2026 Massachusetts Ballot Guide
9 ballot questions. Plain-English explanations, hidden loopholes exposed, and Gil's progressive recommendation for every single one.
Expanding the Public Records Law
VOTE YESThis law requires the state legislature and the Governor's office to follow public records transparency laws, meaning citizens can request to see their documents. Currently, the Massachusetts legislature is one of the most secretive in the country.
The lobbyist loophole: The exemption for "development of public policy" is dangerously broad. It could be used to keep backroom negotiations with industry lobbyists completely shielded from public view. Transparency is still a net win.
Collective Bargaining for CPCS Employees
VOTE YESThis law grants state public defenders, social workers, and staff the legal right to form a union and collectively bargain for better pay, manageable caseloads, and improved working conditions.
The "certain" carveout: The word "certain" in the law's title leaves room for management to legally separate administrative staff or contract workers from the union.
State Primary Elections
VOTE NOThis eliminates separate Democratic and Republican primaries. Instead, every candidate runs on one shared ballot. Only the top two vote-getters advance to November, even if they're from the same party.
The third-party lockout: "Top-two" primary systems sound democratic, but in practice they almost always produce a November ballot between two well-funded, corporate-backed moderates, locking out socialist, Green, and progressive third-party candidates entirely.
Election Day Registration
VOTE YESThis law lets you register to vote or update your address at the polls on the same day you vote, including during early voting. Currently, Massachusetts requires registration at least 10 days before the election.
Location restrictions: The "designated polling location" requirement can still pose challenges for unhoused or highly mobile voters. Same-day registration is still a crucial win for voter access.
State Revenue Limit & Rebate
VOTE NOThis law changes the formula the state uses to cap its own revenue. By lowering the cap, it forces the state to return tax money to residents more frequently, leaving less in the budget for schools, housing, healthcare, and transportation.
Austerity dressed up as a refund: The dense "administrative mechanism" language hides a deliberate trap: structurally engineering state revenue formulas to force recurring austerity, regardless of what voters want at the ballot box.
Natural Resource Conservation Fund
VOTE YESThis law creates a dedicated state fund for natural resource conservation, clean water protection, environmental justice programs, and expanding public access to parks and green spaces, with a specific focus on low-income communities.
No polluter tax: The fund draws from existing state revenue rather than levying a dedicated tax on corporate polluters or fossil fuel companies. This forces environmental justice programs to compete with healthcare and social safety net budgets.
Single Family Homes
VOTE YESThis law prevents wealthy suburban towns from using large minimum lot-size rules to block housing construction. It allows homes to be built on smaller lots (5,000 sq ft) where towns currently require much larger parcels.
Single-family only: The law only applies to detached single-family homes, not multi-family buildings or tenant co-ops. It weakens exclusionary zoning without creating the affordable, dense housing we really need.
Prohibit Retail Sale of Adult Recreational Use Marijuana
VOTE NOThis law shuts down all legal, licensed marijuana stores and bans growing cannabis at home. Adults over 21 could still possess up to one ounce without penalty. But the legal marketplace, tax revenue, and regulated supply would disappear.
Re-criminalizing home growing: Banning personal cultivation reopens the door to policing inside residential spaces and destroys working-class self-sufficiency in meeting their own needs.
Firearms Regulation
VOTE NOThis vote decides whether to keep or cancel a 2024 Massachusetts gun safety law. The law creates a real-time gun registry, bans new assault-style weapons, requires safety training, and empowers courts to temporarily remove guns from people in crisis (red-flag law).
The double-negative trap: A "YES" vote means you want to repeal (cancel) the law, not support it. Working-class voters who support gun safety are frequently fooled by this backwards language.
Issues That Didn't Make the Ballot
These important issues didn't qualify for the 2026 ballot, but Gil's position remains clear. Here's what he thinks Massachusetts should do:
An Act to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases
VOTE YESThis law caps how much a landlord can raise your rent each year. The maximum increase is either inflation or 5%, whichever is lower. It exempts small owner-occupied buildings (4 units or fewer). For larger buildings, it provides real protections against predatory rent hikes.
The luxury developer loophole: The "new construction" exemption (10 years) was written by real estate lobbyists to protect corporate developers. New luxury apartments built in the next decade would have no rent caps whatsoever.
An Act Reducing the State Personal Income Tax Rate
VOTE NOThis law cuts the state income tax from 5% to 4% over three years. Everyone gets the same percentage cut, whether you earn $30,000 a year or $3 million. A flat tax cut sounds fair, but it's not.
"Flat tax for all" hides inequality: A 1% cut saves a working-class person a few hundred dollars, but returns tens of thousands to wealthy individuals, while draining hundreds of millions from schools, healthcare, and public safety.
Share This Guide
Your neighbors deserve to know what they're voting for. Send them this guide before November 3rd.
Get Involved with the Campaign →