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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 340 FILED ON: 1/12/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1434 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Josh S. Cutler |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act reducing barriers to employment through credit discrimination. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Josh S. Cutler6th Plymouth1/12/2023Kenneth I. Gordon21st Middlesex1/24/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/25/2023Frank A. Moran17th Essex1/26/2023Kathleen R. LaNatra12th Plymouth1/26/2023Carol A. Doherty3rd Bristol2/2/2023Tricia Farley-Bouvier2nd Berkshire2/8/2023Adrian C. Madaro1st Suffolk2/13/2023Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/13/2023Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester2/15/2023Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/20/2023Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire2/22/2023Tram T. Nguyen18th Essex2/27/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/27/2023Shirley B. Arriaga8th Hampden2/28/2023Sean Garballey23rd Middlesex3/8/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 340 FILED ON: 1/12/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1434 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Cutler of Pembroke, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1434) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Josh S. Cutler and others for legislation to prohibit the use of consumer reports for employment |
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| 20 | 20 | | purposes and to reduce barriers to employment through credit discrimination. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act reducing barriers to employment through credit discrimination. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 51 of Chapter 93 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “purposes”, in line 12, the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3following words:- under section 51C. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 SECTION 2. Said Chapter 93 is hereby further amended by inserting after Section 51B |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5the following section:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 Section 51C. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 “Consumer report”, shall have the same meaning as in section 50 of this chapter. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9 “Employment purposes”, shall have the same meaning as in section 50 of this chapter. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (b) A person or entity shall not: (i) use a consumer report in connection with or as a |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11criterion for an employment purpose; (ii) request or procure a consumer report for employment 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12purposes; or (iii) require an employee or applicant to answer a question about the contents of a |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13consumer report or the information contained in it regarding credit worthiness, credit standing or |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14credit capacity. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of matters of public record by a |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15person or entity for employment purposes, including, but not limited to, matters under 12 U.S.C. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 161785(d), unless otherwise prohibited by law. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17 (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), a person or entity may use or request a consumer |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18report for employment purposes if 1 of the following conditions are met: |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 (i) a person is required by federal or state law or regulation or the rules of a self- |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20regulatory organization, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(26), to use a consumer report for |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21employment purposes; or |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22 (ii) the employee or applicant applies for or holds a position that requires national |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23security clearance. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24 (d) An employer or person acting on behalf of the employer shall not retaliate, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25discriminate or take an adverse action against an employee or applicant on the basis that the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26employee or applicant has or intends to: (i) file a complaint pursuant to section 68 of this |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27chapter; (ii) allege that the person violated this section; (iii) testify, assist, give evidence or |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28participate in an investigation, proceeding or action concerning a violation of this section; or (iv) |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29otherwise oppose a violation of this section. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30 (e) Notwithstanding subsection (c), a waiver of this section shall be void and a person or |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31entity shall not require or request that an employee or applicant waive it. |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2025. |
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