Massachusetts gubernatorial politics this season have me peeking at poll results from between the fingers covering my eyes while I pray that 2014 isn't a repeat of her 2010 Senate campaign. However, there's more going on than personal races... we've got ballot questions! As we enter the home stretch to election day, I realize I don't know nearly enough about the four on the MA ballot, and I'm curious what's going on in your state, so follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor...
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I've lived (and voted) in Massachusetts since 1987, but I didn't know details of the procedure by which citizen-originated initiatives wind up on the ballot. Suffice it to say I needed to begin this diary earlier to lay out fully the process, but Ballotpedia.org has a lovely write-up. According to their 2014 information, a total of 16 unique measures were filed but nine failed to meet various requirements and only four were certified for the November ballot.
I haven't yet done all the research necessary to know the ins and outs of each Question... indeed, I wasn't aware of exactly how many there were until I sat down to write today. What follows is my best read of the hype and a liberal use of this article as a starting point.
Question 1: Eliminating Gas Tax Indexing
SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 64A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out, in the definition of “tax per gallon”, the following words:-, “adjusted at the beginning of each calendar year, by the percentage, if any, by which the Consumer Price Index for the preceding year exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year that ends before such preceding year; provided, that the Consumer Price Index for any calendar year shall be as defined in section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code pursuant to 26 U.S.C. section 1; provided further, that the tax shall not be less than 21.5 cents per gallon.”
SECTION 2. The provisions of this law are severable, and if any clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this measure, or an application thereof, shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or application adjudged invalid. Effective January 1, 2015.
The Legislature in 2013 linked the gas tax to inflation, ergo it would rise annually without the Legislature voting on an increase. This ballot question seeks to overturn indexing and requiring the Legislature to vote on every increase.
I'm inclined to vote No (ie, to keep the linking of the gas tax to the consumer Price Index) because anytime the rallying cry is "taxation without representation! We have enough money we're just not spending it correctly!" while our infrastructure crumbles, I'm suspicious.
Question 2: Expanding the Beverage Container Deposit Law
SECTION 1. Section 321 of chapter 94 of the General Laws is hereby amended by deleting the definition of “Beverage” and replacing it with the following definition:-
“Beverage”, soda water or similar carbonated soft drinks, noncarbonated non-alcoholic beverages in liquid form intended for human consumption, mineral water, beer, and other malt beverages. This definition excludes beverages that are primarily derived from dairy products, infant formula, united states food and drug administration-approved medicines, wine, and alcoholic beverages other than beer and malt beverages as defined in chapter one hundred and thirty-eight.
...(Nine other sections skipped because this is the meat of the question)...
The MA bottle return laws cover carbonated drinks like beer and soda, but not bottled water, sports drinks, etc. This ballot question seeks to have all beverages (except dairy-based drinks, FDA-approved medicines and infant formula) fall under the regulations. Proponents say it will increase recycling, currently (as stated in the official ballot question "Arguments") 80% of beer and soda containers and 23% of non-deposit containers. A second reason is that unclaimed deposits would go to a newly-created "Clean Environment Fund" and disbursed to fund 'green programs'. Opponents state that as curbside recycling is widely available, no change is needed.
This is one of the four I'd been aware of well before today; I signed a petition to get this on the ballot. I will be voting yes, for several reasons. Whether as litter or as 'properly' disposed trash, the overwhelming majority is non-returnable bottles and cans. Many of these beverages are consumed away from home and recycling options are few; most people do not lug their recyclables home. The returnables, on the other hand, are quickly snapped up by people looking to make a few dollars by returning them. Additionally, I hope that if bottled water carried a nickel deposit, that people will be LESS likely to purchase it and will use reuseable water bottles.
Question 3: Expanding Prohibitions on Gaming
SECTION 1. Section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out clause Tenth and inserting in place thereof the following clause:
“Tenth, ’Illegal gaming,‘ a banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, tiles or dominoes, or an electronic, electrical or mechanical device or machine for money, property, checks, credit or any representative of value, but excluding: (i) a lottery game conducted by the state lottery commission, under sections 24, 24A and 27 of chapter 10; (ii) pari-mutuel wagering on horse races under chapters 128A and 128C; (iii) a game of bingo conducted under chapter 271; and (iv) charitable gaming under said chapter 271.”
SECTION 2. Chapter 23K of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following section 72 following section 71:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or any general or special law to the contrary, no illegal gaming as defined in section 7 of chapter 4 shall be conducted or permitted in this commonwealth and the commission is hereby prohibited from accepting or approving any application or request therefor.”
SECTION 3. The several provisions of this Act are independent and severable and the invalidity, if any, of any part or feature thereof shall not affect or render the remainder of the Act invalid or inoperative.
In 2011, the Expanded Gaming Act was signed into law, allowing a total of three resort-style casinos to be built, one each in three geographic areas. As you might imagine, this has been a highly charged procedure and as such, none are open as yet. Proponents of Question 3 believe 'the people should decide' whether they want casinos. Opponents of repealing the law want MA to compete for the share of gambling dollars currently heading to Connecticut's Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.
No. Just, no. The Legislature decided and this is why we have a Legislature, to legislate. I don't gamble in any meaningful sense, unless the couple of dollars at YearlyKos/Netroots Nation the years it was in Vegas and $50 in penny and nickel slots to ring in my 45th birthday count, and I think the tattoo I got later on that birthday was FAR more fun! I don't think it's going to be the cash cow proponents hope for, but I really don't want to throw this area back up as an in play football. Enough already.
Question 4: Earned Sick Time for Employees
(I can't even begin to edit the original wording of the ballot question into manageable form, but the Boston Globe had a story recently, from which I'm quoting:
"The fourth asks voters to approve of a proposed law that says Massachusetts employees would be able to earn sick time and use it to miss work if sick or caring for an ill child, parent, or spouse. Doctor’s appointments would be covered, as would the “psychological, physical, or legal effects of domestic violence,” according to the ballot question.
Employees who work for companies with 11 or more staff members could earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time in a year. People working for smaller companies could earn and use the same amount of unpaid time. Employees would earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked and begin accruing that time after a 90-day probationary period. "
Proponents state that this will allow people to stay home when they or someone they care for are sick, reducing the spread of contagious disease, and that businesses who provide paid time off have lower employee turnover and better productivity. Opponents say it penalizes small businesses, primarily restaurants, because both paid time off and wages for covering employees would need to be paid for each shift covered.
I think that as written, it's not perfect. However, with the advent of another New England winter season, my thoughts are on the coughing, sneezing, nauseous employees taking care of our hospital and nursing home patients, educating students (not to mention sick kids sent to school so that parents don't lose a day's pay) and preparing our food at restaurants. We have to start somewhere.
That's what's going on in my state... what's on tap in yours? If you're voting in MA, what are your thoughts on the ballot questions? And for the love of all things holy, please send up some good thoughts that this time next month I'm not speaking of Governor-elect Charlie Baker, please.
It's on to tonight's Tops, formatted carefully and in beautifully understandable english by BeninSC:
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
Two comment 'flags:
Flagged by wishingwell, this comment by pucklady riffs on the site motto!
Flagged by Gwennedd, this comment by tarkangi describes a new twist on an old sport!
From Tinfoil Hat:
Pie has a long and honored tradition on Daily Kos, it's about time we picked a comment to match! Try this one from JoanMar!
From Yours Truly, brillig:
From Shaun King's diary Louis Cardinals fans chant for Darren Wilson, tell protestors to get jobs and go to Africa comes this sage advice from apissedant. I wholeheartedly agree, although with RTIII's slight alteration.
In Laura Clawson's diary David Perdue didn't just say he was proud of outsourcing jobs. He said it on camera., ThePhlebob reminds us not to forget the undecided/apathetic electorate who choose not to vote.
Top Mojo for yesterday, October 6th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) I didn't see much attack on the musicians, but by lineatus — 137
2) Priceless cop speak: by Timaeus — 134
3) if the cop was as seemingly impaired as GA by annieli — 133
4) School to prison pipeline is because gotta by a2nite — 133
5) Somebody needs to be fired. by Susan Grigsby — 128
6) does this mean I can tear up my tickets /nt by annieli — 125
7) They also use arrest and conviction numbers by Horace Boothroyd III — 108
8) So true: by 4CasandChlo — 104
9) Shoot First, by SilverWillow — 102
10) And when hopefully he's disciplined or fired by Vita Brevis — 90
11) I just BET they're not commenting. by Youffraita — 91
12) Two big problems... by Catskill Julie — 88
13) Hmmm... by liberaldregs — 89
14) I hesitate to wade in here by radarlady — 85
15) Well, I want to see by RudiB — 82
16) Call me cynical, but I'm waiting to hear how... by ThanxAl — 82
17) That's about the scariest shit I can imagine ha... by bluenick — 80
18) I hope so, too. by Prognosticator — 75
19) It's gotten seriously weird since I left by Major Kong — 75
20) I thought the musicians applauded? by quince — 75
21) Exactly-- it's the "on your own time" part that by concernedamerican — 72
22) My inclination is to be super-compliant with cops by lgmcp — 72
23) you seem to be inventing a lot of projected by bevenro — 71
24) Well said. Thank you, MichaelNY. n/t by WakeUpNeo — 71
25) I saw some pretty ugly comments by ExpatGirl — 70
26) The next thing you saw after that... by The Termite — 69
27) LOL... by Youffraita — 68
28) flip the cops the bird by Cedwyn — 68
29) That last one is particularly bogus, by Dale — 68
30) Teresa Hooks by WisePiper — 66
2014-10-07 Top Comments with Pictures, courtesy of
jotter!