Will Healey’s ballot question takes matter to voters? History says ‘not really’

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Like some Massachusetts voters, Gov. Maura Healey is making her way through the dozen questions that could appear on the November ballot. The voters who are thinking about ballot questions 10 months out, least. 

The difference is, she’s doing it publicly, when asked by reporters and show hosts, and not to everyone’s satisfaction, regardless of whether she has any influence on the matter.

She’s “yes” on placing her office and the Legislature under the state public records law, “no” on rent control, and “no” on an income tax cut. “My message to the public: I really want the public to understand how catastrophic this would be for Massachusetts,” she said of the income tax cut during a TV appearance. 

It largely amounts to virtue signaling, as voters have shown they may listen to what their governor has to say, but they don’t necessarily follow.

Her answer on a return to rent control arrived just before the December holidays, leading Contrarian Boston to note that it came when most were checked out. An anonymous political consultant told the publication that the timing means “the fewest number of people saw her opposition.”

That stance assumes her opposition matters on a large scale, and ignores the fact that the opposition camp has agency to trumpet her comments as Election Day draws near. (The opposition, backed by real estate interests, certainly has enough money to promote her comments in ads if they choose.)

Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on which side you’re on – governors tend not to have much influence on ballot questions.

Charlie Baker, a governor who routinely topped national polls as the most popular in the U.S., opposed marijuana legalization. Voters supported it anyway. That same year, Team Baker threw itself behind a ballot question expanding charter schools. Sixty-two percent of voters kicked that question to the curb, and then reelected Baker two years later with 67%.

Voters are bipartisan in turning their backs on pronouncements from the Corner Office. More recently, Healey joined with the business community (and House and Senate leaders) in opposing the decoupling of the MCAS test from high school graduation requirements. Nearly 60% of voters backed the 2024 question pushed by the Mass. teachers union.

This week brought another pronouncement: She told WCVB’s “On the Record” show she’s against one percentage point cut in the state income tax, which could punch a $5 billion hole in the state budget. “It undercuts affordability. All the free school meals, the free community college, making financial aid larger for people in Massachusetts, all of these things are going to go away,” she said.

That prompted supporters of the tax cut to punch back, as they touted a column in the opinion pages of the Washington Post, which has taken an interest in Massachusetts while its owner cuts back coverage of the once-storied paper’s own backyard.

Chris Anderson, president of the Mass. High Technology Council, and Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, noted that the question polls well, including among union households. (Supporters ignore that rent control is also polling well, and it’s easy to imagine Massachusetts voters okaying both a return to rent control as well as an income tax cut for themselves.)

The authors hoped to prod Beacon Hill into taking action. “If not, residents will likely take matters into their own hands this fall,” they wrote. What they leave unsaid is that nobody may end up liking the results, whether they’re a business group, a union, or the governor.

The most catastrophic example of a governor attempting to influence voters may have been Mitt Romney in 2004. How many legislative seats did Romney help the Mass. GOP pick up that year? Send me your answers:[email protected].

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10:15 | Gov. Maura Healey joins Citizens Energy for an announcement related to energy affordability and support for vulnerable communities during the winter cold. | House of Hope, 520 Fletcher St., Lowell

12:00 | Gov. Maura Healey joins Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr at a press conference for the families of the crew lost on the fishing boat Lily Jean out of Gloucester. | Harbormaster Office, 19 Harbor Loop # 2, Gloucester

12:30 | Educators for Excellence hosts discussion on challenges facing students and what could turn the tide. Participants include classroom teachers from around the state, Boston Public Schools principal Antonelli Mejia, and National Council on Teacher Quality President Heather Peske. Panelists will discuss the literacy legislation that has passed the House and Senate in different forms, as well as what it will take to get the most out of that bill, should it become law. | Room 428, State House, Boston

2:00 | Boston community leaders announce "integrated public health and public safety approach for Mass and Cass." Participants include Reps. John Moran and Chynah Tyler; Boston City Councilor John FitzGerald; Kellie Young, director of the mayor’s coordinated response team; South End Forum Chair Steve Fox; and Newmarket BID Executive Director Sue Sullivan. | Hampton Inn & Suites - Crosstown, 811 Massachusetts Ave., Boston

2:30 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll holds a closed press meeting with the consul general of Mexico to Boston | State House, Boston

7:00 | Auditor Diana DiZoglio attends CCBA Chinese New Year Banquet. | Empire Garden Restaurant, 690 Washington St., Boston

Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday, February 25, at the MCLE. Register!

HEALEY PRESSED ON AUDIT: Gov. Maura Healey campaigned in southeastern Massachusetts earlier this week, joined by the mayors of Fall River and New Bedford. At one stop, a frustrated voter pushed her on Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s effort to audit the legislature. “It’s between the auditor and the legislature to be honest,” Healey said while noting she voted for the audit. – WPRI

JEHLEN SEAT: Cambridge’s vice mayor, Burhan Azeem, has joined the field for Patricia Jehlen’s Senate seat. The list of candidates includes Rep. Christine Barber, Winchester School Committee member Tom Hopcroft, and Somerville City Councilor Matt McLaughlin. – Harvard Crimson

DiZOGLIO RUNS FOR SECOND TERM: Auditor Diana DiZoglio confirmed she is running for a second term in an email to supporters. The state GOP, which has allied with her on the audit-the-legislature battle, plans to field a Republican to challenge the Methuen Democrat. Meanwhile, DiZoglio is tapping Shannon Liss-Riordan, who lost to Andrea Campbell in the 2022 race for attorney general, to represent her against Campbell. – State House News Service and Boston Globe

SHOW ME THE MONEY: Foxborough’s select board, in a Tuesday night meeting, told World Cup Boston organizers that they won’t sign off on the necessary permits until they know who is coughing up the $7.8 million for security at Gillette Stadium. – WCVB

‘OVERZEALOUS’ STATES:  Prediction markets like Kalshi are dealing with legal challenges from attorneys general like Andrea Campbell, but are they getting some help from the new chairman of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Michael Selig. He called state governments “overzealous” in their efforts to prohibit “these exciting products.” – CNBC

HEALEY AIDE: Trump administration officials oppose a Healey administration aide’s effort to obtain temporary work authorization, arguing federal court lacks jurisdiction in the case. – WBUR

GATEWAY CITIES: Six Gateway Cities are receiving funds from MassDevelopment for their downtowns, with Holyoke getting a full-time development fellow and access to grants. – MassLive

JESSE JACKSON IN BOSTON: Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at 84, made several visits to the Boston area during his time on the campaign trail. – Universal Hub

SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLS: Springfield school officials are finalizing plans to regain control of eight schools that are currently in a collaborative known as the “Empowerment Zone.” – MassLive

MBTA COMMUNITIES: A childcare company and early learning center has plans for a three-story building under the MBTA Communities law, close to the Quincy Adams stop on the Red Line. Grumbling about parking issues has already started. – Patriot Ledger

PLYMOUTH PROJECT: North Plymouth residents raising concerns about a condo development next to a Superfund site received some help from US Rep. William Keating, who wrote a letter to the regional director of the EPA asking the agency to reassess the safety of the site. – Plymouth Independent

RALPH DE LA TORRE’S LEGACY: The former Steward Health Care hospitals were in even worse shape than buyers expected and revenues are lower than initially forecasted. – Boston Globe

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