Pass It, Then Rewrite It? Why Beacon Hill Could Get the Last Word on Question 1

Massachusetts voters will settle nine ballot questions on Tuesday, Nov. 3, tying the state’s record for the most on a single ballot. For at least some of them, Election Day may not be the final word. Reporting this week from WBUR and The Shoestring describes a growing expectation on Beacon Hill that lawmakers could reshape, delay or override certain voter-approved measures, with Question 1, the proposal to open the governor’s office and the Legislature to the public records law, at the center of the fight.

What Question 1 would do

Question 1 would end the exemptions that currently keep the Legislature and the governor’s office outside the state public records law, applying the same rules that already cover city halls, school committees and most state agencies. WBUR reports that Massachusetts is the only state where all three branches of government are exempt. The measure carves out requests for help obtaining government benefits or services and documents related to developing policy positions, according to The Shoestring.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is leading the “yes” campaign and, per The Shoestring, has put $100,000 of her own campaign money into the effort. Attorney General Andrea Campbell supports it. No group has formally organized a “no” campaign, although several legislators, including Sens. Brendan Crighton and Paul Feeney and Rep. David Vieira, argued against it in the official voter guide. WBUR reports that recent polling shows strong support for the expansion.

Why the fight may outlast the vote

Ballot questions in Massachusetts create ordinary statutes. Nothing in law prevents the Legislature from amending or repealing them afterward; the main check is political. Suffolk University political scientist Rachael Cobb told WBUR that voters’ chief recourse is to vote incumbents out, but that competitive legislative races are rare in the state.

There is precedent on both ends. After voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016 over the objections of legislative leaders and then-Gov. Charlie Baker, lawmakers rewrote the law in 2017. Outright repeals are rarer. The best-known example is the Clean Elections law, approved by voters in 1998 and repealed by the Legislature in 2003 after a funding standoff.

This year, the House and Senate began work on their own, narrower public records bills before ballots were printed. According to The Shoestring, both versions would open the governor’s office to records requests and make some legislative documents public, but would bar retroactive requests, limiting the law to records created after the new legislative term begins in January 2027. Sen. Jason Lewis, who is not seeking reelection, told WBUR that if the Legislature passes its own public records law, it would override the ballot question. The Boston Globe editorial board has warned that such a bill could be used to undo the voters’ decision.

The audit that never happened

The tension traces back to 2024, when 72% of voters approved a separate DiZoglio-backed question authorizing the auditor to audit the Legislature. That audit has still not taken place amid disputes over its constitutionality. In June, House Democrats unveiled a bill, H 5469, that State House News Service reported would limit any legislative audit to four categories of spending, restrict reviews to records from fiscal 2021 forward, and bar courts from compelling records or resolving disputes between the auditor and the Legislature. House Speaker Ron Mariano defended the court provision, saying, “The separation of powers is the issue for us.”

DiZoglio has called those efforts an attempt to nullify the 2024 vote and warned of a “constitutional crisis,” according to WBUR. She is preparing for a legal fight if Question 1 passes and lawmakers respond with their own version. Republican Sen. Ryan Fattman, who supports both the audit and the records expansion, put it bluntly to The Shoestring: “We are the birthplace of freedom. Let’s not be the graveyard.”

Other questions to watch after Tuesday

WBUR notes that lawmakers are already weighing a response to Question 5, which would cap annual state revenue and send excess collections back to taxpayers as rebates. Other measures with large fiscal or policy footprints include Question 7, which would allow single-family homes on lots of 5,000 square feet or more statewide, and Question 8, which would repeal the 2016 law legalizing adult-use marijuana, according to CBS News Boston’s ballot guide.

The Boston Made Take

Boston Made regards the post-election period as the real test of Question 1. A strong “yes” vote would give the measure political weight, but the details that matter most, including retroactivity, enforcement and who decides disputes, can still be rewritten by the same officials the law would cover. Boston Made also sees a practical business angle: contractors, lobbyists and companies that deal with state government should expect clearer records rules eventually, but not immediately, and possibly not in the form voters approve. The most useful signal will be whether legislative leaders move a competing bill during the lame-duck weeks before the new session, or wait until 2027.

What it means for you

• Before you vote, read the full text of each question in the state’s voter guide; summaries leave out the exemptions.
• If Question 1 passes, watch for a legislative records bill in November or December that could change the start date or scope.
• If you file records requests for work, keep in mind that both legislative proposals would cover only records created after January 2027.
• Taxpayers should treat any Question 5 rebate as uncertain until lawmakers act on it.

Discussion

1. Should the Legislature be allowed to amend a ballot question in the same session voters approve it?
2. Would a narrower records law that takes effect sooner be better than a broader one tied up in court?
3. What would make legislative races in Massachusetts more competitive?