Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 Source: Dedham Transcript (MA) Copyright: 2011 Daily News Transcript Contact: http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5169 TAKING IT TO THE VOTERS Some major issues are debated on Beacon Hill for years but never resolved. Other issues can't get a serious hearing in a state Legislature that seems incapable of dealing with more than a handful of major topics each session. For those who care about these unaddressed issues, there's an alternative, albeit a difficult one: going directly to the voters through a ballot question. A number of interest groups have taken the first step toward getting their issues on the statewide ballot in 2012. Among the issues: - - Casinos. Sure, there's talk of putting another bill before the Legislature this year, but after all the previous failures, a developer intent on putting a casino in Milford is hedging his bets by putting together a ballot initiative. - - Marijuana. The Legislature is too timid to take up any drug law reforms, but marijuana reform measures have won every time they are put before the voters. Advocates are planning a ballot question to legalize medical marijuana. - - Teacher evaluations. Unsatisfied with new state guidelines, an organization that advocates making student performance and other measures a meaningful role in teacher evaluations has done statewide polling in advance of its own ballot measure. - - Bottle bill. Often debated on Beacon Hill, but never passed, proponents of expanding the deposit system to bottled water and other products currently exempted are weighing a ballot question. - - Health insurance mandate. Mass. Citizens for Life, expanding its interest beyond abortion, hopes to overturn the central provision of the state's 2006 health care reform law. - - Physician-assisted suicide. Little discussed on Beacon Hill, legalizing suicide for terminally ill patients may get a hearing from the voters. - - "Right to repair." Outside of mechanics and well-paid lobbyists, few care about access to technical information held by auto companies, but advocates of the measure are prepared to take it to the people. - - Beer and wine at grocery stores. Package store interests beat retail food stores in 2006, defeating a measure that would have legalized wine sales in all grocery stores, but the food retailers are planning to try again to loosen the rules. Making it onto the ballot is a difficult, often expensive proposition. Backers must collect nearly 70,000 certified signatures by Dec. 7, and another 11,500 by next July to put their questions before voters. Some will fall short, and some may be mostly interested in the leverage the threat of a ballot effort gives them in pushing the Legislature to act. Even if they don't all make it to the ballot, it appears Bay State voters will have more to weigh in November 2012 than just the candidates for office. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.