Transparency reforms and rent control clear signature hurdle, campaigns say

BOSTON — Campaigns backing at least 10 ballot question proposals — including two proposals to make the Legislature more transparent — believe they’re still in the running to make it onto Massachusetts’ 2026 ballot. Meanwhile, many other petitions have died before the election year even begins. 

Proposals to improve public records access and overhaul the system of extra pay for legislators are still in the mix, according to supporters. So are rent control, reducing the income tax, starter home construction, and all-party primaries.

Initiative petition campaigns had about two months under state law to gather at least 74,574 signatures and submit them at the local level by Wednesday for certification — a checkpoint that historically thins the field. The locally-certified signatures then must be filed with the secretary of state by Dec. 3. 

Other petition drives’ fates were uncertain on Thursday.

Elijah DeSousa of New Bedford, founder of Citizens Against Eversource, did not respond to a request for comment from The Light Thursday on whether his group had collected enough signatures for its proposals about electrical bills. Its three petitions targeted fees for the MassSave energy-efficiency program, the fact that utilities’ profits are separated from energy usage, and fees around new meter technology.

Several campaigns could not confirm to the State House News Service how many signatures they submitted to local clerks’ offices. Those campaigns back questions that would require Massachusetts voters to provide photo identification, require that statewide voter registration rolls are made publicly accessible, and repeal the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Most of the campaigns still in the running paid people to gather the tens of thousands of signatures needed to keep proposals in the pipeline. The exception was Homes for All Massachusetts, the coalition backing a rent control proposal, which relied on volunteers, according to campaign spokesperson Andrew Farnitano. 

A record 44 proposals were certified as ballot eligible by the attorney general this year. Voters will not get to weigh in on the majority of those proposals. A campaign supporting a measure that would have enabled incarcerated people with felony convictions to vote told the State House News Service that it did not collect enough signatures by Wednesday’s deadline. Neither did a campaign that wanted to enable voters to initiate recall elections to remove elected officials from office. 

On Jan. 7, successful petitions will be filed as bills with the House Clerk’s office. Lawmakers get a chance to address the petitions themselves — which would eliminate the need for a ballot question — but Beacon Hill often chooses to let the voters decide.

If the Legislature does not pass the measure as filed by May 6, a petitioner must then collect 12,429 more signatures and file them with local election officials for certification by June 17. After enough signatures are filed, the measure is then placed on the ballot for the next statewide general election.

The 10 petitions whose campaigns believe they’re still in play include:

Stipend reform: The campaign seeking to overhaul the Legislature’s stipend system says it collected 90,000 certified signatures, according to organizer John Lippitt, chair of the Legislative Effectiveness and Accountability Partnership. The group says legislative leadership use stipends to deliver $5 million to favored legislators, and calls the money “loyalty pay” intended to bind lawmakers to the wishes of leadership. Top Democrats say stipends reflect leadership responsibilities and allow lawmakers to think “about this job as a potential career.”

Public records law: Auditor Diana DiZoglio announced Wednesday that the campaign supporting a ballot measure that would subject most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office to the state public records law has submitted more than 100,000 signatures. DiZoglio’s 2024 ballot question to audit the Legislature passed with majority support by voters last fall, though the effort has since been stalled due to what Beacon Hill Democrats say are concerns of constitutionality.

Rent control: The campaign behind a proposed 2026 ballot measure to establish rent control across the state says it has cleared the signature threshold, submitting what organizers describe as a “surplus” of voter support. Homes for All Massachusetts reported Tuesday that it collected more than 124,000 raw signatures. The petition would limit annual rent increases for most units to either the annual Consumer Price Index increase or 5%, whichever is lower. It would use the rent in place as of Jan. 31, 2026, as the baseline for future changes. 

All-party primaries: The measure that would eliminate political party primaries for state elections submitted 98,000 “internally-validated” signatures, according to Coalition for Healthy Democracy campaign manager Jesse Littlewood. The proposal would list all candidates, regardless of their party affiliation, on one primary ballot. The general election would consist of the top two vote-getters plus a write-in option, Littlewood said. “The voters we’re speaking to who are enthusiastic about this, want more competition in their elections, want elections where they can hold politicians accountable and want officials to represent all of their voters,” Littlewood said. 

Election Day voter registration: The measure that would permit eligible voters to register or update their voter registration status on Election Day submitted well over 80,000 signatures, according to Secretary of State William Galvin, who launched the campaign. Registration limitations tend to “adversely affect younger people, poorer people and people who live in cities,” he added, as they fall disproportionately on people who rent and move around a lot. Despite same-day registration being presented to Beacon Hill lawmakers for years, it’s been met with resistance. “The only way to get it done is to get it to the people, and that’s what we’re doing,” Galvin said. 

‘Nature For All’ Fund: Supporters of a proposal that could generate $100 million annually for conservation and restoration efforts around water and nature collected more than 100,000 signatures, spokesperson Andrew Farnitano said Tuesday. The measure would steer sales tax revenue from sporting goods like golf clubs, RVs and camping gear into a new “Nature for All Fund.” The petition’s goal is to conserve or restore land to protect drinking water, streams, rivers, lakes, coasts, farms and forests. Funding could also support land and natural resources with “Indigenous cultural significance.” 

Income tax rate reduction: The measure that aims to reduce the state’s personal income tax rate from 5% to 4% over three years submitted 87,200 raw signatures, according to campaign manager and Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios. “We are very comfortable that where people are, they feel very hard pressed right now. The polling levels — 70 to 80% of people want a tax cut,” Stergios said, referring to Pioneer Institute polling. 

Starter homes: The campaign looking to “legalize starter homes” said Wednesday that it planned to submit more than 100,000 signatures. Legalize Starter Homes committee chair Andrew Mikula said the proposal would “make it easier for first-time homebuyers, downsizing seniors, and working families to attain homeownership by updating outdated zoning rules that make modest homes nearly impossible to build.” The question would enable single-family homes to be built in any residentially-zoned area as long as the lot has at least 5,000 square feet of land, 50 feet of street frontage and access to public sewer and water services, according to the committee. 

State revenue cap: The measure that would change the limit on how much revenue the state can collect in a given year submitted 86,700 raw signatures, according to Jim Stergios, whose Pioneer Institute is working with the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance to get the question onto the ballot. 

Public counsel collective bargaining: The campaign backing the ballot measure that would permit employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services to collectively bargain submitted 110,000 signatures, according to SEIU Local 888 president Tom McKeever. He said Thursday that more than 75,000 of those have already been vetted by local clerks’ offices.

The Light contributed reporting.