as the
213 administrator
214 may require from any department, division, board, bureau, commission or agency shall be
215 made
216 available without delay, upon written request, to any said department, division, board,
217 bureau,
218 commission, or agency of the commonwealth.
219 SECTION 7. (a) The Commonwealth Health, Economic, Education, and Equity in
220 Recovery and
221 Reconstruction Fund, established pursuant to section DDDDD of chapter 29, shall be
222 within the
223 bureau. The administrator shall oversee the management and activities of the fund either
224 directly
225 or through the appointment of a fund director, to be appointed by the administrator. The
226 bureau,
227 with the advice of the secretary of administration and finance, shall adopt guidelines to
228 implement the fund.
229 (b) The amounts credited to the fund shall be used to support (i) the activities of the
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230 bureau