Text of MA H 1295 (2024)

1 of 1 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 374 FILED ON: 1/12/2023 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1295 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _________________ PRESENTED BY: Christine P. Barber _________________ 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 housing by preventing discrimination against affordable housing. _______________ PETITION OF: NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED: Christine P. Barber 34th Middlesex 1/12/2023 Carmine Lawrence Gentile 13th Middlesex 1/25/2023 Lindsay N. Sabadosa 1st Hampshire 1/30/2023 Vanna Howard 17th Middlesex 2/1/2023 Michelle M. DuBois 10th Plymouth 2/7/2023 David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf 17th Worcester 2/23/2023 Natalie M. Higgins 4th Worcester 2/23/2023 1 of 3 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 374 FILED ON: 1/12/2023 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1295 By Representative Barber of Somerville, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1295) of Christine P. Barber and others relative to preventing discrimination against affordable housing. Housing. [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION SEE HOUSE, NO. 1373 OF 2021-2022.] The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court (2023-2024) _______________ An Act promoting fair housing by preventing discrimination against 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 so appearing, is hereby amended by 2 adding the following paragraph:- 3 20. For a local or state administrative, legislative or regulatory body or instrumentality to 4 engage 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, 6 policy or ordinance; (ii) making a permitting or funding decision with respect to housing or 7 proposed housing; or (iii) taking any other action the purpose or effect of which would limit or 8 exclude: (a) housing accommodations for families or individuals with incomes at or below 80 per 9 cent of the area median income as defined by the United States Department of Housing and 10 Urban Development; (b) housing accommodations with sufficient bedrooms for families with 2 of 3 11 children including those with more than two bedrooms; or (c) families or individuals based on 12 race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, which shall 13 not include persons whose sexual orientation involves minor children as the sex object, age, 14 genetic information, ancestry, marital status, veteran status or membership in the armed forces, 15 familial status, disability condition, blindness, hearing impairment or because a person possesses 16 a 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 18 or inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect proves that the action or inaction was 19 motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory, bona fide governmental 20 interest and that the government entity is unable to prove that those interests cannot be served by 21 any other policy or practice that has a less discriminatory effect; or (ii) demonstrates that it has 22 consistently supported housing described in (iii) above and that the entity’s action or inaction 23 was motivated and justified by a substantial, legitimate nondiscriminatory bona fide 24 governmental interest 25 Any person or class of persons claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this Section 26 may institute and prosecute a civil action in the District, Superior, Housing, Probate or Land 27 Court Department for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief including an award of 28 actual damages, including, where the violation includes intentional discrimination, an award of 29 punitive damages. This civil action must be filed not later than three years after a violation of this 30 section. Any aggrieved person who prevails in an action authorized by this Section shall be 31 entitled to an award of the costs of the litigation including expert witness fees, reasonable 32 attorneys' fees in an amount to be fixed by the court, and prejudgment and post judgment 33 interest. The attorney general may, in like manner, also commence a civil action to seek relief for 3 of 3 34 a violation of this Section. Nothing in this Section is intended to require a person seeking to 35 enforce the protections afforded herein to exhaust any administrative remedies applicable to 36 discrimination claims under this Section or other laws, or to prevent or limit a person from filing 37 a complaint at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.