Late last month, the chairman of the Authentic Caribbean Foundation, a representative from adhesives and bonding solutions manufacturer Bemis, and the president of the state’s largest private landowner, The Trustees of Reservations, all sat next to each other at a cramped conference table on the first floor of the State House. Surprisingly, they were there to advocate for the same thing.

All three represented members of Nature for Massachusetts – a coalition of nearly 70 nonprofits and a few private companies pushing for the Commonwealth to create a dedicated fund to purchase land for conservation, outdoor recreation, and water quality improvement. The group’s original goal was to pass this policy, which would be funded by the sales tax the state accrues from the sale of sporting goods, through the Legislature, but the House and Senate versions of the bills failed to gain traction. Now, they’ve repackaged the initiative into “Protect Water and Nature” – one of the state’s record 12 questions that could appear on November’s ballot. During its hearing before the Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions, however, some legislators seemed displeased that the proposal, which would eventually divert $100 million per year from the state’s budget if fully financed, was reappearing on their desks in an already difficult budget cycle.

The Commonwealth is underperforming compared to other states when it comes to environmental protection and conservation. In 2021, Massachusetts ranked last in the country in state parks funding per capita in 2021. In the five years since, fiscal constraints caused by slow growth and federal cuts to state funding have continued to bump spending on land conservation down the list of priorities. This culminated in Governor Maura Healey recommending cutting funds for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) by 8 percent in her budget proposal released last month.

The ballot measure brings together an unlikely coalition of well-known nonprofits, local land trusts, recreation groups, and outerwear retailers for the purpose of setting aside the sales taxes the state collects on sporting goods to fund land conservation projects. These projects, in addition to protecting land and improving water quality, could also address a racial gap in access to outdoor space in Massachusetts, according to proponents. The bill version of the policy was introduced at the beginning of both the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions but has never made it to a full floor vote. The current iteration of the bill has been stuck in the Ways and Means Committee since October.

Senator Paul Feeney (D-Bristol and Norfolk) says he still has hope that the bill will see some movement this term due to the attention the ballot initiative has generated. He also acknowledged, though, that with decreasing revenues and cuts to federal spending on states, this is a difficult year to advocate for setting aside money from the general fund.

“With seven thousand plus bills filed in the legislature, it takes some inertia, right? It’s tough to get a bill on the radar screen. And I think, from what I’ve experienced over the last few months, it seems like this bill is rising to that level,” Feeney said. “It’s not easy to balance a budget when you have a federal government that is making decisions that are going to adversely affect us.”

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Published by MassINC