Senator files bill requiring state agencies to adopt and report nondiscrimination plans

Senator Sal N. DiDomenico filed a bill Jan. 16, 2025, that would require every executive department and agency in Massachusetts to develop, update and submit nondiscrimination plans that cover personnel at all levels and include procedures for reporting and investigating discrimination. The filing appears as Senate Docket No. 1796 and Senate Bill No. 1299 and was placed with the committee on Labor and Workforce Development.

The bill would amend Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws to add a new section directing each executive department and agency to create a nondiscrimination plan that covers “personnel,” defined in the bill to include volunteers, interns, agency line staff, managers, administrators, executives, contracted vendors and program staff. The plans would have to include descriptions of prohibited discrimination under the chapter, procedures for collecting and maintaining demographic data, procedures for reporting discrimination or retaliation (including provisions allowing anonymous reports), and procedures for promptly responding to and investigating reports. The plans must also set out a range of disciplinary actions for perpetrators and strategies to protect people who report discrimination from retaliation.

Plans may include a timeline for personnel training on nondiscrimination and equal access under Chapter 151B, and each plan must be updated at least biennially. If enacted, the bill would require departments and agencies to submit their nondiscrimination plans to the Clerks of the House and Senate, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity no later than Jan. 1, 2027.

The bill text notes similar matter filed in the 2023–2024 session as Senate No. 1160 and identifies Labor and Workforce Development as the committee of reference. The filing is a legislative proposal and does not by itself change agency practice; any requirements would take effect only if the General Court passes and the governor signs the bill into law or it otherwise becomes law.

Key procedural elements spelled out in the draft include the following: the requirement that plans address anonymous reporting; a mandate that plans describe investigative and disciplinary procedures; a requirement that plans include protections for reporters from retaliation; and a biennial update schedule. The bill does not specify funding, enforcement procedures beyond the plan contents, or penalties for noncompliance by agencies. The bill text also does not specify detail on how demographic data should be collected or reported beyond requiring procedures to do so.

If the bill advances, next steps would include committee review in the referenced Labor and Workforce Development committee and potential hearings before the Joint Committee assignments named in the bill. The Jan. 1, 2027 submission deadline would apply only if the proposal becomes law.