The Massachusetts Burma Law was a law enacted in 1996 by the Massachusetts General Court limiting state entities from purchasing services from companies doing business with Myanmar (Burma).State Library of Massachusetts, 1996 Chapter 0130. An Act Regulating State Contracts With Companies Doing Business With Or In Burma (Myanmar), accessed 23 February 2021 This law was enacted three months before the introduction of federal sanctions on trade with Burma.Harrison Institute for Public Law (2000), Defending the Massachusetts Burma Law, Georgetown University Law Center
The law was modeled on similar state and local laws from the 1980s used elsewhere in the United States to give expression to anti-apartheid objectives. After Massachusetts' restricted trade list added 34 members of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), the trade association sued the Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts, Stephen Crosby, arguing that the Massachusetts Burma Law was subject to federal preemption. In Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council (2000), the Supreme Court unanimously sided with the NFTC, ending enforcement of the Massachusetts Burma Law.
See also Federalism Supremacy Clause 179th Massachusetts General Court (1995–1996)
References
External links Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council