An Act to study the decriminalization of sex work, the official text

	SECTION 19.   Chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section 
	53B the following section, which shall be titled “Interagency committee to study 
	decriminalizing sex work”:- 
	Section 53C. (a) There shall be an interagency committee to be convened by the Executive 
	Office of Health and Human Services within 90 days from the date of the enactment of this 
	provision to study decriminalizing sex work. The committee shall consist of: (i) the 
	secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services or the secretary’s 
	designee; (ii) a representative of the Department of Public Health; (iii) a representative of 
	the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development; (iv) a representative of the 
	Department of Housing and Community Development; (v) a representative of the 
	Department of Children and Families; (vii) a representative from an organization focused on 
	advocacy for sex workers; (viii) a representative from an organization focused on 
	advocating for transgender people and racial justice; (ix) a survivor or direct service 
	provider from an organization representing survivors of human trafficking in the 
	commercial sex sector; (x) representative from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center; (xi) a 
	representative from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; (xii) a 
	representative from an organization focused on harm reduction related to substance 
	use;(xiii) a representative from an organization focused on advocating for legal defense and 
	bonds for undocumented people; (xiv) a representative from the Committee for Public 
	Counsel Services; and (xv) at least three current or former sex workers. The members of the 
	committee shall be appointed by the secretary of the Executive Office of Health and 
	Human Services or the secretary’s designee unless otherwise stated. Two co-chairs shall 
	be appointed by majority vote of commission members. Adequate compensation for 
	services shall be determined by a schedule of fees adopted by the committee.  
	The committee shall be responsible for studying and making recommendations towards 
	the following: (i) what criminal penalties and collateral consequences exist related to the 
	criminalization of sex work, (ii) what labor protections need to be in place under 
	decriminalization, (iii) what services need to be made available to people engaged in 
	commercial sex to improve health and safety outcomes, (iv) identify the methods of human 
	trafficking and exploitation in order to develop strategies to reduce these activities in 
	collaboration with sex workers, with a focus on prevention, (v) implementation models for 
	alternatives to policing to promote safety in the commercial sex sector, rooted in public 
	health, and (vi) the development of a fund to prevent, reduce, prevent, and eliminate 
	human trafficking that shall include ways to support the health, safety, and autonomy of 
	sex workers.