| 1 | 1 | | |
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| 2 | 2 | | FIRST REGULAR SESSION |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE BILL NO. 272 |
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| 4 | 4 | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 5 | 5 | | INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BLACK. |
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| 6 | 6 | | 1026S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | To amend chapters 34 and 431, RSMo, by adding thereto two new sections relating to prohibited |
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| 9 | 9 | | business practices of entities doing business in this state, with penalty provisions. |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Section A. Chapters 34 and 431, RSMo, are amended by 1 |
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| 13 | 13 | | adding thereto two new sections, to be known as sections 34.650 2 |
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| 14 | 14 | | and 431.205, to read as follows:3 |
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| 15 | 15 | | 34.650. 1. A public entity shall not enter into a 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | contract with a company to acquire or dispose of services, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | supplies, information technology, or construction unless the 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | contract includes a written certification that the company 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | is not currently engaged in and shall not, for the duration 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | of the contract, engage in any kind of economic boycott. 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This section shall not apply to contracts with a total 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | potential value of less than one hundred thousand dollars or 8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | to contractors with fewer than ten employees. 9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 2. As used in this section, the following terms and 10 |
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| 25 | 25 | | phrases mean: 11 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (1) "Company", any for-profit or not-for-profit 12 |
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| 27 | 27 | | organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint 13 |
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| 28 | 28 | | venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, 14 |
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| 29 | 29 | | limited liability company, or other entity or business 15 |
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| 30 | 30 | | association, including all wholly owned subsidiaries, 16 |
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| 31 | 31 | | majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates 17 |
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| 32 | 32 | | of those entities or business associations; 18 SB 272 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) "Economic boycott", refusing to deal with, 19 |
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| 34 | 34 | | terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking 20 |
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| 35 | 35 | | any commercial action that is intended to penalize, inflict 21 |
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| 36 | 36 | | economic harm on, limit commercial relations with, or change 22 |
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| 37 | 37 | | or limit the activities of a company because the company, 23 |
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| 38 | 38 | | without violating controlling federal or state law: 24 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (a) Engages in the exploration, production, 25 |
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| 40 | 40 | | utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of, 26 |
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| 41 | 41 | | fossil fuel-based energy, timber, mining, or agriculture; 27 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (b) Engages in, facilitates, or supports the 28 |
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| 43 | 43 | | manufacture, import, distribution, marketing or advertising, 29 |
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| 44 | 44 | | sale, or lawful use of firearms, ammunition, or component 30 |
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| 45 | 45 | | parts and accessories of firearms or ammunition; 31 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (c) Does not meet, is not expected to meet, or does 32 |
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| 47 | 47 | | not commit to meet environmental standards or disclosure 33 |
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| 48 | 48 | | criteria, in particular to elimin ate, reduce, offset, or 34 |
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| 49 | 49 | | disclose greenhouse gas emissions; 35 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (d) Does not meet, is not expected to meet, or does 36 |
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| 51 | 51 | | not commit to meet any specified criteria with respect to 37 |
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| 52 | 52 | | the compensation and composition of the company's corporate 38 |
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| 53 | 53 | | board and the employees of the company; 39 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (e) Does not facilitate, is not expected to 40 |
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| 55 | 55 | | facilitate, or does not commit to facilitate access to 41 |
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| 56 | 56 | | abortion, sex or gender change, or transgender surgery or 42 |
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| 57 | 57 | | medical treatments; or 43 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (f) Does business with a company that engages in or 44 |
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| 59 | 59 | | does not meet one or more of the criteria listed in 45 |
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| 60 | 60 | | paragraphs (a) to (e) of this subdivision. 46 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (3) "Public entity", the state of Missouri or any 47 |
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| 62 | 62 | | political subdivision thereof, including all boards, 48 |
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| 63 | 63 | | commissions, agencies, institution s, authorities, and bodies 49 SB 272 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | politic and corporate of the state created by or in 50 |
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| 65 | 65 | | accordance with state law or regulations. 51 |
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| 66 | 66 | | 3. Any contract that fails to comply with the 52 |
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| 67 | 67 | | provisions of this section shall be void against public 53 |
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| 68 | 68 | | policy. 54 |
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| 69 | 69 | | 4. (1) This section, or any contract subject to this 55 |
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| 70 | 70 | | section, may be enforced by the attorney general. 56 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (2) If the attorney general has reasonable cause to 57 |
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| 72 | 72 | | believe that a person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is 58 |
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| 73 | 73 | | about to engage in, a violation of this section, he or she 59 |
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| 74 | 74 | | may: 60 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (a) Require such person to file on such forms as the 61 |
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| 76 | 76 | | attorney general prescribes a statement or report in 62 |
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| 77 | 77 | | writing, under oath, as to all the facts and circumstances 63 |
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| 78 | 78 | | concerning the violation, and such other data and 64 |
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| 79 | 79 | | information as deemed necessary; 65 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (b) Examine under oath any person in connection with 66 |
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| 81 | 81 | | the violation; 67 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (c) Examine any record, book, document, account, or 68 |
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| 83 | 83 | | paper as deemed necessary; and 69 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (d) Pursuant to an order of a circuit court, impound 70 |
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| 85 | 85 | | any record, book, document, account, paper, sample, or 71 |
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| 86 | 86 | | material relating to such practice and retain the same in 72 |
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| 87 | 87 | | his or her possession until the completion of all 73 |
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| 88 | 88 | | proceedings undertaken under this section or in the courts. 74 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (3) In addition to any other remedies available at law 75 |
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| 90 | 90 | | or equity, a company that enters into a contract with a 76 |
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| 91 | 91 | | public entity that is subject to this section and engages in 77 |
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| 92 | 92 | | any economic boycott during the term of the contract shall 78 |
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| 93 | 93 | | be obligated to pay damages to the state in an am ount equal 79 |
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| 94 | 94 | | to three times all monies paid to the company under the 80 |
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| 95 | 95 | | contract. 81 SB 272 4 |
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| 96 | 96 | | 5. (1) Any person injured as a result of any 82 |
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| 97 | 97 | | violation or threatened violation of this section shall have 83 |
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| 98 | 98 | | a cause of action in the circuit court of Cole County and 84 |
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| 99 | 99 | | shall be entitled to injunctive relief against any and all 85 |
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| 100 | 100 | | violators or persons threatening violations. 86 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (2) Any person injured as a result of any violation or 87 |
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| 102 | 102 | | threatened violation of this section may recover any and all 88 |
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| 103 | 103 | | damages of any character resul ting from such violation or 89 |
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| 104 | 104 | | threatened violation including costs and reasonable attorney 90 |
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| 105 | 105 | | fees. Such remedies shall be independent of and in addition 91 |
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| 106 | 106 | | to the other penalties and remedies prescribed under this 92 |
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| 107 | 107 | | section. 93 |
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| 108 | 108 | | 6. The commissioner of admini stration may promulgate 94 |
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| 109 | 109 | | regulations to implement the provisions of this section, so 95 |
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| 110 | 110 | | long as they are consistent with this section and do not 96 |
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| 111 | 111 | | create any exceptions. Any rule or portion of a rule, as 97 |
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| 112 | 112 | | that term is defined in section 536.010, that is crea ted 98 |
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| 113 | 113 | | under the authority of this section shall become effective 99 |
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| 114 | 114 | | only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 100 |
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| 115 | 115 | | provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 101 |
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| 116 | 116 | | 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 102 |
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| 117 | 117 | | if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 103 |
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| 118 | 118 | | pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 104 |
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| 119 | 119 | | date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 105 |
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| 120 | 120 | | held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 106 |
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| 121 | 121 | | authority and any rule proposed or adopted after Au gust 28, 107 |
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| 122 | 122 | | 2025, shall be invalid and void. 108 |
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| 123 | 123 | | 431.205. 1. It shall be an unlawful business practice 1 |
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| 124 | 124 | | for any private business, in entering into, maintaining, or 2 |
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| 125 | 125 | | seeking to establish contractual relations with any other 3 |
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| 126 | 126 | | private business to: 4 SB 272 5 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (1) Fail or refuse to enter into a contract, maintain 5 |
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| 128 | 128 | | a contract, or entertain bids or offers to contract, based, 6 |
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| 129 | 129 | | in whole or in part, on the fact that the other private 7 |
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| 130 | 130 | | business: 8 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (a) Does not provide information or data, or does not 9 |
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| 132 | 132 | | provide sufficient information or data, about the extent to 10 |
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| 133 | 133 | | which its workforce or ownership exhibit particular DEI 11 |
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| 134 | 134 | | classifications; or 12 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (b) Fails to satisfy any rule, standard, policy, goal, 13 |
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| 136 | 136 | | aspiration, or preference, whether express or implied, 14 |
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| 137 | 137 | | regarding the extent to which its workforce, managers, 15 |
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| 138 | 138 | | executives, or ownership exhibit or claim to exhibit 16 |
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| 139 | 139 | | particular DEI classifications; 17 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (2) (a) Consider: 18 |
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| 141 | 141 | | a. Whether the owners, controllers, officers, or 19 |
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| 142 | 142 | | employees of the other private busi ness exhibit or claim to 20 |
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| 143 | 143 | | exhibit particular DEI classifications; or 21 |
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| 144 | 144 | | b. Whether the other private business has adopted or 22 |
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| 145 | 145 | | endorsed any particular policy or practice that promotes the 23 |
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| 146 | 146 | | hiring and promotion of employees based on the fact that 24 |
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| 147 | 147 | | those employees or prospective employees exhibit or claim to 25 |
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| 148 | 148 | | exhibit particular DEI classifications; 26 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (b) The act of considering one of the factors 27 |
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| 150 | 150 | | described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be an 28 |
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| 151 | 151 | | unlawful business practice pursuant to this sect ion if it 29 |
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| 152 | 152 | | meets any of the following: 30 |
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| 153 | 153 | | a. If it is only one criterion among many other 31 |
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| 154 | 154 | | criteria; 32 |
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| 155 | 155 | | b. If it is treated as a dispositive criterion in 33 |
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| 156 | 156 | | making a decision; and 34 |
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| 157 | 157 | | c. If it is part of an express or implied scoring or 35 |
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| 158 | 158 | | grading system; 36 SB 272 6 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (3) Require or suggest that individuals exhibiting 37 |
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| 160 | 160 | | particular DEI classifications, because of their DEI 38 |
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| 161 | 161 | | classifications, work on the contract or have particular 39 |
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| 162 | 162 | | roles in performing the contract, or require or suggest that 40 |
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| 163 | 163 | | a particular quota o r percentage of individuals working on 41 |
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| 164 | 164 | | the performance of a contract exhibit one or more particular 42 |
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| 165 | 165 | | DEI classifications; or 43 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (4) Require or suggest that any other contracting 44 |
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| 167 | 167 | | party provide data regarding the extent to which its 45 |
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| 168 | 168 | | workforce, managers, executives, or ownership exhibit or 46 |
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| 169 | 169 | | claim to exhibit particular DEI classifications. 47 |
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| 170 | 170 | | 2. For purposes of this section, the following terms 48 |
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| 171 | 171 | | mean: 49 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (1) "Private business", any individual, partnership, 50 |
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| 173 | 173 | | company, or corporation engaging in commer ce, manufacturing, 51 |
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| 174 | 174 | | or services; 52 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (2) "DEI classifications", race, ethnicity, 53 |
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| 176 | 176 | | nationality, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, 54 |
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| 177 | 177 | | gender, or gender identity. 55 |
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| 178 | 178 | | 3. The act of requesting information from a current or 56 |
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| 179 | 179 | | prospective contracti ng party that is related to DEI 57 |
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| 180 | 180 | | classifications is not alone sufficient to establish a 58 |
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| 181 | 181 | | violation of this section, but may provide circumstantial 59 |
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| 182 | 182 | | evidence of a violation. 60 |
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| 183 | 183 | | 4. This section shall apply: 61 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (1) To any act relating to a contract that is 62 |
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| 185 | 185 | | solicited, bid, negotiated, or to be substantially performed 63 |
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| 186 | 186 | | in Missouri; or 64 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (2) To any party to a contract, solicitation, or bid 65 |
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| 188 | 188 | | that is incorporated under the laws of Missouri or that has 66 |
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| 189 | 189 | | its principal place of business in Missouri. 67 |
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| 190 | 190 | | 5. This section shall not apply: 68 SB 272 7 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (1) To the decision to employ an individual or to 69 |
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| 192 | 192 | | discharge an individual from employment; 70 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (2) To any depository institution, trust company, 71 |
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| 194 | 194 | | licensee, or person subject to the jurisdiction of the 72 |
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| 195 | 195 | | United States Securities Exchange Commission, Federal 73 |
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| 196 | 196 | | Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or 74 |
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| 197 | 197 | | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the Missouri 75 |
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| 198 | 198 | | securities division within secretary of state; 76 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (3) To any action of a private business necessary to 77 |
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| 200 | 200 | | comply with an order or judgment from any federal court 78 |
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| 201 | 201 | | enforcing any provision of federal law; and 79 |
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| 202 | 202 | | (4) To any action of a private business necessary to 80 |
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| 203 | 203 | | comply with the requirements of federal law pertaining to 81 |
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| 204 | 204 | | businesses that: 82 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (a) Enter into contracts with the federal government; 83 |
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| 206 | 206 | | or 84 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (b) Enter into other public contracts. 85 |
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| 208 | 208 | | 6. (1) A civil action for violation of this section 86 |
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| 209 | 209 | | may be brought in any circuit court in any county in which 87 |
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| 210 | 210 | | the unlawful business practice is alleged to have been 88 |
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| 211 | 211 | | committed. 89 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (2) Any action brought in court pursuant to this 90 |
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| 213 | 213 | | section shall be filed within two years after the alleged 91 |
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| 214 | 214 | | unlawful business practice occurred or its reasonable 92 |
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| 215 | 215 | | discovery by the alleged injured party. 93 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (3) The court may grant as relief, as it deems 94 |
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| 217 | 217 | | appropriate, any permanent or temporary injunction, 95 |
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| 218 | 218 | | temporary restraining order, or other order, and may award 96 |
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| 219 | 219 | | to the plaintiff actual and punitive damages, and may award 97 |
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| 220 | 220 | | court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing 98 |
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| 221 | 221 | | party, other than a state agency or commission or a local 99 |
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| 222 | 222 | | commission. A prevailing respondent may be awarded 100 SB 272 8 |
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| 223 | 223 | | reasonable attorney fees only upon a showing that the case 101 |
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| 224 | 224 | | was without foundation. 102 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (4) Any party to any action initiated unde r this 103 |
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| 226 | 226 | | section has a right to a trial by jury. 104 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (5) In any civil action brought pursuant to this 105 |
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| 228 | 228 | | section, the plaintiff shall bear the burden of proving the 106 |
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| 229 | 229 | | alleged unlawful practice was the direct proximate cause of 107 |
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| 230 | 230 | | the claimed damages. 108 |
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| 231 | 231 | | 7. Whenever the attorney general has a reasonable 109 |
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| 232 | 232 | | cause to believe that any private business or group of 110 |
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| 233 | 233 | | private businesses is engaged in an unlawful business 111 |
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| 234 | 234 | | practice prohibited by this section, any or all of the 112 |
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| 235 | 235 | | following actions may be taken: 113 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (1) A civil investigative demand may be issued to any 114 |
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| 237 | 237 | | person who may have relevant information. Any civil 115 |
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| 238 | 238 | | investigative demand shall be issued in the same manner 116 |
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| 239 | 239 | | required by section 407.040 and shall be subject to the same 117 |
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| 240 | 240 | | requirements and restrictions a s are required by sections 118 |
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| 241 | 241 | | 407.005 to 407.315, to the extent such requirements and 119 |
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| 242 | 242 | | restrictions are not inconsistent with this section; 120 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (2) A civil action may be brought in the circuit court 121 |
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| 244 | 244 | | of Cole County by filing a complaint setting forth the f acts 122 |
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| 245 | 245 | | and requesting any one or more of the following remedies: 123 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (a) Preventive relief, including, but not limited to, 124 |
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| 247 | 247 | | an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, 125 |
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| 248 | 248 | | restraining order, or other order against the person or 126 |
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| 249 | 249 | | persons responsible for such unlawful business practice; 127 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (b) Civil penalties in the amount of ten thousand 128 |
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| 251 | 251 | | dollars per violation; and 129 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (c) The award of the costs of investigation. 130 |
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| 253 | 253 | | |
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