Ballot committees raking in cash for referendums
27 August 2024
BOSTON — Millions of dollars in contributions are flowing into ballot committees behind five statewide referendums ahead of the November elections.
Groups raising money for and against the ballot questions reported their hauls from the previous year this week on proposals that scrap the MCAS high school graduation mandate, legalize ‘magic’ mushrooms for therapy, audit the state Legislature, allow ride-hailing drivers to unionize and raise wages for tipped workers.
Fundraising on Question 4 saw the most activity in the past year, with a committee behind the proposal to for a “limited” legalization of psychedelic mushrooms for adults 21 and older for “therapeutic” purposes has raked in more than $3.9 million, according to the filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Public Finance.
The group Massachusetts for Mental Health Options has drawn much of its financial support from wealthy out of state donors and groups that have pushed for legalization of ‘shrooms’ in other states, the OCPF filings show.
That includes a $1 million contribution from the California-based All One God Faith Inc., maker of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, which has donated more than $25 million since 2015 toward drug policy reform and research nationwide.
Supporters of the plan argue that a growing body of evidence shows that ‘magic’ mushrooms can have beneficial impacts on treating psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and end-of-life anxiety.
But critics, including doctors and other medical experts, say that legalizing a drug that would lead to psychosis would jeopardize public health and safety.
They’ve created the Coalition for Safe Communities committee to raise money for a campaign opposing Question 4, but haven’t reported any fundraising activity yet.
Psilocybin is currently illegal under federal law, classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act along with LSD, heroin and other drugs. But two states and several Massachusetts communities, including Salem, Amherst and Cambridge, have voted to decriminalize small amounts of psilocybin for therapy.
Supporters of Question 2, which calls for scraping the decades-old mandate requiring high school students to pass the MCAS exams to graduate, reported raising more than $1.1 million from July 10 to Dec. 31, 2023, according to OCPF filings.
Most of the funding reported by the Committee to Eliminate Barriers to Student Success for All was provided by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the main proponent of the referendum, mostly through in-kind contributions for signature gathering, research and other campaign related activities.
Opponents of Question 2, organized under the Committee to Protect Our Kids’ Future, haven’t reported their fundraising hauls, but still have until Sept. 6 to turn in their first report.
Backers of Question 3, which would authorize Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing drivers to unionize and bargain collectively for better wages and benefits, had raised and spent more than $1 million for the campaign as of Dec. 31, according to the OCPF filings.
Uber and Lyft dropped their plans for a competing ballot question to classify their drivers’ employment status as independent contractors, after reaching a deal with the state Attorney General’s office to boost wages and benefits. They didn’t create a committee to oppose the driver unionization proposal.
Supporters of Question 1, which asks voters to approve a performance and financial audit of the state Legislature, reported collecting more than $300,000 as of Dec. 31, according to filings.
The referendum was proposed by Auditor Diana DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat and former state lawmaker, whose efforts to audit the House and Senate has been blocked by legislative leaders who argue the move is unconstitutional. DiZoglio has chipped in more than $100,000 of her own money for the campaign, OCPF filing show.
Meanwhile, backers of Question 5, which calls for paying tipped workers the state’s $15 per hour minimum wage, raised nearly $674,000 as of Dec. 31, the filings show.
In Massachusetts, the sky’s the limit for contributions to ballot question committees. Unlike contributions to individual candidates, donations to referendum campaigns are unrestricted, and corporations often get involved, as do special interests, labor unions and others.
The money is expected to be spent on a crush of campaign advertising, mailers and outreach in an attempt to sway voters ahead of the election.
Overall figures for this election cycle are expected to rise with ballot committees submitting other rounds of fundraising totals in coming months, and their final, year-end reports after the election.
Ahead of the 2022 elections, committees behind ballot questions to set a millionaires tax, dental benefits, expand retail beer and wine sales and repeal a state law authorizing state driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants raked in more than $67 million, it the most expensive election cycles in recent years.
In 2020, ballot questions to update the state’s ‘right to repair’ law and authorize ranked-choice voting poured more than $60.7 million into their campaigns.
