Facing nine ballot questions, Bay Staters rejected efforts to throw out existing cannabis and gun laws, and to change an obscure tax cap law. They gave the green light to legislative transparency and Election Day voter registration while waving away a quest to replace party primaries with nonpartisan ones. A new state agency will now be allowed to unionize, and there may be more money for conservation efforts in the next few years.
ballot question 6
Posted inBallot Questions
New nature conservation fund wins voter approval, setting stage for funding fight
Passage of the ballot question now means a new nature conservation fund will be established to support clean drinking water, create and improve local parks, and protect wildlife habitats without raising taxes or levying a new one.
Posted inBallot Questions
An effort to boost nature, backed by big-money donors, lands in the middle of Mass. ballot question mania
As the campaign shifts from ballot-qualifying to general election mode, what the end result will be of all the money raised and spent, all the signatures collected and ads likely to come, and all the potential friction introduced with Beacon Hill — even if the question passes this fall — is for now unclear.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: A notable absence in the ‘Nature for Massachusetts’ coalition
The Environmental League of Massachusetts, one of the state’s oldest advocacy organizations, is sitting out a ballot campaign backed by some of the bigger names in environmental advocacy.
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.
