Bill > S1625

This bill establishes the United Neighbor's Investing in the Truth for Youth Fund (UNITY Fund), a new special fund administered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner. The fund is designed to support public health investigations, specifically focusing on cancer surveillance and environmental data collection, with the goal of examining the human health impacts of past and present environmental conditions. The fund can be used for research activities including environmental and biological sample collection, modeling, surveys, public engagement, and administrative costs. The fund will be financed through legislative appropriations, private and public gifts or grants, authorized transfers, and cost recovery efforts related to hazardous waste investigations. The Commissioner is required to administer the fund with a focus on equity, fairness, and efficiency, and must publish all health surveillance and research efforts electronically on both the General Court and department websites. Additionally, the Commissioner must submit annual reports detailing itemized expenditures to the Senate and House clerks and their respective ways and means committees. Importantly, any money in the fund will not revert to the general fund, and all interest earned will be retained within the UNITY Fund. The fund is intended to supplement, not replace, existing public health investigation funding.

Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S1625