34 MA Ballot Measures Certified By AG: MCAS, Rent Control, Psychedelics, More

BOSTON, MA — Thirty-four initiative petitions have cleared a key hurdle on their journey to voters after Attorney General Andrea Campbell certified the measures as in line with the state constitution.

Campbell began reviewing the 38 ballot measures and four constitutional amendments submitted by citizens and groups about a month ago. Seven of the proposals did not meet the letter of the law, and one constitutional amendment was withdrawn by its petitioner.

The remaining measures include notable efforts, like the repeal of MCAS testing as a requirement to graduate from high school, legalizing naturally occurring psychedelics, changing the gas tax, providing the full minimum wage for tipped workers and a new bid by companies like Uber and GrubHub to reclassify their employees in Massachusetts as freelancers.

Campbell's certification will vault some petitions to the next stage of the initiative process: gathering signatures.

Backers of proposed laws must gather just under 75,000 voter signatures before Dec. 6 in order to send their initiatives to the state Legislature for consideration. If lawmakers don't act before May, backers have to gather another 12,500 signatures by July 3 to get on the November ballot.

The three proposed constitutional amendments face a different process. Two consecutive joint sessions of the state Legislature must approve any amendment by a margin of 25 percent or higher. If any of the proposed amendments get those two approvals, the earliest any constitutional amendment could appear on the ballot is November 2026.

You can read all 34 certified laws and constitutional amendments on the AG's website.