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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2703 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 111 |
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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 | | Natalie M. Blais |
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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 promoting equity in agriculture. |
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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:Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin1/16/2025Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/25/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/25/2025Steven Ultrino33rd Middlesex1/25/2025Hannah Kane11th Worcester2/6/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/6/2025Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/6/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex2/6/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/6/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex2/6/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/13/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/24/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2703 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 111 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Blais of Deerfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 111) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Natalie M. Blais and others for legislation to establish a special commission (including members |
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| 20 | 20 | | of the General Court) to develop recommendations for supporting investments, policies and |
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| 21 | 21 | | practices designed to promote equity in agriculture for socially disadvantaged groups. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Agriculture. |
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| 23 | 23 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 87 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 25 | 25 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 29 | 29 | | _______________ |
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| 30 | 30 | | An Act promoting equity in agriculture. |
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| 31 | 31 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 33 | 33 | | 1 (a) There shall be a special legislative commission to study and develop |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2recommendations for supporting investments, policies and practices designed to promote equity |
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| 35 | 35 | | 3in agriculture for socially disadvantaged groups in the commonwealth that have been historically |
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| 36 | 36 | | 4or systematically excluded or have had less access to resources and opportunities based on |
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| 37 | 37 | | 5cultural, racial or ethnic prejudice. These groups shall include, but shall not be limited to, |
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| 38 | 38 | | 6African Americans, Cape Verdeans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Caribbean |
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| 39 | 39 | | 7Islanders, Native Americans and Alaskan natives. |
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| 40 | 40 | | 8 (b) The commission shall consist of the following members: the commissioner of |
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| 41 | 41 | | 9agricultural resources, or a designee; the chairs of the joint committee on agriculture; 1 member 2 of 3 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 10appointed by the Massachusetts Black and Latino legislative caucus; 1 member appointed by the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 11Massachusetts House Asian caucus; 2 members appointed by the Massachusetts food system |
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| 44 | 44 | | 12caucus, who shall be selected through an open nomination process pursuant to criteria developed |
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| 45 | 45 | | 13by the caucus; 2 members appointed by the commissioner of agricultural resources who shall |
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| 46 | 46 | | 14represent Buy Local organizations funded by the department of agricultural resources; 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 15members appointed by the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative; 1 member appointed by |
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| 48 | 48 | | 16the commission on the status of African Americans; 2 members appointed by a Massachusetts- |
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| 49 | 49 | | 17based farming association; 2 members appointed by non-profit organizations whose primary |
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| 50 | 50 | | 18purpose is working with farmers from socially disadvantaged groups; 1 member appointed by the |
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| 51 | 51 | | 19commission on the status of Latinos and Latinas; 1 member appointed by the commission on the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 20status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; 1 member appointed by the commission on |
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| 53 | 53 | | 21Indian affairs; 1 member appointed by Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation; 1 member |
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| 54 | 54 | | 22appointed by the Massachusetts Federation of Farmers Markets; and 1 member appointed by the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 23Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 24Members appointed to the commission shall, to the extent possible, represent a diversity of |
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| 57 | 57 | | 25knowledge of urban and rural agricultural practices and experiences and be knowledgeable in |
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| 58 | 58 | | 26agriculture. The commission shall be co-chaired by the commissioner of agricultural resources |
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| 59 | 59 | | 27and a member of the commission chosen by the members. |
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| 60 | 60 | | 28 (c) The commission shall investigate and study ways to promote equity in agriculture in |
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| 61 | 61 | | 29the commonwealth, and shall prepare a report including, but not be limited to, recommendations |
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| 62 | 62 | | 30related to: (i) data collection and dissemination; (ii) benchmark development and targeting areas |
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| 63 | 63 | | 31of need; (iii) equitable access to grant programs and distribution of funds; (iv) generating greater |
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| 64 | 64 | | 32equity in the legislative, regulatory and sub-regulatory processes to support agriculture in the 3 of 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | 33commonwealth; (v) improving equity in programs and services offered by the department of |
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| 66 | 66 | | 34agricultural resources, including, but not limited to, programs regarding land access and |
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| 67 | 67 | | 35protection, farmer technical assistance and education, marketing and other existing programs |
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| 68 | 68 | | 36identified by the commission; and (vi) the implementation and monitoring of equity goals in |
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| 69 | 69 | | 37agriculture in the commonwealth established by the commission. The department of agricultural |
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| 70 | 70 | | 38resources shall furnish reasonable staff and other support for the work of the commission. |
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| 71 | 71 | | 39 (d) The commission shall hold not less than 3 public hearings in various regions of the |
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| 72 | 72 | | 40commonwealth; provided, that not less than 1 public hearing shall be held in a rural area and not |
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| 73 | 73 | | 41less than 1 public hearing shall be held in an urban area with potential for increased urban |
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| 74 | 74 | | 42agriculture. |
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| 75 | 75 | | 43 (e) Not later than December 31, 2027, the commission shall file a report and any |
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| 76 | 76 | | 44recommendations, including any legislation necessary to carry out the recommendations, with |
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| 77 | 77 | | 45the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the house and senate committees on |
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| 78 | 78 | | 46ways and means and the joint committee on agriculture. The report shall be publicly available on |
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| 79 | 79 | | 47the website of the department of agricultural resources. |
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