On Wednesday, September 1st, Attorney General Maura Healey certified 17 out of 30 ballot proposals filed in August to continue on the path to securing a spot on the 2022 ballot.  Of the 17 proposals certified, 16 were initiative petitions including, but not limited to, proposals relative to alcohol reforms, requirements for presentation of identification to vote, and the employment of app-based drivers.  The seventeenth proposal is a constitutional amendment providing for no-excuse absentee voting.  The 17 certified proposals are outlined below:

• Initiative Petition 21-03 – 21st Century Alcohol Retail Reform

• Initiative Petition 21-04 – Law to Require Voter Identification in Massachusetts

• Initiative Petition 21-06 – Hospital CEO Financial Transparency

• Initiative Petition 21-08 – Limit Excessive Hospital Operative Margins and Maintain Essential Health

• Initiative Petition 21-11- Defining and Regulating the Relationship Between TNCs and App-Based Drivers (Version A)

• Initiative Petition 21-12 – Defining and Regulating the Relationship Between TNCs and App-Based Drivers (Version B)

• Initiative Petition 21-13 – Medical Loss Ratios for Dental Benefit Plans

• Initiative Petition 21-14 – Regulation and Sale of Consumer Fireworks

• Initiative Petition 21-15 – Hate Crimes

• Initiative Petition 21-17 – Whale Safe Fishing Act

• Initiative Petition 21-18 – Preserving Consumer Access to Gasoline and Other Motor Fuels

• Initiative Petition 21-20 – “Happy Hour” Practices Permitted by Licensees

• Initiative Petition 21-23 – Public Disclosures by Certain Corporate Taxpayers

• Initiative Petition 21-24 – Right to Counsel in Eviction Proceedings

• Initiative Petition 21-25 – Zero Emission Vehicles, Zero Emission Home Heating Systems, and Home Solar Powered Electricity (Version A)

• Initiative Petition 21-28 - Zero Emission Vehicles, Zero Emission Home Heating Systems, and Home Solar Powered Electricity (Version C)

• Initiative Petition 21-29 – Constitutional Amendment for No-Excuse Absentee Voting

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Certification is a large step toward securing a position on the 2022 ballot, however, proponents of the above 17 proposals still have some work to do.  The following outlines a summary of the steps that now must be taken in order for the proposals to make it on the 2022 ballot:

• Proposals certified by the Attorney General must collect 80,239 signatures from Massachusetts registered voters by November 17, 2021;

• If enough signatures are collected, in January 2022, the petition is filed with the Massachusetts Legislature.  At this point, the Legislature can debate the merits of the proposal and pass it, it can substitute its own proposal for the petition, or it can take no action.  In the event that the Legislature fails to take action on a particular petition, then the proponents of the petition can advance the petition by collecting an additional 13,374 signatures by July 6, 2022 to force the matter on to the state’s 2022 ballot.