The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Byron Rushing
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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 passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act Relative to the History of Slavery in the Commonwealth.
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PETITION OF:
Name: |
District/Address: |
Byron Rushing |
9th Suffolk |
Willie Mae Allen |
6th Suffolk |
Ruth B. Balser |
12th Middlesex |
William N. Brownsberger |
24th Middlesex |
Steven J. D'Amico |
4th Bristol |
James B. Eldridge |
Middlesex and Worcester |
Kay Khan |
11th Middlesex |
Elizabeth A. Malia |
11th Suffolk |
Benjamin Swan |
11th Hampden |
Alice K. Wolf |
25th Middlesex |
David P. Linsky |
5th Middlesex |
Sean Garballey |
23rd Middlesex |
Gloria L. Fox |
7th Suffolk |
The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
_______________
An Act Relative to the History of Slavery in the Commonwealth.
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 7 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding a new Section:
For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:
“Company” means any person, firm, corporation, partnership or combination of these.
“Contract” means any agreement, franchise, lease or concession including an agreement for any occasional professional or technical personal services, the performance of any work or service, the provision of any materials or supplies or rendering of any service to any state agency or state authority of the public, which is let, awarded, or entered into with or on behalf of any state agency or state authority.
“Enslaved Person” means any person who was wholly subject to the will of another and whose person and services were wholly under the control of another and who was in a state of enforced compulsory service to another during the Slavery Era.
“Investment” means to make use of an Enslaved Person for future benefits or advantages.
“License” means permission granted by a person to another to exercise a certain privilege or to carry on a particular business.
“Majority-owned subsidiary” means a company that is at least fifty-one percent owned by another company.
“Person” means any individual and any partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other entity, or their subsidiaries.
“Participation” means having been a Slaveholder during the Slavery Era.
“Predecessor Company” means an entity whose ownership, title and interest, including all rights, benefits, duties, and liabilities were acquired in an uninterrupted chain of succession by the company.
“Profits” means any economic advantage or financial benefit derived from the use of Enslaved Persons.
“Secretary” means the Secretary of Administration and Finance.
“Slavery” means the practice of owning Enslaved Persons.
“Slavery Era” means the period of time in the United States of America, Brazil, and the Caribbean prior to 1889.
“Slaveholder” means holders of Enslaved Persons, owners of business enterprises using Enslaved Persons, owners of vessels carrying Enslaved Persons or other means of transporting Enslaved Persons, merchants or financiers dealing in the purchase, sale or financing of the business of Enslaved Persons.
“Slaveholder Insurance Policies” means policies issued to or for the benefit of Slaveholders to insure them against the death of, or injury to, Enslaved Persons.
“State agency”, all awarding authorities of the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, all executive offices, agencies, departments, commissions, and public institutions of higher education, and any office, department or division of the judiciary.
“State authority”, shall include, but not be limited to the: Bay State Skills Corporation, centers of excellence, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, Community Development Finance Corporation, Government Land Bank, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Massachusetts Business Development Corporation, Massachusetts Capital Resource Company, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Telecommunications, Massachusetts educational loan authority, Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority, Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation, Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, Massachusetts Horse Racing Authority, Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency, Massachusetts Industrial Service Program, Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, Massachusetts Port Authority, Massachusetts Product Development Corporation, Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation, Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Nantucket Land Bank, New England Loan Marketing Corporation, pension reserves investment management board, State College Building Authority, Southeastern Massachusetts University Building Authority, Thrift Institutions Fund for Economic Development, University of Lowell Building Authority, University of Massachusetts Building Authority, victim and witness board, and the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamship Authority.
Section 2. Not withstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary the Secretary of State is hereby authorized to publish a history of slavery in the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies and in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a history of the participation and involvement of the colonies and the Commonwealth in the slave trade and involvement in the slave trade of companies currently doing business with the Commonwealth.
Such publication shall include but not be limited to:
Section 3. To assist in the creation of the aforementioned publication, the Secretary, state agency or state authority shall require companies that have entered into a contract with the Commonwealth shall complete an affidavit certifying that: