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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1047 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2028
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Liz Miranda
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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 relative to equity in public contracting in honor of Bruce C. Bolling.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Liz MirandaSecond SuffolkLydia EdwardsThird Suffolk2/8/2023Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/8/2023 1 of 5
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1047 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2028
By Ms. Miranda, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2028) of Liz Miranda, Lydia
Edwards and Jason M. Lewis for legislation relative to equity in public contracting in honor of
Bruce C. Bolling. State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2018 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 relative to equity in public contracting in honor of Bruce C. Bolling.
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. Section 1 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following definitions:-
3 “Low income community”, a municipality where the median household income is 65 per
4cent or less than the statewide household median income. In the case of a municipality with
550,000 residents or more, low income community shall mean a geographically contiguous,
6historically recognized neighborhood of 10,000-50,000 residents.
7 “Minority business enterprise”, as used in this chapter shall be defined as it is in section
858 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing. 2 of 5
9 “Women business enterprise” as used in this chapter shall be defined as it is in section 58
10of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing.
11 SECTION 2. Section 14C of said chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
12hereby amended by inserting after subsection (h) the following subsections:-
13 (i) Within 150 calendar days of the effective date of this section, any entity awarded a
14contract under the provisions of chapter 7, shall provide written verification with every invoice
15submitted to the awarding authority detailing the portion of the payment that will be allocated to
16minority business enterprises and women business enterprises, and reporting the racial, ethnic
17and gender make-up of the awardees’ workforce in Massachusetts. The awardee shall take
18necessary steps to prevent the disclosure of individually-identifying information about
19employees on this report.
20 (j) The executive office of administration and finance shall, within 90 calendar days of
21the effective date of this section, promulgate a template reporting form, for optional use by the
22awarding authority, to assist contractors in meeting the requirements of this section.
23 (k) The awarding authority shall submit the report to the Massachusetts Management and
24Reporting System (MMARS) within 30 calendar days of receiving it. The comptroller of the
25commonwealth shall, within 120 days of the effective date of this section, develop appropriate
26fields within the MMARS for receiving this data.
27 SECTION 3. Section 22O of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
28amended by adding the following sentence:- 3 of 5
29 The commonwealth shall seek to achieve minority business enterprise and women
30business enterprise contracting goals within state procurement that reflect the diverse racial,
31ethnic and gender makeup of the commonwealth’s population.
32 SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
33amended by adding the following definitions:-
34 “Low income community”, a municipality where the median household income is 65 per
35cent or less than the statewide household median income. In the case of a municipality with
3650,000 residents or more, low income community shall mean a geographically contiguous,
37historically recognized neighborhood of 10,000-50,000 residents.
38 “Minority business enterprise”, as used in this chapter shall be defined as it is in section
3958 of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing.
40 “Women business enterprise” as used in this chapter shall be defined as it is in section 58
41of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as so appearing.
42 SECTION 5. Section 44A of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
43amended by inserting after the word “chapter;” in line 17 the following sentence:- provided,
44however, that in deliberating upon the responsibility of a bidder, a contracting public agency
45shall consider a bidder’s compliance with commitments made in previous bids or contract
46documents with the commonwealth, if any, including, but not limited to, the failure of a bidder,
47contractor, or proposed subcontractor to comply with the commitments regarding the
48employment of minority business enterprises and women business enterprises and regarding
49workforce inclusion goals. 4 of 5
50 SECTION 6. Section 44A½ of said chapter 149, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
51adding the following paragraphs:-
52 (d) It shall be the goal of the commonwealth to achieve minority business enterprise and
53women business enterprise contracting goals and workforce participation goals on the totality of
54state-funded design and construction contracts that are reflective of the diverse racial, ethnic, and
55gender make-up of the commonwealth’s population.
56 (e) It shall be the goal of the commonwealth that job creation on state-funded
57construction contracts be targeted to members of the community in which a project is physically
58located and that the workforce on that project reflect the demographic diversity of the host
59community, when construction projects are located in low income communities.
60 SECTION 7. Paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of section 44D½ of chapter 149, as so
61appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-
62 (viii) Joint Ventures, documentation demonstrating that the firm has formed an
63association of not less than 2 businesses in which 1 of the businesses is a minority business
64enterprise or a women business enterprise.
65 SECTION 8. Paragraph (3) of subsection (e) of section 44D½ of chapter 149, as so
66appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-
67 (iii) Evidence of the bidder, contractor, or proposed contractor’s ability to advance the
68commonwealth’s contracting and workforce inclusion goals as stated in section 44A½ of chapter
69149. 5 of 5
70 SECTION 9. Said chapter 149, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the
71following section:-
72 Section 44N. Data collection and disclosure
73 Within 150 calendar days of the effective date of this section, any entity awarded a
74contract for construction by a state agency shall provide written verification with every progress
75payment request (PPR) submitted to the awarding authority detailing the portion of the payment
76that will be allocated to minority business enterprises and women business enterprises
77respectively, as defined in section 58 of chapter 7, and detailing the total number of hours
78worked by all employees on that contract during the period covered by the PPR; and including a
79breakdown of hours worked by workers’ ZIP codes of residence, as well as a breakdown of the
80number of hours worked by women and workers of color, respectively. The reporting entity shall
81take necessary steps to prevent the disclosure of individually-identifying information about
82employees on this report.
83 The executive office of administration and finance shall, within 90 calendar days of the
84effective date of this section, promulgate a template reporting form, for optional use by the
85awarding authority, to assist contractors in meeting the requirements of this section.
86 The awarding authority shall submit the report to the Massachusetts Management and
87Reporting System (MMARS) within 30 calendar days of receiving it. The comptroller of the
88commonwealth shall, within 120 days of the effective date of this section, develop appropriate
89fields within the MMARS for receiving this data.