AG certifies citizen measures for ballot

September 6, 2007

Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday certified all of the proposed initiatives and constitutional amendments citizen activists hope to put before voters in 2008 and 2010, including proposals that would ban greyhound racing, eliminate the state income tax, and decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. The petitions cover nine topics, and their certification means activists can begin collecting the voter signatures needed to advance their proposals. The pending crop also includes proposals to repeal the automobile excise tax and reduce the annual allowable increase in the property tax levy from 2.5 percent to 1 percent. Three proposed constitutional amendments, which would not be eligible for the ballot until 2010, would lower the voting age, authorize Massachusetts residents to delegate powers to a global federal union of democratic nations, and change the constitutional amendment process by cutting the Legislature out of it. (State House News Service)