Ballot Questions Becoming Key to Getting Things Done on Beacon Hill

In an era when Massachusetts residents complain that the Massachusetts Legislature gets little accomplished, the subject of ballot questions is coming to the forefront.

According to a WBUR report, groups submitting ballot initiatives broke a record this year, with 11 questions certified by the Secretary of State William Galvin's Office. Questions ranged from rent control and funding for nature conservation to cutting the state income tax and giving public defenders the right to unionize.

State lawmakers can pass the proposals into law. If they don't, the groups that introduced the questions must collect thousands more signatures to be eligible for a spot on the November ballot.

Lawmakers and critics warn ballot questions may bypass the legislative consensus and could raise costs, while potentially increasing the workload for Galvin's office through signature processing.

Legislators and critics, including Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, criticize the ballot initiative process as absolutist or profit-driven. 

“The House continues to believe that building a consensus between folks on different sides of an issue is often the only way to produce strong, lasting legislation,” said Mariano in a statement shared with WBUR.

Some behind the ballot questions told WBUR they prefer this method instead of lobbying for a bill on Beacon Hill because of the Legislature's reputation for moving slowly.

Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and organizer of ballot questions to reduce the income tax and prompt more tax refunds, said the business groups he represents decided to draft ballot questions to avoid drawn-out legislative battles over tax policies.

Rent control is one example of a ballot question on many minds recently.

Michael Prentky, a musician and music teacher for Boston Public Schools students in East Boston, told WBUR that lower-income residents could afford housing in Massachusetts if voters approved the rent control ballot question.