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Massachusetts Regulation of Commercial Retail of Fireworks Initiative (2022)
| Massachusetts Regulation of Commercial Retail of Fireworks Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Business regulation | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Regulation of Commercial Retail of Fireworks Initiative was not on the ballot in Massachusetts as an indirect initiated state statute on November 8, 2022.
The initiative would have established the three-person Consumer Fireworks Regulation Commission, which would be authorized to adopt regulations related to licensing commercial retail firework establishments, safety requirements, and penalties for violating regulations.[1][2]
Text of measure
Ballot summary
The final ballot summary for the initiative was as follows.[3]
| “ | This proposed law would permit the possession, use, and sale of consumer fireworks by persons 21 years of age and older and would remove criminal penalties for such activities. The proposed law would provide for the regulation of consumer fireworks and subject the sale of consumer fireworks to the state sales tax.
The proposed law would prohibit sales of consumer fireworks to individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The proposed law would also prohibit the possession, use, or sale of fireworks on the grounds of a school providing preschool, kindergarten, or grade 1-12 educational services. Under the proposed law, no person 21 years or older could be arrested, prosecuted, penalized, sanctioned, or disqualified under state laws, or be subject to seizure or forfeiture of property for possession, use, or purchase of consumer fireworks on that person’s property or on other’s property with consent. The proposed law would not prevent a person or legal entity from regulating or banning the use of consumer fireworks on property that individual or entity owns, occupies, or manages. The proposed law would create a three-member Consumer Fireworks Regulation Commission appointed by the Governor that would regulate consumer fireworks use, including by selling for a limited fee licenses for the sale of consumer fireworks. The proposed law would also create an 11-member Consumer Fireworks Advisory Board to advise the Consumer Fireworks Regulation Commission. The proposed law would require the newly created Consumer Fireworks Regulation Commission to promulgate regulations regarding civil penalties and fines for failure to comply with its regulatory regime. Such penalties would include: penalties for the sale of consumer fireworks to an individual under the age of 21, penalties for the use of consumer fireworks outside of the hours of 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (except that on December 31, July 4, and the weekends immediately before and after July 4, such time shall be extended to 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.), and penalties for the use of consumer fireworks on property not owned by the user and for which the user does not have permission. The proposed law would make legal possession, use, or purchase of consumer fireworks on January 1, 2024, if the newly created Consumer Fireworks Regulation Commission has not, by that date, promulgated regulations allowing for such use, purchase, or possession.[4] |
” |
Full text
- The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirect initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 3.5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. No more than one-quarter of the verified signatures on any petition can come from a single county. The process for initiated state statutes in Massachusetts is indirect, which means the legislature has a chance to approve initiatives with successful petitions directly without the measure going to the voters. A first round of signatures equal to 3 percent of the votes cast for governor is required to put an initiative before the legislature. A second round of signatures equal to 0.5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last election is required to put the measure on the ballot if the legislature rejects or declines to act on a proposed initiated statute. Signatures for initiated statutes in Massachusetts are collected in two circulation periods. The first period runs from the third Wednesday in September to two weeks prior to the first Wednesday in December, a period of nine weeks. If the proposed law is not adopted by the first Wednesday of May, petitioners then have until the first Wednesday of July (eight weeks) to request additional petition forms and submit the second round of signatures.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures required (first round): 80,239 signatures
- Signatures required (second round): 13,374 signatures
- Deadline (first round): The deadline to submit the first round of signatures to the secretary of state was December 1, 2021. Signatures needed to be submitted to local registrars by November 17, 2021.
- Deadline (second round): The deadline to submit the second round of signatures was July 6, 2022.
If enough signatures are submitted in the first round, the legislature must act on a successful petition by the first Wednesday of May. The measure only goes on the ballot if the legislature does not pass it and if the second round of signatures is successfully collected.
Details about this initiative
- The initiative was filed by Diana Holmes on August 3, 2021.[2]
- On September 1, 2021, the attorney general cleared the initiative for signature gathering.[3]
- The campaign did not submit a sufficient number of signatures by November 17.[5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, "Full text," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, "List of petitions," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Massachusetts Attorney General, "Final Summary Letter," accessed September 1, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ WBUR, "Deadline whittles ballot question field to three campaigns," December 2, 2021
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