2026 Massachusetts ballot questions: my recommendations

Here are my recommendations for how I believe people should vote on the nine initiative petitions that Massachusetts residents are voting on this year. TLDR I recommend you vote: YES on Question 1 YES on Question 2 NO on Question 3 YES on Question 4 NO on Question 5 (strong recommendation) NO on Question 6 YES on Question 7 NO on Question 8 YES on Question 9 Question 1: Expanding the Public Records Law I recommend a YES vote on Question 1. Question 1 would amend Massachusetts’s public records law to cover the legislature. Currently the legislature has exempted itself from our public records law. In the majority of U.S. states, the legislature is subject to the public records laws that apply to other public entities. It is a stain on Massachusetts democracy that our legislature has exempted itself from our public records law. It is also consistent with our legislature’s long-time pattern of claiming to be transparent without actually being transparent. Opponents of this question make…