Why States Matter: Transparency in the Bay State

Photo by Rajiv Bajaj on Unsplash

TO DO: Tell your state legislators to pass the Bipartisan Ballot Spending Transparency Act.

ACTION: Are your State Senator and/or Rep on the Joint Committee on Election Laws (check here: https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J15)? Send a message like this:

Hi, it’s [name] from [town, state]. Please VOTE YES on H.868, the Ballot Spending Transparency Act, which is under consideration by the Election Laws Committee. The current reporting schedule for ballot-question contributions and expenditures is WAY too lax! We have very little idea who is spending money, and how they’re spending it, to influence our votes on ballot questions. This bill would put ballot-question campaigns into the depository system, just as candidates for public office already are. Please stand up for transparency in the state! Thank you!

[The State Senate unanimously passed their version of the bill in January. Feel free to contact your State Rep (https://malegislature.gov/), even if they’re not on the Committee, and ask them to advocate for H868.]

WHY IT MATTERS: Ballot measures are having a moment in the sun.

Take Virginia, where voters showed up two weeks ago for a special election to approve temporarily redrawing Congressional maps (this in direct response to the First Felon’s efforts to gin up seats he’s “owed” in TX and other states). If the vote stands, Democrats will likely pick up four Congressional seats in 2026.

(I say “if” because… GOP lawsuit. Of course. Untroubled by fusty archaisms like “the people’s will” or “hypocrisy,” the GOP promptly sued to invalidate the election. A judge issued a ruling temporarily blocking election officials from certifying the results, and the VA Supreme Court is upholding the ruling while the Justices weigh whether to nullify the entire vote. Which pretty much tracks where we are with Supreme Courts in general these days, right? It’s beyond enraging.)

Now deep breath back to the point, which is that ballot initiatives play a big role in our democracy. Virginia voters, for example, will be voting on three more ballot measures in November, to enshrine reproductive rights in the constitution, remove the same-sex marriage ban still on state books, and restore voting rights for released felons.

Similarly, voters across the country will be facing momentous questions this fall. Should abortion be prohibited (MO) or enshrined as a constitutional right (NV)? Should NC tighten its voter-ID requirements? Should AZ declare early voting and voting by mail to be constitutional rights? Should state/local law enforcement be required to cooperate with federal immigration goons in WA? Should the right to bear and keep arms be enshrined as “a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed” (AR), or should firearm restrictions be upheld (MA)?

(Quick definition: a ballot measure is a “law, issue, or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of that jurisdiction to decide,” per Ballotpedia. The two most common types are citizen-initiated (people collect signatures to place an issue on the ballot, aka popular initiatives, citizen initiatives, and citizen referenda), and legislative (legislators vote to place a statute or constitutional amendment on the ballot; in all states except DE, legislatures must seek voter approval to amend their state constitutions)).

Big (Ballot) Questions — And Big Bucks

… especially here at home. “Generally speaking, a ballot question committee [in MA] can accept unlimited contributions from most sources, including individuals, certain candidates, political action committees, and state party committees,” per Ballotpedia. Not only is there no limit on donations, there’s barely any requirement that ballot campaigns report to the public who’s funding their campaigns, and how the money is being spent. That’s because the current reporting schedule includes an eight-month-long “unmonitored” window, where campaign donations and expenditures go completely unreported in real time, to be published just 60 days before the election.

The unsurprising result? Over the past 10 years, special interests have spent an eye-popping $340m+ on MA ballot-question campaigns… but for most of that time, voters had no idea who the financial backers were, how much they were donating, or how campaigns were spending the funds, because $123m of that arrived in campaign coffers during the eight-month window.

Secretive millionaire types with agendas, you’re in luck.

Fortunately, this loophole doesn’t apply to any other kind of state campaign. With a few exceptions, PACs and state/county elected official campaigns in MA must work within the existing “depository system,” whereby they organize with the MA Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) and adhere to stringent campaign finance reporting requirements (date, amount, source/type of donation, receipts, expenditures, purpose of expenditures, etc.). Just as importantly, banks must issue monthly and year-end reports.

The Bipartisan Ballot Spending Transparency Act would bring ballot-question funding into line by corralling it into the state’s depository system, requiring ballot campaigns to appoint a bank to file monthly reports on their behalf and eliminating the “unmonitored” window. “The measure increases transparency in campaign finance, gives voters access to the information they need to make informed choices, and guards against a rise in special interests paying millions to put their own priorities on the ballot,” per Common Cause MA.

Sounds good. Open the blinds and let that sunshine in! 05–05–26