Massachusetts 2014 ballot measures

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Four statewide ballot measures were on the November 4, 2014, ballot in the state of Massachusetts. Two of them were approved - thereby limiting gas taxes and expanding employee access to sick time - while the other two were defeated, thereby leaving intact the state's beverage container recycling law and a law allowing resort casinos to operate in the state.

The 2014 legislative session began on January 14, 2014, and concluded on August 1, 2014. No legislatively referred constitutional amendments were referred to the 2014 ballot.

A total of 33 initiatives were filed for signature circulation. However, many of these were repeat filings of nearly identical initiatives. Initiative sponsors sometimes file multiple versions of the same measure in order to increase the likelihood of it landing on the ballot. Of these 33, a total of 16 unique measures were filed; however, nine failed to meet the requirements necessary to move forward with the initiative process.

Five of the citizen initiatives remained in the running for a time, but, ultimately, only four were certified for the November ballot. Massachusetts has a complicated system of circulating and confirming initiatives for the ballot. Supporters of the measures first had to submit their initiative, signed by ten voters, to the Massachusetts Attorney General by August 7, 2013. The attorney general then had to determine whether the measure met the legal requirements for circulation.

In order to qualify for the ballot, supporters were required to collect a minimum of 68,911 valid signatures by November 20, 2013, and submit them to local registrars for certification. Certified petitions were then successfully filed with the secretary of state on the December 4, 2013, deadline, after which the secretary of state determined whether enough valid signatures had been collected. The Massachusetts General Court had until May 7, 2014, to either accept or reject the measure or take no action. No action was taken on any of the measures; therefore, the original supporters had to collect an additional 11,485 signatures and submit them to local registrars for certification by June 18, 2014. These signatures then had to be filed with the secretary of state no later than July 2, 2014.

Historical facts

• Between 1990 and 2013, an average of four measures appeared annually on the ballot in Massachusetts. Therefore, 2014 was an average year.
• From 1990 to 2014, the number of measures on statewide ballots ranged from one to eight.
• Between 1990 and 2014, 27 of 50, or 54 percent, of Massachusetts ballot measures were approved by voters.
• Conversely, 23 of 50, or 46 percent, of measures were defeated.

On the ballot

November 4:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
CISS	Question 1	Gas taxes	Repeals 2013 law that automatically increases gas taxes according to inflation	a
CISS	Question 2	Environment	Expands the state’s beverage container recycling law to include all non-alcoholic containers	d
CISS	Question 3	Gambling	Repeals a 2011 law allowing resort casinos	d
CISS	Question 4	Labor	Entitles certain employees to earn and utilize paid sick days	a

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

The following measures did not appear on the 2014 ballot. Two measures, one on corporate personhood and one regarding GMOs, were not certified by the Office of the Attorney General and thus were ineligible to appear on the ballot. Seven others failed to file signatures with the Secretary of State by the necessary date. Supporters withdrew one measure after turning in signatures because the legislature acted favorably on their issue and raised the minimum wage. The remaining two failed to collect enough valid signatures.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
CISS	Decrease State Sales Tax Initiative	Taxes	Decreases the state sales tax rate from 6.25% to 5%
CISS	Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods Initiative	Business	Requires labeling for genetically modified foods
CISS	New Hire Incentive Initiative	Taxes	Provides corporate taxpayers with a tax credit for each newly hired employee
CISS	Prohibit Deployment of State National Guard Initiative	War & Peace	Prohibits the governor from deploying the state national guard outside state borders
CISS	Whale and Sea Turtle Protection Initiative	Environment	Prohibits Division of Marine Fisheries from authorizing commercial use of fishing gear known to harm whales and sea turtles
CISS	Repeal of Sales Tax on Computer Technology Initiative	Taxes	Eliminates sales and use taxes on computer system design services
CISS	Permanent Daylight Saving Time Initiative	Time	Makes daylight saving time the year-round standard time in the state
CISS	Minimum Wage Increase Initiative	Minimum wage	Increases the minimum wage from $8 to $10.50 over two years
CISS	Nurses to Patients Ratio Initiative	Healthcare	Limits how many patients can be assigned to a registered nurse in hospitals and certain other facilities
CISS	Regulation of Hospital Operating Margins and CEO Compensation Initiative	Business	Regulates the annual operating margins, CEO compensation and financial asset disclosures of certain healthcare facilities that accept state funds

See also

• 2014 ballot measures
• List of Massachusetts ballot measures
• History of Initiative & Referendum in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts signature requirements

External links

• Massachusetts Attorney General petition filings and status
• Massachusetts Attorney General, "Initiative Petition Process, 2013-2014"