Massachusetts 2018 ballot measures

Elections in Massachusetts, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 17
• Early voting: Oct. 22 - Nov. 2
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: No ID required generally
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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As of March 14, 2025, three statewide ballot measure were certified for the 2018 ballot in the state of Massachusetts.

HIGHLIGHTS

Three initiatives are on the 2018 ballot in Massachusetts: an initiative to establish patient assignment limits for registered nurses working in hospitals, an initiative to create a citizens' commission to advocate for changes to the U.S. Constitution regarding political spending and corporate personhood, and a veto referendum to either uphold or repeal a bill to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in public places—such as hotels, restaurants, and stores.

Three initiatives were approved by the legislature: a $15 per hour minimum wage initiative and an initiative to establish a paid sick and family leave program funded by a payroll tax, both backed by Raise Up Massachusetts, and a Sales Tax Decrease and Tax-Free Weekend initiative backed by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative was certified for the ballot, but was then was blocked from the ballot by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on June 18, 2018, after the court ruled 5-2 that the petition should never have been certified by the Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey (D).

On the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Question 1	Healthcare	Sets limits on the number of patients a nurse can be assigned to	d
IndISS	Question 2	Campaign finance and Definition of a corporation	Creates citizens commission to advocate for changes to the U.S. Constitution regarding political spending and corporate personhood	a
VR	Question 3	LGBT issues	Concerns a law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity	a

Getting measures on the ballot

Citizens of Massachusetts may initiate legislation through the process of indirect initiative. In Massachusetts, successful petitions are first presented to the Massachusetts General Court. Once presented to the legislature, proposals for amendments and proposals for statutes face distinct requirements. Amendments must be approved by one-fourth of the legislators in joint session before proceeding to the ballot. Statutes may be adopted by the legislature by a majority vote in both houses. If a statute proposed by a valid initiative petition is not adopted, proponents must collect another, smaller round of signatures to place the statute on the ballot.

In Massachusetts, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The Massachusetts General Court can also place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments. The 2017 legislative session ran from January 4, 2017, to November 15, 2017, during which time the Massachusetts State Legislature was able to place legislative referrals on the ballot. Referrals could also have been approved for the ballot by the legislature during the 2018 session.

On July 9, 2018, two initiatives were certified for the ballot: an initiative to establish patient assignment limits for registered nurses working in hospitals and an initiative to create a citizens' commission to advocate for changes to the U.S. Constitution regarding political spending and corporate personhood.

The Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Initiative was certified for the ballot, but was then was blocked from the ballot by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on June 18, 2018, after the court ruled 5-2 that the petition should never have been certified by the Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey (D). The Supreme Court found that the initiative violated the state constitution, which prohibits ballot measures from mixing subjects that are not "related or mutually dependent." The measure would have created an additional 4 percent tax on the portion of incomes above $1 million for the purpose of providing funds for public education, roads and bridges, and public transportation. This tax would have been in addition to the 5.1 percent flat tax currently in effect, for a total tax rate of 9.1 percent on income above $1 million.

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Compromise over three initiatives

The three initiatives below were not put on the ballot after the Democratic-controlled Massachusetts Legislature passed and Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed a compromise bill known as the grand bargain. The bill, House Bill 4640 (HB 4640), was passed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives on June 20, 2018, in a vote of 126 to 25. It was passed in the Massachusetts State Senate in a vote of 30 to 8, with two vacancies in the chamber. Of the eight no votes in the Senate, six of them came from Democratic senators and two came from Republican senators. Of the seven Republican senators in the Massachusetts Senate, all voted yes except Donald Humason Jr. (R-Second Hampden and Hampshire district) and Ryan Fattman (R-Worcester and Norfolk district).

The legislation was a compromise with ballot initiative proponents of three measures: a $15 per hour minimum wage initiative and an initiative to establish a paid sick and family leave program funded by a payroll tax, both backed by Raise Up Massachusetts, and a Sales Tax Decrease and Tax-Free Weekend initiative backed by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. Raise Up Massachusetts and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts had agreed not to submit signatures for their proposed initiatives since the bill had been signed.

The bill allows workers to take 12 weeks of paid leave, raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2023, and gradually (over five years) phases out time-and-a-half pay for Sunday work. The bill also requires the state to hold an annual sales-tax-free holiday in August, though it did not reduce the state sales tax, as was proposed in the Sales Tax Decrease and Tax-Free Weekend initiative by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. Raise Up Massachusetts' minimum wage measure proposed to raise the minimum wage over four years, while the bill increases it over five years.

Proponents of the three measures had been in negotiations with each other, lawmakers, and business leaders to reach a compromise. State officials wanted a compromise to be made in the state legislature because of the potential effect the initiatives could have had: raising the minimum wage, establishing a paid family and medical leave program, decreasing the state sales tax, establishing a sales tax-free weekend, and keeping time-and-a-half pay for Sunday work. Governor Charlie Baker said, "The product of this is a far better product for the commonwealth than each of these as stand-alone entities would have been for Massachusetts, which is why I'm signing it."

Type	Title	Subject	Description
IndISS	$15 Minimum Wage Initiative	Min Wage	Increases minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022
IndISS	Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative	Labor	Creates a fund to provide for paid family and medical leave
IndISS	Sales Tax Decrease and Tax-Free Weekend Initiative	Taxes	Decreases the sales tax and establishes a tax-free weekend

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in Massachusetts and List of Massachusetts ballot measures

• A total of 36 measures appeared on statewide ballots in Massachusetts from 1996 to 2016.
• From 1996 to 2016, the number of measures on statewide ballots ranged from zero to eight.
• Between 1996 and 2016, an average of three measures appeared on the ballot in Massachusetts during even-numbered election years.
• Between 1996 and 2016, about 53 percent (19 of 36) of the total number of measures that appeared on statewide ballots were approved, and about 47 percent (17 of 36) were defeated.

Summary of campaign contributions

See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2018

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees had amassed in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
Massachusetts Question 3	$6,084,831.59	$663,421.76	a
Massachusetts Question 2	$330,771.65	$0.00	a
Massachusetts Question 1	$12,044,919.81	$24,808,566.78	d

Cost per required signature

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2018

The cost-per-required signature (CPRS) is a comparison of the amount of money spent on the petition drive to the number of signatures the state requires for an initiative to make the ballot. The following chart illustrates the CPRS for ballot initiatives.

A total of $779,575 was spent on the three initiatives on the ballot. Beyond the three initiatives voters decided, enough signatures were submitted for three other initiatives to go before the legislature. The initiative efforts were abandoned without submitted the smaller, second round of signatures required to qualify for the ballot as part of a compromise with initiative proponents. The compromise involved the passage of legislation called the grand bargain.

Ballot Measure:	Topic:	Petition company	Cost	Signatures	CPRS
Massachusetts Question 3	LGBT issues	Paladin Petitions	$56,056.34	32,375	$1.73
Massachusetts Question 2	Campaign finance	Ballot Access Management LLC	$153,000.00	75,542	$2.03
Massachusetts Question 1	Healthcare	JEF Associates	$570,518.17	75,542	$7.55
Averages:	N/A	N/A	$259,858	N/A	$3.77

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Repeal Authority for Tolling Initiative	Constitutional Rights	Repeals authority for road and bridge tolls; makes info in electronic toll system confidential
IndISS	Disclosure of Foreign Political Expenditures Initiative	Elections	Requires the disclosure of foreign political expenditures
IndISS	Vacant Land Parcels for Sale Initiative Initiative	Property	Allows citizens to purchase vacant lot at an affordable fair market value
IndISS	$15 Minimum Wage by 2019 Initiative	Min Wage	Increases minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019
IndISS	Insurance Coverage for Licensed Holistic Practitioners Initiative	Healthcare	Requires healthcare insurers to extend coverage for licensed holistic practitioners
IndISS	Fee Disclosure for Radiology and Imaging Services Initiative	Healthcare	Requires fee disclosure for radiology and imaging services
IndISS	Rules to Reduce Animal Euthanasia Initiative	Animals	Changes rules to reduce homeless animal euthanasia
IndISS	Ban on Aversive Therapy Initiative	Healthcare	Bans aversive therapy
IndISS	Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns to Appear on Ballot Initiative	Elections	Requires presidential candidates to release tax returns to appear on state ballot
IndISS	Out-of-State Contribution Limits Initiative	Campaign Finance	Sets limits on out-of-state contributions to candidates and committees
IndISS	Ban Commercial Fishing Gear Known to Entangle Whales or Sea Turtles Initiative	Fishing	Bans commercial fishing gear known to entangle whales or sea turtles
IndISS	Sales Tax Decrease Initiative	Taxes	Decreases the sales tax
IndISS	Clean Energy Standards Initiative	Energy	Changes clean energy standards
IndISS	Commonwealth Solar Program Initiative	Energy	Establishes the Commonwealth Solar Program
IndICA	Income Tax for Education and Transportation Amendment	Taxes	Creates 4 percent tax on incomes that exceed $1 million for education and transportation purposes

State profile

Demographic data for Massachusetts
	Massachusetts	U.S.
Total population:	6,784,240	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	7,800	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	79.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	7.1%	12.6%
Asian:	6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.9%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	10.6%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	40.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$68,563	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.1%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Massachusetts. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Massachusetts

Massachusetts voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Massachusetts coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Massachusetts
• United States congressional delegations from Massachusetts
• Public policy in Massachusetts
• Endorsers in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts fact checks
• More...

See also

• 2018 ballot measures
• List of Massachusetts ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Legislature

External links

• Massachusetts Secretary of State Elections Division website
• Massachusetts 2018 Information for Voters