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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2185 |
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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 | | Andres X. Vargas |
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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 fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education. |
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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:Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex1/17/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/27/2025Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/31/2025Michael D. BradySecond Plymouth and Norfolk1/31/2025Christopher Richard Flanagan1st Barnstable1/31/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex1/31/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex1/31/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/6/2025Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester2/12/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester2/12/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/12/2025Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex2/20/2025Mike Connolly26th Middlesex2/20/2025Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire2/24/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/3/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex3/3/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester3/11/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4041 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2185 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Vargas of Haverhill, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2185) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Andres X. Vargas and others relative to wages and benefits for employees of public institutions |
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| 20 | 20 | | of higher education. Labor and Workforce Development. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to provide fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 6 of said chapter 29 is hereby amended by adding the following |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2paragraph:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 The operating budget in the current and ensuing fiscal years shall include the |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4appropriation necessary to fund all incremental cost items for all years covered by any collective |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5bargaining agreement to which either the board of trustees of the university of Massachusetts or |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6the board of higher education is a party, separate and apart from any appropriation for the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7general maintenance of the university or public institutions of higher education where the board |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8of higher education is the employer for purposes of collective bargaining under chapter 150E, |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9excluding grant funded and auxiliary enterprises accounts funded positions. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding section 8 of chapter 32A of the General Laws or any other |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11general or special law to the contrary, the cost of fringe benefits, including, but not limited to, the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12cost of pensions and health insurance, associated with employees of a public institution of higher 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13education as defined in section 5 of chapter 15A, shall be the obligation of the commonwealth, |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14excluding grant funded and auxiliary enterprises accounts funded positions. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 SECTION 3. Subsection (c) of section 7 of Chapter 150E, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16Official Edition, is amended in the second paragraph by striking the third sentence and inserting |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17the following the following sentence: - |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18 The board of higher education and the board of trustees of the University of |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19Massachusetts shall include in any such submission a certification that the incremental cost items |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20in such collective bargaining agreement are adequate to ensure that average salaries for faculty |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21and staff in Massachusetts will, by the end of the contract terms, for each broad job category, be |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22at least at the national average, adjusted for cost of living. |
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