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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3117 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 849 |
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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 | | Jack Patrick Lewis and 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 prohibiting the sale of fur products. |
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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:Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/18/2023Josh S. Cutler6th Plymouth1/25/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/25/2023Brian W. Murray10th Worcester1/30/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/31/2023Carol A. Doherty3rd Bristol2/3/2023Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable2/5/2023Thomas M. Stanley9th Middlesex2/7/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/8/2023Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/8/2023Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/16/2023James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol3/2/2023James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex3/2/2023Patrick M. O'ConnorFirst Plymouth and Norfolk3/2/2023David Paul Linsky5th Middlesex3/2/2023Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.12th Hampden3/3/2023Jessica Ann Giannino16th Suffolk3/3/2023Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex3/7/2023 2 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex3/7/2023Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol3/7/2023Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester3/7/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex3/7/2023Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth3/7/2023Kenneth I. Gordon21st Middlesex3/8/2023Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex3/9/2023James Arciero2nd Middlesex3/9/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/13/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3117 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 849 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representatives Lewis of Framingham and Cutler of Pembroke, a petition (accompanied by |
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| 20 | 20 | | bill, House, No. 849) of Jack Patrick Lewis, Josh S. Cutler and others for legislation to prohibit |
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| 21 | 21 | | the sale of fur products. Environment and Natural Resources. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act prohibiting the sale of fur products. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. New Chapter 110I to Title XV Regulation of Trade of the General Laws is |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2hereby added: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Chapter 110I: Trade of Fur Products |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4 § 1. Terms defined |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5 For the purposes of this chapter the following terms have the following meanings |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6 (a)“Fur”, any animal skin or part thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7thereto, either in its raw or processed state. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8 (b)(1) “Fur product”, any article of clothing or covering for any part of the body, or |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9any fashion accessory, including, but not limited to, handbags, shoes, slippers, hats, earmuffs, |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10scarves, shawls, gloves, jewelry, keychains, toys, and home accessories and décor, that is made |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11in whole or part of fur. 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12 (2)“Fur product” does not include any of the following: |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13 (i)An animal skin or part thereof that is to be converted into leather, or which in |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14processing will have the hair, fleece, or fur fiber completely removed; |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15 (ii)Cowhide with the hair attached thereto; |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16 (iii)Lambskin or sheepskin with the fleece attached thereto; or |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17 (iv)The pelt or skin of any animal that is preserved through taxidermy or for the |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18purpose of taxidermy. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19 (c)“Non-profit organization”, any corporation that is organized under 26 U.S.C. § |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20501(c)(3) that is created for charitable, religious, philanthropic, educational, or similar purposes. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21 (d) “Taxidermy”, the practice of preparing and preserving the skin of an animal that |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22is deceased and stuffing and mounting it in a lifelike form. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23 (e)“Ultimate consumer”, an individual who buys a fur product for their own use, or |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24the use of another, but not for resale or trade. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25 (f) “Used fur product”, a fur product that has been worn or used by an ultimate |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26consumer. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27 § 2. Fur Product Prohibition; exemptions; penalties |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28 (a)Notwithstanding M.G.L.A. 266 § 79 or any other provision of law, it is unlawful |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29to sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, or otherwise distribute for monetary or nonmonetary |
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| 59 | 59 | | 30consideration a fur product in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For purposes of this section, |
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| 60 | 60 | | 31the sale of a fur product shall be deemed to occur in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts if: (1) 3 of 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 32the buyer takes physical possession of the fur product in Massachusetts; or (2) the seller is |
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| 62 | 62 | | 33located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. |
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| 63 | 63 | | 34 (b)The prohibitions outlined in this Section do not apply to the sale, offer for sale, |
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| 64 | 64 | | 35displaying for sale, trade, or distribution of: |
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| 65 | 65 | | 36 (1)a used fur product by an individual (excluding a retail transaction), non-profit |
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| 66 | 66 | | 37organization, or second-hand store, including a pawn shop; |
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| 67 | 67 | | 38 (2)a fur product used for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a |
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| 68 | 68 | | 39member of a federally recognized or state-recognized Native American tribe; or |
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| 69 | 69 | | 40 (3)a fur product where the activity is expressly authorized by federal or state law. |
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| 70 | 70 | | 41 (c)A person convicted of a violation of this Chapter shall be fined no less than five |
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| 71 | 71 | | 42hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars per fur product. |
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| 72 | 72 | | 43 SECTION 2. Severability. |
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| 73 | 73 | | 44 If any section, subsection, or paragraph of this Act shall be held unconstitutional either on |
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| 74 | 74 | | 45its face or as applied, the unconstitutionality of the section, subsection, or paragraph, or of the |
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| 75 | 75 | | 46application thereof, shall not affect the other sections, subsections, and paragraphs of this Act, |
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| 76 | 76 | | 47and the applications thereof; and to that end the sections, subsections, and paragraphs of this Act |
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| 77 | 77 | | 48are intended to be severable. |
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| 78 | 78 | | 49 SECTION 3. Effective date. |
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| 79 | 79 | | 50 This Act shall take effect no later than 180 days following the passage of this Act. |
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