The strongest polling so far of the five measures is a direct jab at a Legislature perceived as opaque and glacial in its lawmaking processes – coming from a former lawmaker who is now the state auditor. Diana DiZoglio wants to pry open lawmakers’ processes for public scrutiny through a ballot question that would give her office authority to audit the Legislature.
Ballot Questions
Posted inOpinion
AG’s settlement with Uber and Lyft leaves big worker protection issues unresolved
Uber and Lyft got what they most wanted – no admission that their drivers are employees. The attorney general’s office got what they felt they needed – the rideshare companies’ commitment to withdraw a ballot question that would have codified drivers’ status as independent contractors. But the settlement left the larger issue of the role of misclassification in the gig economy unresolved.
Posted inOpinion
Question 4 is one solution to mental health crisis
Natural psychedelics provide a promising, necessary, and research-backed opportunity for healing where traditional therapies have fallen short.
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 inBallot Questions
Nearly $10m from unions, businesses floods into ballot questions
The Quincy-based Massachusetts Teachers Association provided $2 million in “in-kind” contributions, with the union helping pay for everything from consulting to polling, advertising, signature collection, staff travel, and mailings.
Posted inOpinion
AG’s gig driver settlement is a good start, but only a start
The Massachusetts settlement with Uber and Lyft marks a substantial improvement over the companies’ withdrawn ballot measure. But the state and the voters can and should do more to help gig drivers.
Posted inBallot Questions
Campbell explains why she settled Uber, Lyft case on eve of likely court victory
“A win in court might have given drivers restitution for pay they were owed in the past, but a successful ballot initiative would have wiped out its impact going forward,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said
Posted inBallot Questions
Lessons to learn from Oregon on psychedelics ballot measure
A group called Mass. for Mental Health Options has gathered the necessary signatures to put a question on the November ballot that would make it possible for Massachusetts residents to do the same. However, the measure in Massachusetts is much more expansive than the one that legalized psilocybin therapy in Oregon in 2020.
Posted inBallot Questions
Ballot question fundraising and spending largely hidden from public view
In contrast to state election laws governing candidates for office, which require regular reporting throughout the year on campaign donations and expenditures, ballot question committees operate under relatively lax reporting requirements.
Posted inBallot Questions
Tech-backed ballot question dead after settlement
WHAT WAS SHAPING up to be perhaps the buzziest ballot measure of the cycle, with Massachusetts residents barraged with millions of dollars of ad spending by both sides, will not go before voters after all. After a last-minute $175 million settlement that establishes new rights for Uber and Lyft’s app-based drivers while leaving their labor […]