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Raise Up Massachusetts
| Raise Up Massachusetts | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Boston, Mass. |
| Type: | Nonprofit coalition |
| Year founded: | 2013 |
| Website: | Official website |
Raise Up Massachusetts is a Boston-based nonprofit coalition made up of community groups, religious organizations, and labor unions in Massachusetts. The group advocates policies that include an increase in the state's minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and changes to the state's tax policies.[1]
Background
According to the group's website, Raise Up Massachusetts is a "grassroots coalition of community organizations, religious groups, and labor unions committed to building an economy that works for all of us."[1]
Raise Up Massachusetts was founded in 2013 as a nonprofit coalition with the goal of bringing together community, faith, and labor groups to support initiatives to raise the minimum wage and enact earned sick leave for Massachusetts workers.[1]
The group successfully led a campaign in support of Question 4 on the 2014 state ballot, which enabled Massachusetts employees who work for employers with 11 or more employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Raise Up Massachusetts also campaigned in 2014 to increase the state's minimum wage from $8 to $11 an hour by 2017, which the state legislature approved through the legislative process.[2]
Raise up Massachusetts' members include AFT Massachusetts, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and Progressive Mass, among others.[3]Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag[4]
Work and activities
Ballot measure activity
Raise Up Massachusetts has supported multiple measures—both citizen-initiated and legislatively referred—to increase the state's minimum wage, establish paid sick leave requirements, and increase income taxes for certain income levels.
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
The following table details Raise Up Massachusetts' ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Raise Up Massachusetts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| Massachusetts Question 1, Tax on Income Above $1 Million for Education and Transportation Amendment (2022) | 2022 | Supported[5] |  Approved
|
| Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative (2018) | 2018 | Supported[6] |  Not on the ballot
|
| Massachusetts $15 Minimum Wage Initiative (2018) | 2018 | Supported[7] | Not on the ballot
|
| Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative (2018) | 2018 | Supported[7] | Not on the ballot
|
| Massachusetts Paid Sick Days Initiative, Question 4 (2014) | 2014 | Supported[8] | Approved
|
| Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2014) | 2014 | Supported[7] | Not on the ballot
|
Massachusetts Question 1, Tax on Income Above $1 Million for Education and Transportation Amendment (2022)
Raise Up Massachusetts supported a constitutional amendment proposed in the state legislature for referral to the 2022 ballot that would create an additional 4 percent tax on the portion of incomes above $1 million for the purpose of providing funds for public education, roads and bridges, and public transportation. The amendment was approved.
Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative (2018)
Raise Up Massachusetts supported the 2018 Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative, referred to as the Fair Share Amendment by proponents, which proposed increasing the state income tax for the purpose of providing funds for public education, roads and bridges, and public transportation. The initiative would have raised the income tax to 9.1 percent for the portion of an individual's income that exceeds $1 million. This would have amounted to an increase of 4 percentage points. The initiative was blocked from the ballot by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on June 18, 2018. Click here for more information.
Massachusetts $15 Minimum Wage Initiative (2018)
Raise Up Massachusetts sponsored a $15 minimum wage initiative targeting the 2018 ballot. On June 28, 2018, Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill that was passed in the Democratic-controlled Massachusetts Legislature as part of a compromise with ballot initiative proponents of three measures: a $15 per hour minimum wage initiative and an initiative to establish a paid sick and family leave program funded by a payroll tax backed by Raise Up Massachusetts, and a Sales Tax Decrease and Tax-Free Weekend initiative backed by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. Raise Up Massachusetts and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts agreed not to submit signatures for their proposed initiatives after the compromise bill had been signed.[9]
Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative (2018)
Raise Up Massachusetts sponsored this Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative targeting the 2018 ballot. Raise Up Massachusetts withdrew the initiative as part of a compromise outlined above.[9]
Massachusetts Question 4 (2014)
Raise Up Massachusetts raised $2.02 million to support Question 4 in 2014. The initiative allowed employees who work for employers with eleven or more employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year.[8]
Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2014)
Raise Up Massachusetts announced, via social media, that they submitted over 80,750 signatures for the Minimum Wage Increase Initiative and the Paid Sick Days Initiative on June 18, 2014.[10] However, on the same day, the Massachusetts Legislature raised the state's minimum wage to $11 per hour. Raise Up Massachusetts decided to withdraw their signatures on June 23, 2014, since the $11 per hour wage in the bill was higher than their $10.50 wage initiative.
Legislative activities
In 2025, Raise up Massachusetts organized support for a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature to assess a tax on large corporations that would have them pay the state's existing corporate income tax rate on profits from outside of Massachusetts.[11][12]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Raise Up Massachusetts. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- What is an influencer?
- Massachusetts Question 1, Tax on Income Above $1 Million for Education and Transportation Amendment (2022)
- Massachusetts $15 Minimum Wage Initiative (2018)
- Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative (2018)
- Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative (2018)
- Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2014)
- Massachusetts Paid Sick Days Initiative, Question 4 (2014)
External links
- Raise Up Massachusetts homepage
- Raise Up Massachusetts on Facebook
- Raise Up Massachusetts on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Raise Up MA , "Home," accessed August 22, 2025
- ↑ WBUR, "Group Begins Push For $15 Minimum Wage In Mass.," November 29, 2016
- ↑ MA AFT , "Take Action," accessed August 22, 2025
- ↑ Progressive Mass , "Our Coalitions," accessed August 22, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfair - ↑ Mass Teacher, "Legislation is filed to revive Fair Share Amendment," accessed August 22, 2025
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Field First, "Raise Up Massachusetts", accessed August 22, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Twitter, "Raise Up Massachusetts," June 17, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 MassLive , "Gov. Charlie Baker signs $15 minimum wage, paid family leave into law," June 28, 2018
- ↑ Raise Up MA Twitter, "We've collected 80,764 signatures this round of signature gathering!" June 17, 2014
- ↑ Boston Herald , "Group behind ‘millionaire’s tax’ calls for tax on ‘billionaire’ corporations," March 25, 2025
- ↑ Raise Up Massachusetts , "Corporate Fair Share," accessed August 22, 2025
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