By Bob Katzen

Sponsors of possible ballot questions for the November 2026 election faced their first deadline last week in the long process to get their proposed law on the ballot. Sponsors had until August 6 to submit their proposals and the signatures of ten citizens to Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office.

There were 43 initiative petitions for proposed new laws filed with Campbell’s office. Campbell will decide by September 3 if the proposals pass muster and meet constitutional requirements. If an initiative petition for a proposed law is certified, the initiative’s proponents are required to gather and file with the Secretary of the State the signatures of 74,574 registered voters by December 3. The proposal would then be sent to the Legislature and if not approved by May 6, 2026, proponents must gather another 12,429 signatures by July 1, 2026, in order for the question to appear on the November 2026 ballot.

Proposed laws include requiring voters to show identification at their polling places in order to be allowed to vote; overhauling or eliminating the financial stipends that legislative leaders award to many lawmakers for serving in the leadership and as committee chairs; subject the governor’s office and Legislature to the state’s public records law; allowing prospective voters to register and cast a ballot in a single trip to the polls on Election Day; enable Committee for Public Counsel Services staff — which includes public defenders, social workers, investigators and administrative staff who support indigent clients — to unionize; imposing rent control by curtailing rent increases to the cost of living with a 5 percent increase, with some exemptions; reducing the personal income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent over a three-year period; using a portion of the funds generated from the existing sales tax on sporting goods to fund conservation; providing indigent tenants with an attorney in eviction and foreclosure proceedings; and allowing single-family homes on small lots in areas with adequate infrastructure.

A complete list of proposed laws can be found at: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments