The House and Senate took different approaches toward conditioning tax relief on the fate of a ballot question, and legislative leaders continue to fling criticism about the process even as they open the door for negotiations.
Ballot Question
Posted inBallot Questions
Massachusetts ranks low in spending for land conservation. This ballot initiative is trying to change that.
Nature for Massachusetts – a coalition of nearly 70 nonprofits and a few private companies – is 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.
Posted inOpinion
Rent control ballot question won’t solve our housing problems — it will add to them
Although the goal of protecting tenants from sudden spikes is noble, evidence from decades of research and practical experience shows that broad rent caps often deliver the opposite of their intended outcomes.
Posted inBallot Questions
More than paychecks at stake in legislative stipend ballot question
A ballot question aiming to reform the Legislature’s controversial system of stipends would reach beyond capping the value or number available. It would also require legislative committees to follow new review and voting procedures as a prerequisite to earning bigger paychecks.
Posted inBallot Questions
Rent control opponents warn of $300 billion impact to property values
The real estate industry has a new line of attack in its campaign against rent control: the impact on property values, which could crumble and trigger difficult local decisions about cutting services or hiking taxes, according to a new report.
Posted inPolitics
Two veteran Democrats sue to block all-party primary ballot question
A pair of Democratic state committee members want the state’s highest court to toss a ballot question that would shift state elections to an all-party primary system, teeing up a legal fight over a measure that could fundamentally reshape political power in Massachusetts.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Empty house, full campaign coffers | Damon and Dushku
Saru Jayaraman’s charity organization, One Fair Wage Inc., was set up in Massachusetts last year, with Jayaraman as the president, and Nika Soon-Shiong, the daughter of the owner of the Los Angeles Times, as a director.
Posted inBallot Questions
Psychedelics debate pits psychiatrist against Navy vet with personal experience
Question 4 on the ballot would decriminalize five psychedelics, including psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. The measure would create a regulated system for the use of the psychedelics in licensed therapeutic settings. while also allowing those over the age of 21 to cultivate, possess, consume, and “share” these substances.
Posted inOpinion
Why I switched on MCAS
MCAS is the only measure we currently have to ensure all students in the Commonwealth are being taught the same content and skills, no matter their zip code.
Posted inBallot Questions
Analysis says rideshare unionization question likely to trigger lawsuits
The proposed law, Question 3 on the ballot, would allow rideshare drivers in Massachusetts to form unions and collectively bargain with different rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. The question would also ensure government oversight of negotiations to exempt the industry from core antitrust laws.
Posted inPolitics
Uber, Lyft drivers praise settlement, push for union
Days after Uber and Lyft agreed to boost driver pay and offer new benefits to resolve a years-old lawsuit, campaigners moved Tuesday to place on the ballot a measure that would allow those same drivers to unionize.
Posted inEconomy
Nonprofit led by Californian behind tipped wage ballot question
One Fair Wage is organizing in more than a dozen states to eliminate what it calls the sub-minimum wage. The organization’s website says its members include nearly 300,000 restaurant and service workers and nearly 3,000 restaurant employers.
Posted inEconomy
For Dems, a ballot question brouhaha
THERE WILL BE no table after all at the Democratic State Convention promoting ride-share companies’ position on a hotly contested November ballot question. A brewing intra-party battle over plans by […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Education, Transportation
Millionaire’s tax opponents sue over ballot language
OPPONENTS OF THE so-called “millionaire’s tax” filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the Supreme Judicial Court to change the summary of the constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2022 […]
Posted inEconomy
Egg issue unscrambled as lawmakers hatch compromise deal
HOUSE-SENATE NEGOTIATORS finally got cracking days before many of the state’s eggs would need to be pulled from store shelves, reaching a compromise Sunday evening on a bill that tweaks […]
Posted inOpinion
Tackling transgender health disparities
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS SOUNDLY rejected efforts to allow discrimination against transgender individuals – upholding the current law that protects them from unfair treatment. Despite this positive news, there are continuing efforts […]
Posted inOpinion
Yes on 3 is a healthy choice
ALL OF US know that accessing basic health care and emergency medical care treatment is essential to taking care of ourselves and our families. This November, voters will have a […]
Posted inPolitics
A voter guide to Question 1
The second installment of CommonWealth’s new video explainer, the Reel Deal, is a voter guide to Question 1, which would establish mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing ratios across Massachusetts. The question has […]
Posted inPolitics
House reneged on pot agreement, say sources
HOUSE LEADERS ABRUPTLY walked away from an agreement between Gov. Charlie Baker, Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stan Rosenberg that would have kept oversight of the emerging legal pot […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Sources: Higher tax, new opt-out in pot bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE RETAIL MARIJUANA SALES would be taxed at a maximum rate of 18.75 percent under legislation being developed by the House in preparation for a Thursday vote […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
House to roll out rewrite of legal pot bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LEADERSHIP WILL unveil its proposal to overhaul the voter-backed law legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts on Wednesday, setting up an expected debate and vote before the […]
Posted inPolitics
Pot panel looks to let ex-cons in
THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE shaping the state’s new marijuana law wrapped up its final session of hearings Monday with an impassioned plea from a convicted drug felon to change the laws […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
For marijuana law, now the ‘Grown-Up’s Hour’
MANY OF US have listened to Longfellow’s poem that reminds us that there “Comes a pause in the day’s occupations, that is known as the Children’s Hour.” Now that democracy […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
MA losing casino chess game
Rhode Island and Connecticut seem determined to keep luring as many gamblers out of Massachusetts as they can. Rhode Island voters and residents of Tiverton, Rhode Island, approved separate ballot […]