An Act to create equitable job access
(S. 1568)
Lead Sponsor: Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz
WHY THIS BILL MATTERS
Massachusetts state agencies spend millions of dollars annually on public contracts for various projects, such as construction projects. These contracts are funded by taxpayer dollars, so it’s important that all of our residents share the employment and wealth creation benefits these contracts create—especially for projects taking place in their local communities. To establish a system of equitable economic development, we need to promote a state workforce that reflects our diverse demographics.
WHAT THIS BILL DOES
S. 1568 has three aims:
1) to ensure that all of our residents, especially those adversely affected by high unemployment and low incomes, benefit from job creation stemming from state-funded contracts;
2) to promote a more equitable system of public contracting with regard to minority- and women-owned businesses and workers; and
3) to implement measures to monitor our progress toward these ends.
S. 1568 promotes equitable economic development by:
• Enhancing transparency through monitoring and publicly reporting the awarding of state-funded contracts and, in the case of construction projects in low-income communities, whether members of a local host community are benefitting from the job creation of the projects;
• Encouraging bidders on public contracts to include minority and women workers in their workforce by making it a stated goal of the Commonwealth that contract awardees reflect the diverse racial, ethnic, and gender make-up of the our state’s population;
• Mandating that state agencies, when reviewing potential bidders for state contracts, evaluate each bidder’s current capacity and past performance in advancing the Commonwealth’s contracting and workforce inclusion goals; and
• Directing the Comptroller to develop a website to report, on a quarterly basis, the Commonwealth’s performance on hiring diversity and local job creation, providing the public a user-friendly mechanism to monitor public projects as they’re happening.
