HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2082 FILED ON: 2/16/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Patricia A. Haddad
_________________
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 Ensure Gender Parity and Racial and Ethnic Diversity on Public Boards and
Commissions.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Patricia A. Haddad 5th Bristol 2/16/2021
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 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2082 FILED ON: 2/16/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
[Pin Slip]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)
_______________
An Act to Ensure Gender Parity and Racial and Ethnic Diversity on Public Boards and
Commissions.
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. All appointive boards and commissions of the state established by the Code,
2 if not otherwise provided by law, shall be gender, racially and ethnically balanced. No
3 person
4 shall be appointed or reappointed to any board or commission established by the Code if
5 that
6 appointment or reappointment would cause the number of members of the board or
7 commission
8 of one gender to be greater than one-half the membership of the board or commission
9 plus one if
10 the board or commission is composed of an odd number of members. If the board or
11 commission
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12 is composed of an even number of members not more than one-half of the membership
13 shall be
14 of one gender. Appointing authorities shall make a focused effort to appoint women of
15 color to all boards and commissions, including, but not limited to, developing and implementing
16 a plan to attract and recruit women of color; and working with community based and
17 professional organizations with large networks of people and women of color. The racial and
18 ethnic composition of each board and commission must, at
19 minimum, reflect the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities in the general population.
20 If there
21 are multiple appointing authorities for a board or commission they shall consult each
22 other to
23 avoid a violation of this section.
24 SECTION 2. All appointive boards, commissions, committees, and councils of a
25 political subdivision of the state that are established by the Code, if not otherwise
26 provided by
27 law, shall be gender balanced as provided by subsection 1 unless the political subdivision
28 has
29 made a good faith effort to appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy on a board,
30 commission, committee, or council in compliance with subsection 1 for a period of three months
31 but has been
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32 unable to make a compliant appointment. In complying with the requirements of this
33 subsection,
34 political subdivisions shall utilize a fair and unbiased method of selecting the best
35 qualified
36 applicants. This subsection shall not prohibit an individual whose term expires prior to
37 January 1,
38 2022, from being reappointed even though the reappointment continues an inequity in
39 gender
40 balance.
41 SECTION 3. To track and measure progress, an annual report must be published by the
42 governor's office, annually, with support from The Commission on the Status of Women
43 that
44 provides: (1) Demographic data provided by all public board and commission applicants
45 relative
46 to ethnicity, race, gender identity and sexual orientation; (2) Demographic data provided
47 by all
48 public board and commission nominees or appointees relative to ethnicity, race, gender
49 identity
50 and sexual orientation; (3) Any demographic data disclosed or released pursuant to this
51 sectional
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52 shall disclose only aggregated statistical data and shall not identify an individual
53 applicant,
54 nominee or appointed board member or commissioner.
55 SECTION 4. The proposed legislation shall exclude all public boards, commissions,
56 committees, and councils who serve as municipal housing authorities under the “Housing
57 and
58 Economic Development” policy area.
59 SECTION 5. The legislation proposed shall not apply to those public boards,
60 commissions, committees, or councils whose core mission is to enhance opportunities for
61 specified gender, race, or ethnicity, and whose membership can be comprised of more
62 than 50%
63 of that gender, race, or ethnicity.
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