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Update on Massachusetts Ballot Questions

Written by: Tom Ryan, Senior Advisor on Policy, Government & Community Affairs and Executive Director of the Greenway BID

July 27, 2026

The ballot initiative petition process for 2026 is now complete and this November voters in Massachusetts can vote on nine official state ballot questions. On July 17^th, the Secretary of State certified nine questions that have met all the requirements related to gathering signatures, eligibility, and in some cases, weathered legal challenges.

The table below summarizes the questions that will appear on this Novembers ballot:

As a reminder, the following three questions were previously removed from the ballot during this process:

At the May 20, 2026, A Better City Board Meeting, the Board of Directors voted to formally oppose the rent control ballot question, and to monitor the income tax question—but both of those ballot questions were removed from the ballot by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC). At the request of the A Better City Executive Committee, we also presented a deeper dive into two remaining ballot questions that may relate to A Better City’s mandate: Allowing Single-Family Homes on Smaller Lots​ and Limiting State Tax Collection Growth and Returning Surpluses to Taxpayers.

Deeper Dive on Question 5: State Revenue Limit & Rebate

According to CommonWealth Beacon: “The [business-backed] coalition behind the income tax change is also pushing a second fiscal question, this one targeting the state’s tax collection cap. The proposal would tweak a law enacted by voters in 1986, known as Chapter 62F, which requires the state to return money to taxpayers when revenues surpass a certain threshold. Under the question, Beacon Hill would be more likely to bump into that cap, limiting how much the state can collect and forcing more frequent rebates.

Supporters say the change would restore the original intent of the law and provide automatic relief when the state runs surpluses. Opponents argue it would make revenue planning more volatile and constrain the state’s ability to fund ongoing programs during the period of federal funding uncertainty.

No court challenge has emerged, and the question is proceeding toward the July signature deadline…”

From A Better City’s perspective, this question relates to the Millionaire’s Tax Amendment/Fair Share Surtax and how state government calculates total state revenue for a state law that mandated a tax refunds in 2022. A current state law (Chapter 62F) sets an annual cap on state tax collections, which is determined by growth over the average tax collections from the prior three years. If the state ever exceeds this specific cap, the state must give back the “excess” through income tax refunds.

In 2022, state tax revenue exceeded this limit for the first time and the state returned $2.9 billion to taxpayers. Later that year, in November 2022, voters approved the constitutional amendment that created the Fair Share Surtax. Once in office, the Healey-Driscoll Administration and legislature passed a law to say the surtax revenue would be exempt from the calculations on the annual limit of tax revenue. (The rationale was this new surtax was approved by the voters and was intended as new revenue.)

The upcoming 2026 ballot question would change the law by eliminating the exemption, so the surtax revenue is part of this calculation. It would also change the three-year average of total revenue and instead set the limit through a comparison against the prior year. A Better City is somewhat concerned that this question could have unintended consequences on transportation infrastructure investments and leveraging Fair Share dollars for capital improvements.

You can read more from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation here.

• Initiative Petition Language: See complete language here.
• Recent Media Coverage: The media coverage has been limited, but here is a helpful article from WBZ News.
• Campaign Website: n/a

Deeper Dive on Question 7: Single Family Homes

According to coverage from CommonWealth Beacon: “The “Legalize Starter Homes” campaign, backed by collection of pro-growth groups led by Pioneer Institute senior housing fellow Andrew Mikula, would prohibit municipalities from requiring minimum lot sizes for single-family homes greater than 5,000 square feet or frontage greater than 50 feet in areas served by public sewer and water.

Supporters say Massachusetts’s particularly high minimum lot-size requirements have suppressed the construction of smaller, lower-cost homes and contributed to the state’s severe housing shortage. Opponents, including some municipal officials and neighborhood groups, argue that by overriding local land use decisions, the change could increase density in areas not equipped to handle it.

Lawmakers expressed frustration at the ballot-focused approach and indicated an eagerness to work with proponents toward a legislative compromise.”

• Initiative Petition Language: See complete language here.
• Recent Media Coverage: The media coverage has been scant, but here are links to coverage earlier in the year in the Boston Globe and NBC Boston.
• Campaign Website: https://www.legalizestarterhomes.com/

A Better City will continue to monitory the debate related to all of these nine ballot questions. We have found that the website “Ballotpedia” contains a helpful ballot question database for additional information on all these questions. If you have any additional questions please reach out to Tom Ryan.