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MCAD seeks state tax check‑off to create voluntary fund as federal grants fall
Summary
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination asked the Joint Committee on Revenue to approve HB 3109/SB 2014 to authorize a voluntary tax return check‑off and create a Massachusetts Against Discrimination Fund to accept donations as a revenue backstop amid cuts to federal partners.
Mike Memelow, executive director of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, told the Joint Committee on Revenue that HB 3109 and SB 2014 would create a Massachusetts Against Discrimination Fund that individuals could donate to directly or via a voluntary check‑off on their Massachusetts income tax return.
"Simply put, these bills would create a fund that would allow, individuals to donate to the MCAD to support our mission and our work," Memelow said in testimony. He said the change would join the MCAD with other state funds that already accept voluntary tax donations and would provide a no‑cost mechanism to diversify the agency's revenue streams.
Memelow told the committee that the MCAD currently depends on federal partners for about 20% of its budget and that projected federal support for fiscal year 2026 is approximately $2,400,000. He said staffing and program reductions at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have reduced capacity at those agencies; at HUD, he said, the Fair Housing program that supports state partners has seen a roughly 75% reduction in staff in recent months and that there are now about three HUD staff in the entire Northeast assigned to that program.
The commission has had statutory authority to accept direct public donations for decades but, Memelow said, has not previously had the tax‑return check‑off mechanism to make that option broadly available. He told the committee the amount the proposed fund might generate is unknown but argued the fund would provide a financial backstop during federal funding uncertainty.
Committee members asked for details about the federal cutbacks and how dual filing/coordination with federal agencies operates; Memelow described the MCAD's existing worksharing arrangement with the EEOC that preserves both federal and state rights through "dual filing." No formal committee action was taken at the hearing; Memelow urged the committee to advance the bills.
