Press Release  MA Legislature Sets Its Sight On Discrimination

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Legislature, in its continued support of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), has recommended full state funding of the agency’s operations in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). The funds will mitigate the agency’s federal earnings losses and resultant understaffing. On July 18, 2022, the Massachusetts Legislature passed its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget, increasing the MCAD state appropriation by $3,360,000 to $7.6 million — nearly doubling the agency’s state appropriation over the previous year.

Historically, the MCAD has relied primarily on federal funding to operate. In recent years, the Governor and Legislature have increased state funding for the Commission, resulting in approximately 60% of the agency’s budget being funded through state appropriations. The remaining 40% of the budget was earned through workshare agreements with two federal agencies, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). However, with repeated cuts to these workshare agreements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCAD saw budget shortfalls that prevented it from backfilling vacant positions, and negatively impacted the agency’s ability to conduct timely investigations.

The Legislature’s FY23 budget will fully fund the MCAD, eliminating its reliance on earned revenue from the EEOC and HUD. Full funding also corrects the MCAD’s earned income shortfalls. It will allow the agency to fill all vacant positions, reducing the time needed to complete investigations, and ultimately eliminate the growing backlog.

“We would like to thank Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano for leading this monumental advancement,” said MCAD Chairwoman Sunila Thomas George. “Governor Baker and the Legislature continue to demonstrate their ardent support of this agency and its mission to eradicate discrimination in Massachusetts. These funds will directly impact the Commission’s ability to accept, investigate, adjudicate and resolve complaints of discrimination. Funding at this level will ultimately create a more efficient and effective process for the people of Massachusetts seeking restitution for discriminatory mistreatment.”

Once the FY23 budget is finalized, the Commission plans to use these increased funds to hire, train, and retain adequate staff, reduce investigation times to under a year, and rebuild the agency to its pre-COVID footing, when the backlog was at its lowest levels and the MCAD was positioned to eliminate it all together.

The agency is grateful to all members of the House and Senate for their ongoing support of this agency and its mission. Special thanks to House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Senator Jamie Eldridge, Senator Adam Gomez and Representative Carlos Gonzalez for their consistent support.

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