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Question 1

By adamg - 11/20/20 - 9:29 pm

An association of auto manufacturers today filed suit against Massachusetts to block the access to computerized vehicle information that voters just this month decided the companies have to provide. Read more.

By adamg - 9/16/20 - 9:07 am

WBUR explains Question 1 is about access to engine and mechanical data that newer cars store - not location data, despite claims by its opponents, who have put up that ad about how its passage will let sexual predators hunt you down in a deserted parking garage and then lock your car so they can have their way with you.

By adamg - 11/6/18 - 9:50 pm

With 20% of precincts reporting statewide, Question 3, which would uphold a state law guaranteeing the right of transgender people against discrimination in public places, is passing by a 2-1 margin. In Boston, it is passing by an even higher margin. Read more.

By adamg - 9/27/18 - 9:20 am

And want a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision giving corporations free reign in political funding, but are very meh on the nursing-ratio question, WBUR reports.

By adamg - 9/24/18 - 11:00 am

WGBH tries to answer questions about the referendum question that would mandate certain nurse/patients ratios in hospitals.

By adamg - 10/25/10 - 7:12 am

Associated Press uncovers a memo from Baker to then boss Paul Celllucci, urging him to sit on news of escalating Big Dig costs until after Cellucci beat Scott Harshbarger back in the day. Tony ponders:

By adamg - 9/19/10 - 11:17 am

One Massachusetts is a group seeking a "No" vote on all three of this year's ballot questions, which would cut the sales tax in general, repeal the sales tax on booze in particular and eliminate a state requirement that communities ensure a certain percentage of their homes are "affordable." The group's Harmony Blakeway makes the case that "No" votes would actually be saying:

By adamg - 11/4/08 - 9:26 pm
Woof!
Woof! Paul Keleher photographed this Question 3 supporter.

Channel 5 is projecting:

  • No income tax repeal.
  • Yes pot-possession changes.
  • Yes on banning dog racing.
By Anonymous - 11/2/08 - 7:29 pm

Here's a guide to the 3 referendum questions on the ballot Tuesday, with pro's con's articulated by the experts who are supporting and opposing the measures. It's surprisingly concise.

Q1 Would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65 percent for the tax year beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2010.

Q2 Would replace the criminal penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana with a system of civil penalties, and would exclude information from the state's criminal record system.

By GarrettQuinn - 10/21/08 - 7:24 pm

Hear Ye! Hear ye! Morrissey Boulevard has issued a proclamation that the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vote No on Questions 1, 2, and 3.

By adamg - 10/17/08 - 4:47 pm

Poll results from Rasmussen Reports; show 59% against repeal, 33% in favor and 8% unsure.

Via PolitickerMA.

By GarrettQuinn - 10/13/08 - 6:21 pm

Worth noting that the people opposing Question One are backed almost entirely by Big Government Unions.

The MTA and SEIU gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the pro-tax movement.

No one should be shocked that government employee unions are fighting Question One to the death. If it passes they will lose their superhuman benefits and government perks that no one except the CEOs of AIG get.

Coaliton for Our Communities report 1

By adamg - 10/5/08 - 11:40 am

The Globe covers yesterday's anti-income-tax rally in Boston (only 250 people?), while Yvonne Abraham heaps scorn on Carla Howell and her made-up figures about waste in state government.

A Proper Bostonian comes up with Swiftian reasons to vote for the measure (as in Jonathan, not Jane).

By adamg - 9/16/08 - 7:53 am

The Herald takes a look at the people paying Carla Howell's salary as she tries to convince people to repeal the state income tax:

The push to scrap the state income tax - billed as a grassroots movement - is heavily bankrolled by an odd-ball collection of libertarians who don't even pay taxes in Massachusetts, including a crackpot who’s likened Homeland Security to the "Gestapo" and a "Biblical capitalist" who thinks paper money should be eliminated. ...

By adamg - 9/9/08 - 8:52 pm

Rick Holmes, opinion editor at the Metrowest Daily News, explains why he isn't buying Carla Howell's effort to repeal the Massachusetts income tax in November:

Carla Howell, the leader of the income-tax-repeal effort, came in to see me last week. I have an editorial here about the question I keep asking: Is the point of the referendum to "send a message" or enact a law?

Howell says it's about enacting a law, one that would remove some $12 billion from the state budget. Fine, but if you are going to ask the voters to make decisions on the budget, you ought to be able to provide some details, and Carla appears to have decided not to. ...

By adamg - 8/17/08 - 12:16 pm

On the heels of the MBTA pay-raise story comes the news that people are paying more in property taxes on houses that are worth less. The Outraged Liberal, who predicts disaster if Question 1 passes, hopes:

... Hopefully those folks who plan to speak out against Question 1 are hard at work for a campaign that will launch right after Labor Day -- you know about the same time the Democratic convention ends, the Republican convention begins and the political media's focus on the presidential race obliterates all other discussion?

By adamg - 8/13/08 - 10:14 am

First state pensioners, now detail-lovin' police, but there's an endgame in mind here and it's not necessarily Washington:

... Make no mistake, Patrick has an election in mind all right. It's the November referendum on Question 1, the income tax repeal. Polls suggest voters are unhappy enough that they could vote their wallet and not their best interests. Sacred cows need to fall.

If that means dealing with upset pensioners and police officers angry because they've been asked to do some dieting along with the rest of the state budget (and there will be a lot of that in the months ahead, particularly if the federal Medicaid waiver is slashed) that drama may only help convince fence sitters that Question 1 is a recipe for disaster. ...

By adamg - 11/8/06 - 8:57 am

Mass Marrier analyzes the defeat of the three statewide ballot questions; he says 2 and 3 were just too confusing for most people. As for 1:

... Voters bought into Chicken Little-style claims of bodies on the highways and drunken teens in an updated version of Reefer Madness. ...

Talonvaki was glad to see Question 1 defeated, but for a different reason:

Subscribe to Question 1