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Bill would make contractor eligibility filings public records in Mass., except financial data
Summary
A bill filed in the Massachusetts House would require applications for certificates of eligibility for public construction contracts to be public records under Chapter 4, Section 7, while exempting financial information.
BOSTON — A bill filed Jan. 8 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives would make applications for certificates of eligibility and their update statements for public construction contracts public records, while excluding financial information from disclosure, according to bill text filed as House No. 3300.
The measure, presented by Representative Antonio F. D. Cabral and petitioned by six other legislators, would amend subsection 2 and subsection 12 of Section 44D of Chapter 149 of the General Laws to replace the existing fifth sentence in each subsection with the sentence: “An application for a certificate of eligibility and update statements shall be public record as defined in section 7 of chapter 4 except that financial information contained in the application shall not be a public record.”
If enacted, the change would make most parts of eligibility applications subject to public-record requests under Chapter 4, Section 7, while keeping contractors’ financial details confidential. The bill text does not define which specific documents or line items constitute “financial information.”
Representative Antonio F. D. Cabral filed the bill with the House on Jan. 8, 2025; the document lists petitioners Patrick Joseph Kearney (4th Plymouth), Rodney M. Elliott (16th Middlesex), Vanna Howard (17th Middlesex), Paul McMurtry (11th Norfolk), Christopher J. Worrell (5th Suffolk) and Lindsay N. Sabadosa (1st Hampshire). The cover line names the referral subject as State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
The filing itself is a legislative proposal and does not create a legal change until the General Court passes and the governor signs implementing legislation. The bill text twice replaces a sentence in Section 44D — once in the subsection appearing at lines 66–67 and again in the subsection appearing at lines 279–281 of the filed draft — with the same public-records language.
The proposal would affect how cities, towns and state authorities handle records about contractor eligibility for public construction projects. The bill text does not include implementing regulations, an effective date, or an explicit definition of “financial information,” nor does it record any votes or committee actions in this filing.
The bill was presented to the General Court and listed under State Administration and Regulatory Oversight for further action.
