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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 92 FILED ON: 1/9/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1544 |
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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 | | Christopher Hendricks |
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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 to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations. |
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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:Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol1/5/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/26/2023Brian W. Murray10th Worcester1/30/2023Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk3/6/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 92 FILED ON: 1/9/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1544 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Hendricks of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. |
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| 19 | 19 | | 1544) of Christopher Hendricks and others for legislation to clarify the charitable purposes of |
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| 20 | 20 | | certain organizations. The Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1639 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act to clarify the charitable purposes of certain organizations. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 Section 85K of Chapter 231 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2first sentence of the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following sentence: |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 It shall not constitute a defense to any cause of action based on tort brought against a |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4corporation, trustees of a trust, or members of an association that said corporation, trust or |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5association is or at the time the cause of action arose was a charity; provided, that if (a) the tort |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6was committed in the course of any activity carried on to accomplish directly the charitable |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7purposes of such corporation, trust or association, and such corporation, trust or association |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8derives more than fifty percent of its income from charitable gifts or donations or (b) such |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9charitable corporation, trust or association has been established primarily for religious purposes, 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10then liability in any such cause of action shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars, |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11exclusive of interest and costs. |
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