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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 811 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 965
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Julian Cyr
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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 promoting fair and affordable housing.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Julian CyrCape and Islands 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 811 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 965
By Mr. Cyr, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 965) of Julian Cyr for legislation to
promote fair housing by preventing discrimination against affordable housing. Housing.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 859 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act promoting fair and affordable housing.
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 4 of chapter 151B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph:-
3 20. For a local or state administrative, legislative or regulatory body or instrumentality to
4engage in a discriminatory land use practice. For the purposes of this paragraph, a
5“discriminatory land use practice” shall mean: (i) enacting or enforcing any land use regulation,
6policy or ordinance; (ii) making a permitting or funding decision with respect to housing or
7proposed housing; or (iii) taking any other action the purpose or effect of which would limit or
8exclude: (a) housing accommodations for families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 per
9cent of the area median income as defined by the United States Department of Housing and
10Urban Development; (b) housing accommodations with sufficient bedrooms for families with 2 of 3
11children including those with more than two bedrooms; or (c) families or individuals based on
12race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, which shall
13not include persons whose sexual orientation involves minor children as the sex object, age,
14genetic information, ancestry, marital status, veteran status or membership in the armed forces,
15familial status, disability condition, blindness, hearing impairment or because a person possesses
16a trained dog guide as a consequence of blindness, hearing impairment or other handicap.
17 It shall not be a violation of this chapter if a local or state government entity whose action
18or inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect proves that the action or inaction was
19motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory, bona fide governmental
20interest and that the government entity is unable to prove that those interests cannot be served by
21any other policy or practice that has a less discriminatory effect; or (ii) demonstrates that it has
22consistently supported housing described in (iii) above and that the entity’s action or inaction
23was motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate nondiscriminatory bona fide
24governmental interest.
25 Any person or class of persons claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this Section
26may institute and prosecute a civil action in the District, Superior, Housing, Probate or Land
27Court Department for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief including an award of
28actual damages, including, where the violation includes intentional discrimination, an award of
29punitive damages. This civil action must be filed not later than three years after a violation of this
30section. Any aggrieved person who prevails in an action authorized by this Section shall be
31entitled to an award of the costs of the litigation including expert witness fees, reasonable
32attorneys' fees in an amount to be fixed by the court, and prejudgment and post judgment
33interest. The attorney general may, in like manner, also commence a civil action to seek relief for 3 of 3
34a violation of this Section. Nothing in this Section is intended to require a person seeking to
35enforce the protections afforded herein to exhaust any administrative remedies applicable to
36discrimination claims under this Section or other laws, or to prevent or limit a person from filing
37a complaint at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.