Massachusetts Lawmakers end session without passing initiative legislation
By Kyle Maichle
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Lawmakers in the Massachusetts General Court ended their session on July 31, 2010, without passing any initiative legislation. During the session, lawmakers in both houses considered seven pieces of legislation.
Some of the bills included licensing petition companies, requiring the identification of petition circulators, banning pay-per-signature, and increasing the signature requirements to qualify an initiative. Legislators also considered bills to require fiscal impact statements for ballot initiatives along with requiring health insurance and pharmaceutical companies to pay their shareholders after making a contribution to an initiative campaign.
All of the proposed legislation did not see a vote on the legislative floor and died in committee.
- MSNBC "Mass. lawmakers pass slew of last minute bills," August 31, 2010
- National Conference of State Legislatures, "Initiative and Referendum Database"(Click Massachusetts on drop down menu)