Author: Victoria Antram
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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey clears 17 ballot initiatives for signature gathering
On September 1, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) announced that 17 ballot initiatives of the 30 filed were cleared for signature gathering. The 17 initiatives included 16 initiated state statutes aiming for the 2022 ballot and one initiated constitutional amendment that would appear on the 2024 ballot. The initiatives cleared for signature gathering address:…
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Texas legislature refers constitutional amendment to May 2022 ballot
Texas voters will decide on a constitutional amendment related to a property tax reduction for elderly and disabled residents on May 7, 2022. The amendment was passed during the second special legislative session, which convened on Aug. 7, 2021. The amendment would authorize the state legislature to reduce the property tax limit for school maintenance…
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Initiative filed in Massachusetts to classify app-based drivers as independent contractors
On August 4, Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work filed two versions of a ballot initiative with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office that would classify app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery drivers as independent contractors. It would also adopt labor and wage policies specific to app-based drivers and companies. The initiative is similar to California’s Proposition 22…
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Texas deputy secretary of state draws ballot order for November ballot measures
On July 29, Texas Deputy Secretary of State Joe Esparza drew the ballot order for the eight constitutional amendments referred to the November ballot during the state legislature’s regular session. The deadline to add a measure to the ballot is August 16. However, with a lack of quorum in the Texas House of Representatives due…
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Missouri Supreme Court upholds Medicaid expansion amendment
On July 22, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a constitutional amendment enacting Medicaid expansion was constitutional. The decision reversed a lower court’s ruling that found the amendment approved by voters last August to be unconstitutional because it did not include a revenue source for the state to pay for the Medicaid expansion. The…
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$15 per hour minimum wage initiative qualifies for November ballot in Tucson, Arizona
On July 22, 2021, the Tucson City Clerk confirmed that enough signatures were submitted for an initiative backed by Tucson Fight for $15 to qualify for the November 2 ballot. On July 2, Tucson Fight for $15, the campaign behind a local minimum wage increase, submitted 29,526 raw signatures to the city’s clerk office. In…
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Citizens For A Safer Cleveland submits additional signatures to place police-related initiative on November ballot
On July 7, Citizens for a Safer Cleveland submitted an additional 3,208 signatures to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for verification after the committee was short 384 of the 6,270 valid signatures needed to qualify for the Cleveland ballot in November. On June 16, the committee announced that they had submitted about 13,000 signatures…
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Oregon voters to decide on removing slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishment from state constitution in 2022
On June 24, the Oregon State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to voters in November 2022 that would remove language that allows slavery or involuntary servitude for duly convicted individuals. The amendment would also add language to authorize an Oregon court or a probation or parole agency to order alternatives to incarceration for…
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Massachusetts voters will decide measure in 2022 creating additional income tax on income above $1 million
On June 9, the Massachusetts General Court convened a joint session and passed Senate Bill 5 (SB 5) by a vote of 159-41, which sent an increase in the state’s income tax for top earners to state voters in 2022. SB 5 is a constitutional amendment that would create an additional 4% income tax on…
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Texas voters will decide in November whether to allow counties to issue bonds to fund infrastructure in blighted areas
On May 28, the Texas State Legislature voted to refer a constitutional amendment that would add counties to the list of political subdivisions that may issue bonds to fund transportation and infrastructure projects in underdeveloped or blighted areas of the county. Currently, the Texas Constitution states that the legislature by general law may authorize incorporated…