The Boston Globe
The state’s largest teachers union plans to file a lawsuit against the state today for allowing a ballot initiative that would radically alter job protection for teachers in Massachusetts public schools to move forward.
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The Massachusetts Teachers Association contends that the ballot initiative fails to meet constitutional muster and should have never been certified last summer by Attorney General Martha Coakley, according to a copy of the complaint that is expected to be filed in the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
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The state’s largest teachers union plans to file a lawsuit against the state today for allowing a ballot initiative that would radically alter job protection for teachers in Massachusetts public schools to move forward.
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The Massachusetts Teachers Association contends that the ballot initiative fails to meet constitutional muster and should have never been certified last summer by Attorney General Martha Coakley, according to a copy of the complaint that is expected to be filed in the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
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A state ballot initiative that would make the performance of teachers - rather than years of service - the top consideration in whether they keep their jobs is gaining some momentum, even as it faces strong opposition from teachers unions, state education leaders, and other educators.
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Lobbyists for and against the initiative will descend on Beacon Hill in the coming weeks as the Legislature considers the proposal. The initiative moved to the Legislature last week, after the secretary of state’s office certified that organizers had secured enough signatures to advance to the next stage of the lengthy process to get a question on a state ballot.
A group of American Indians who want the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname hope to put the issue to voters, their lawyer said Thursday. Members of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe who back the nickname say they plan to gather signatures to try to amend the state’s constitution to require that the school use the moniker. Their lawyer, Reed Soderstrom, said he hoped such a move would end arguments about the nickname “once and for all.”
Voters heading to the polls today can be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu: They will cast ballots on two more gambling initiatives, bringing the total to eight in 11 years. Also on the ballot is a referendum aimed at restoring same-day voter registration and a constitutional amendment dealing with congressional district boundaries.
With jobs scarce and many families just scraping by, taxes have taken center stage this political season. In Tuesday’s election, Massachusetts voters will have two opportunities to lower them. Two ballot questions are aimed at sales tax increases adopted last year as the state struggled to meet budget demands. The most far reaching, Question 3, would reduce the state’s sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent.
A group of Massachusetts mayors, fed up with what they say is legislative inaction on skyrocketing municipal health care costs, has launched a ballot initiative for 2012 aimed at giving cities and towns more flexibility in reducing expensive benefits for employees, retirees, and elected officials. Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston hosted a strategy session of about 20 mayors in City Hall Friday. The group emerged with a proposal to allow communities to reduce benefits without union negotiations.
Massachusetts voters won’t be able to decide a proposed ballot question to eliminate highway, bridge and tunnel tolls but could still weigh in on other questions, from rolling back the state income tax to tightening regulations on wood-burning power plants.
Just days before the Commonwealth is set to start taxing alcohol sales, the Massachusetts Package Stores Association yesterday said it is planning to file a ballot initiative to make liquor exempt from sales tax. State lawmakers voted last month to increase the Massachusetts sales tax to 6.25 percent from 5 percent and eliminate the longtime exemption for alcohol sold in liquor stores. The new rate goes into effect Saturday. Officials have estimated that taxing liquor will raise nearly $80 million for the cash-strapped state government.
Late last month, Marean met with aides to Senators Thomas M. McGee and Anthony D. Galluccio and Representatives Mark V. Falzone and Kathi-Anne Reinstein at the State House. Marean is asking legislators to pass tougher minimum sentences for vehicular homicide convictions. She said that if lawmakers do not act, she will try to promote a ballot initiative.