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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 593 FILED ON: 1/10/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2177 |
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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 | | Kenneth P. Sweezey and Patrick Joseph Kearney |
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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 provide economic security for fishing industry participants. |
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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:Kenneth P. Sweezey6th Plymouth1/10/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/13/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol2/18/2025Mark D. Sylvia10th Bristol2/25/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 593 FILED ON: 1/10/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2177 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Sweezey of Duxbury and Kearney of Scituate, a petition (accompanied by |
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| 19 | 19 | | bill, House, No. 2177) of Kenneth P. Sweezey, Patrick Joseph Kearney and others for legislation |
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| 20 | 20 | | to authorize the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development to analyze the economic |
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| 21 | 21 | | disruption and harm to the financial stability of those engaged in commercial fishing in the |
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| 22 | 22 | | Commonwealth. Labor and Workforce Development. |
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| 23 | 23 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1850 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 to provide economic security for fishing industry participants. |
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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 Section 1 - Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary the Secretary of |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2Labor and Workforce Development, in consultation with the Division of Marine Fisheries, is |
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| 35 | 35 | | 3hereby authorized and directed to analyze the economic disruption and harm to the financial |
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| 36 | 36 | | 4stability of those engaged in commercial fishing in the Commonwealth that results from the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 5inability to earn income as a result of state and federal regulatory actions including but not |
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| 38 | 38 | | 6limited to area closures, gear restrictions, and time limitations, and to develop a plan to mitigate |
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| 39 | 39 | | 7such harm through mechanisms such as modifications to the state's unemployment insurance |
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| 40 | 40 | | 8system to take into account the particular circumstances resulting from such regulatory actions. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 9 Section 2 - In carrying out the provisions of section 1 the Secretary shall take into |
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| 42 | 42 | | 10account the economic hardship occurring as a result of seasonal closures in the commercial |
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| 43 | 43 | | 11lobster fishery for the purpose of preventing harm to North Atlantic Right Whales, in addition to |
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| 44 | 44 | | 12other seasonal closures presently in place or which may occur in the future. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 13 Section 3 - The Secretary shall file any plan developed pursuant to this act, together with |
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| 46 | 46 | | 14any legislative recommendations to carry it out, with the clerks of the House and Senate not later |
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| 47 | 47 | | 15than April 1, 2026. |
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