GOV. MAURA HEALEY on Wednesday threw her support behind a ballot question that supporters say could unlock $100 million in new conservation dollars.
The measure, one of nine that will be before voters in November, will be listed as Question 6 on ballots.
Asked if she has a position on any of the questions yet, Healey told GBH “Boston Public Radio” hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, “Not on all of them, and you know, there are some that I’ve sort of taken a closer look at as a matter of priority,” before mentioning the conservation measure.
“It’s no new taxes, OK?” Healey said. “But what it does, is it takes the use of an existing sales tax on your recreational vehicles, golf equipment, other sporting goods — we get taxed when we buy that stuff. And it proposes that we take a piece of that and that we use it to fund land and water protection, park and trail restoration. And I think that’s a good thing.”
The tax revenues collected on the sales of sporting goods would be put into a new fund focused on conserving or restoring farms, forests and other lands, protecting drinking water, and creating or improving parks, green spaces, trails and outdoor recreation areas.
Twenty-eight other states already have a dedicated funding source for conservation work, Mass Audubon CEO David O’Neill said Tuesday, when advocates kicked off the “Yes on 6” campaign on the Charles River Esplanade. The question is backed by a coalition of 95 groups.
“I think that’s a good thing in Massachusetts to be supporting those things, and you know, we would be able to do it in a way that doesn’t raise fees or taxes on anyone,” Healey said.
After speaking to the conservation measure, Healey said that she thinks “we’ve got to continue the push on housing,” backing “any efforts that increase housing” and specifically naming the “yes in my backyard” housing proposal, alongside one that “looks at land that, you know, schools, that churches, religious institutions have that might be available for housing.”
One housing-related ballot question will go before voters in the fall that would allow starter homes to be built on smaller lots, which proponents say would be a tool to alleviate housing shortages.
