Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1295 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 374 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1295
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Christine P. Barber
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act promoting fair housing by preventing discrimination against affordable housing.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex1/12/2023Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/25/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/30/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/1/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/7/2023David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/23/2023Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/23/2023 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 374 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1295
18	18	By Representative Barber of Somerville, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1295) of
19	19	Christine P. Barber and others relative to preventing discrimination against affordable housing.
20	20	Housing.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 1373 OF 2021-2022.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act promoting fair housing by preventing discrimination against affordable housing.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 Section 4 of chapter 151B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
32	32	2adding the following paragraph:-
33	33	3 20. For a local or state administrative, legislative or regulatory body or instrumentality to
34	34	4engage in a discriminatory land use practice. For the purposes of this paragraph, a
35	35	5“discriminatory land use practice” shall mean: (i) enacting or enforcing any land use regulation,
36	36	6policy or ordinance; (ii) making a permitting or funding decision with respect to housing or
37	37	7proposed housing; or (iii) taking any other action the purpose or effect of which would limit or
38	38	8exclude: (a) housing accommodations for families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 per
39	39	9cent of the area median income as defined by the United States Department of Housing and
40	40	10Urban Development; (b) housing accommodations with sufficient bedrooms for families with 2 of 3
41	41	11children including those with more than two bedrooms; or (c) families or individuals based on
42	42	12race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, which shall
43	43	13not include persons whose sexual orientation involves minor children as the sex object, age,
44	44	14genetic information, ancestry, marital status, veteran status or membership in the armed forces,
45	45	15familial status, disability condition, blindness, hearing impairment or because a person possesses
46	46	16a trained dog guide as a consequence of blindness, hearing impairment or other handicap.
47	47	17 It shall not be a violation of this chapter if a local or state government entity whose action
48	48	18or inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect proves that the action or inaction was
49	49	19motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory, bona fide governmental
50	50	20interest and that the government entity is unable to prove that those interests cannot be served by
51	51	21any other policy or practice that has a less discriminatory effect; or (ii) demonstrates that it has
52	52	22consistently supported housing described in (iii) above and that the entity’s action or inaction
53	53	23was motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate nondiscriminatory bona fide
54	54	24governmental interest
55	55	25 Any person or class of persons claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this Section
56	56	26may institute and prosecute a civil action in the District, Superior, Housing, Probate or Land
57	57	27Court Department for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief including an award of
58	58	28actual damages, including, where the violation includes intentional discrimination, an award of
59	59	29punitive damages. This civil action must be filed not later than three years after a violation of this
60	60	30section. Any aggrieved person who prevails in an action authorized by this Section shall be
61	61	31entitled to an award of the costs of the litigation including expert witness fees, reasonable
62	62	32attorneys' fees in an amount to be fixed by the court, and prejudgment and post judgment
63	63	33interest. The attorney general may, in like manner, also commence a civil action to seek relief for 3 of 3
64	64	34a violation of this Section. Nothing in this Section is intended to require a person seeking to
65	65	35enforce the protections afforded herein to exhaust any administrative remedies applicable to
66	66	36discrimination claims under this Section or other laws, or to prevent or limit a person from filing
67	67	37a complaint at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.