Ballot questions on rent control, all-party primaries and legislative stipends expected to move forward

Ballot questions about rent control, all-party state primaries and funding for water and nature conservancy are among those expected to clear a major hurdle Wednesday to advance toward the 2026 ballot.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell certified 40 proposed ballot questions and four proposed constitutional amendments in September, kicking off the roughly two-month race to collect more than 74,000 signatures to submit to local election officials this week.

To continue advancing, ballot question campaigns must submit their signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office by Dec. 3. Galvin is tasked with reviewing the signatures before handing the potential questions over to the Legislature, where lawmakers have until early May to pass them into law, amend, or take no action on the measures.

If Beacon Hill legislators do not act on the proposals, ballot question campaigns will need to turn in an additional 12,429 signatures to local officials in June and state election officials in July to be placed on the 2026 ballot.

Here’s a look at some of the proposals that have made it so far:

Supporters of a potential ballot question that would limit annual rent increases to no more than 5% said they collected more than 124,000 signatures from voters across the state.

Rose Webster-Smith, the director of the housing advocacy group Springfield No One Leaves, said high rents are displacing workers, forcing people to work multiple jobs, and “making it impossible for young families to save money to achieve the dream of owning a home.”

“By coming together to win rent control on the ballot next year, we can keep Massachusetts home for all of us,” Webster-Smith said in a statement.

Massachusetts voters banned rent control in 1994, and Beacon Hill Democrats have routinely left proposals addressing the matter untouched. A push to place a question on the November 2024 ballot did not collect enough signatures.

The real estate industry has promised to fight the renewed effort.

The Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Greater Boston Real Estate Board, and the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS said the risks of the rent control ballot question “cannot be overstated.”

“This question creates the most restrictive rent control program in the entire United States and forces it on every city and town across the Commonwealth. It will unquestionably make our housing crisis worse and significantly reduce the supply of quality homes on the rental market,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

A proposed ballot question that would change the way legislative stipends are calculated gathered over 90,000 signatures ahead of Wednesday’s signature hurdle, according to Jonathan Hecht, a former state lawmaker behind the proposal.

Massachusetts lawmakers receive extra pay, or stipends, if they hold a leadership position in their chamber.

House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka each receive more than $119,631 in extra pay on top of their $82,044 base salaries for serving in the top leadership positions in their chambers.

Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, a North End Democrat in charge of the House’s budget writing committee, receives $97,200 in extra leadership pay, according to data from the state treasurer’s office. His counterpart, Democratic Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, earns $104,976 in additional leadership pay, the data shows.

Mariano and Spilka decide which lawmakers receive leadership assignments.

Hecht said the measure would ensure legislators “are independent” of Democratic leadership in the House and Senate.

“They essentially control a big share of legislators' pay and therefore control their livelihoods,” Hecht said. “That relationship makes it very difficult for legislators to focus solely on representing their districts, because they have to worry about whether they might do something that would impact their livelihoods.”

Transparency advocates are also pushing a separate question that would subject the Legislature and Office of the Governor to the state’s public records law. An organizer for that campaign referred questions about the measure to State Auditor Diana DiZoglio.

DiZoglio, who did not respond to a WBUR request for comment Tuesday, donated $150,000 last month to the public records law ballot question, according to state records. She successfully advanced a ballot question last year that allows her to audit the Legislature.

Advocates behind a potential ballot question that would direct funds from the state sales tax on sporting goods to water and nature conservancy efforts said they collected more than the required 74,574 signatures.

Emily McGranachan, an associate director at Trust for Public Land, said the proposed question will “ensure my family, and especially my children, can continue to experience the wonder and beauty of the outdoors here in Massachusetts.”

Two questions backed by business groups that would lower the state income tax and change the limit on how much revenue Massachusetts can collect each year also surpassed the signature threshold, supporters said.

Massachusetts High Technology Council President Christopher Anderson said the proposals “offer a much-needed course correction.”

“The state’s tax-and-spend philosophy continues to make it harder for people and businesses to thrive in Massachusetts,” he said in a statement. “Ultimately, these ideas would help rein in out-of-control state spending and put more money back in the pockets of taxpayers.”

A question that would eliminate political party primaries for state elections collected enough signatures to surpass Wednesday’s threshold, according to Jesse Littlewood, the campaign manager for the Coalition for Healthy Democracy.

The measure would instead establish a single, all-party primary in which candidates from all political parties would be listed on one ballot, according to a summary from Campbell’s office.

The two candidates who receive the most votes would advance to the general election ballot. The proposed question would also require candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run and be listed on the ballot together, the summary said.

“This reform ensures that voters, not party insiders, decide which candidates advance to November,” the Coalition for Healthy Democracy says on its website.