Voters will decide five statewide ballot questions in Nov. Here’s a look at who is spending big for and against them.

By Anjali Huynh and Matt Stout 9 September 2024

Unions, businesses, and other contributors have poured $8.5 million so far this year into the battle over five questions slated to appear on the November ballot, priming campaigns that could reshape Massachusetts’ education system, restaurant industry, and more.

The unusually large slate of initiatives has proven a magnet for dollars, with ballot question committees reporting having raised nearly $5 million from donors this year. But that haul doesn’t include the millions of dollars the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Massachusetts Restaurant Association, and other groups that have paid directly to cover legal fees, advertising, and other costs for campaigns they’re driving.

It’s not unheard of for groups to back a committee through so-called in-kind contributions, which could include offering specific services or staff time. What is notable this year, however, is that some are relying almost exclusively on them.

The campaign behind Question 2, which would scrap the MCAS exams as a graduation requirement, didn’t raise a single dollar from outside donors. Instead, all of its funding — $3.2 million in total, including $2.1 million this year — has come directly through in-kind contributions from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union. Among the costs the union covered was a $262,000 advertising tab.

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association, meanwhile, contributed nearly $540,000 worth of in-kind contributions toward the campaign fighting Question 5, which would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to $15 an hour; state law currently sets a minimum wage for tipped workers at $6.75 per hour, provided that their tips bring them up to at least the $15 wage floor that other workers make. The restaurant association also donated $60,000 of the $471,000 raised directly by the campaign, known as the Committee to Protect Tips.

On the other side, the One Fair Wage Plus Tips MA Committee, which pushed the question onto the ballot, has relied almost entirely on the national group One Fair Wage, which has provided nearly $900,000 through in-kind contributions, including $214,000 so far this year.

Committees for or against the five ballot questions that will be on Massachusetts’ November ballot had until Friday night to submit their financial reports covering the period from Jan. 1 through Sept. 1.

One of the highest fund-raisers — and spenders — was United for Justice, the union-backed committee supporting Question 3, which would allow transportation network drivers, such as for Uber or Lyft, to unionize. The committee raised $2.6 million this year entirely from the Service Employees International Union and its affiliates, and spent $1.1 million. It also took another $250,000 in in-kind contributions, mostly from SEIU chapters or affiliates.

There is no official committee opposing their efforts.

The question asking voters to eliminate the MCAS exams as a graduation requirement had some of the most activity.

The Protect Our Kids’ Future committee, which is urging a “no” vote on Question 2, brought in about $871,000 since Jan. 26 and has spent the vast majority of that sum, including on its own ads.

Among its top donors was Education Reform Now Advocacy — an arm of Education Reform Now, a national organization that promotes charter schools — which gave more than $187,000, including through in-kind contributions. Five others gave $100,000 apiece, including David Peeler, a senior advisor at Berkshire Partners.

The MTA-backed committee supporting the effort, meanwhile, did not report receiving or spending any outside funds so far this year, relying wholly on MTA’s in-kind contributions to cover consulting, branding, and other costs. The union has argued that the MCAS graduation requirement is inequitable and penalizes students who struggle with standardized tests.

The fight over the wages of servers in the state is also proving to be an expensive one.

The restaurant industry-led opposition group this year outspent the group supporting the effort, the One Fair Wage Plus Tips MA Committee, which received about $20,000 and has spent about $15,000 of that so far not including its in-kind contributions.

Among the donors behind the effort to sink the question are national chains like Texas Roadhouse, which gave $25,000, and Massachusetts-based restaurateurs such as Doug Bacon, founder of the Red Paint Hospitality Group, who gave $50,000.

The Committee for a Transparent Democracy, the group seeking to give state auditor Diana DiZoglio the authority to audit the Legislature, received nearly $88,000, and spent almost $123,000 in the first eight months of this year, leaving about $11,000 on hand going into the final stretch. It also received close to $11,000 in in-kind contributions from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative-leaning group.

The effort has been championed by DiZoglio, a former lawmaker who has criticized the Legislature as a closed-door entity and one of the country’s least transparent legislative bodies.

But the scope of her powers, if voters were to support her effort, remains an open question. An analysis from Tufts University recently found that under the state Constitution, she would not be able to investigate anything considered to be the “unique prerogative of the Legislature,” which could include legislative votes, debates, and committee assignments.

Legislative leaders have opposed her efforts to audit the chambers, but they have said they don’t plan to form a committee to directly oppose the question.

Another question, dubbed Question 4, would legalize psychedelic mushrooms in Massachusetts, but drew little new spending or donations. The group supporting the effort reported getting $1.1 million in contributions.

The vast majority of that money — $1 million — came in the form of refunds or in-kind contributions from the Outreach Team, a grassroots organizing and signature collecting firm based in Ithaca, N.Y. The opponents of the question, the “Coalition for Safe Communities,” did not report spending or receiving any money this year, including in-kind expenditures.