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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1003 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 81
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Danillo A. Sena
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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 establishing free broadband internet access in public housing.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex1/17/2023Bud L. Williams11th Hampden1/20/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/31/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/7/2023 1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1003 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 81
By Representative Sena of Acton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 81) of Danillo A.
Sena and others for an investigation by the Department of Public Health of broadband internet
access and its relation to the public health objectives. Advanced Information Technology, the
Internet and Cybersecurity.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 137 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act establishing free broadband internet access in public housing.
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. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
2following section:-
3 Section 239. The United Nations has declared health a fundamental human right
4indispensable for the exercise of other human rights and that the right to health is closely related
5to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill
6of Rights, including the rights to food, housing, work, education, human dignity, life, non-
7discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the
8freedoms of association, assembly and movement. Broadband internet access is now an essential
9component of the realization of many of these human rights and is itself a human right. 2 of 2
10 The department shall make a study into broadband internet access in the commonwealth
11and its relation to the public health objectives of the commonwealth. Said study shall be
12conducted for the purposes of understanding how broadband internet access is a determinant of
13health, improving the public health services of the commonwealth, and expanding broadband
14internet throughout the Commonwealth to reflect its status as a human right, with a focus on
15communities that have suffered disproportionate health impacts as a result of lack of access to
16broadband internet.
17 SECTION 2. Section 32 of chapter 121B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018
18Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “cost”, in line 6, the following
19words:- ,with broadband internet available in all units offered at no charge to residents
20considered a requirement of a decent, safe and sanitary dwelling
21 SECTION 3.The first paragraph of said section 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended
22by inserting after the third sentence the following sentence:- For the purposes of this paragraph,
23broadband internet shall not be considered a utility.
24 SECTION 4. Said first paragraph of said section 32, as so appearing, is hereby further
25amended by adding the following sentence:- Funds to subsidize housing authorities or other
26public housing bodies for implementation and maintenance of the requirement of no charge
27broadband internet for all units shall be appropriated by the general court. The undersecretary
28shall administer these funds.