Tuesday Round Up: Massachusetts Goes to the Dogs

Joe Mathews — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:39:00 -0400

MASSACHUSETTS DOGS: Massachusetts gives the legislature the chance to act on initiative proposals before they head to the ballot. A measure to ban dog racing in the state, which would close two tracks (including, I believe, the one you see Minnie Driver and Matt Damon visit during a date in Good Will Hunting), did not get the approval of a state panel, so it appears headed for the November ballot.

COLORADO SPEAKER TAKING IT TO THE PEOPLE: The Democratic speaker of Colorado's House says his proposal to alter the state's constitution rules on budgeting has no chance of passing the legislature, so he's going to qualify an initiative for the ballot. The proposal would undo parts of the state's voter-approved Taxpayer Bill of Rights, allowing the state to keep revenue above previous limits.

ANTI MARIJUANA INITIATIVE DROPPED: Organizers of an initiative to reverse Oregon's medical marijuana law have dropped the effort. Not enough time and money to get the signatures, the main sponsor tells Williamette Week.

MARYLAND SLOTS CONSENSUS: Labor and business groups are lining up behind a measure to legalize slot machines in Maryland to balance the budget.

GEORGIA PROPERTY TAX QUESTION: A ballot measure, referred to voters by the Georgia legislature, poses the question of whether property tax money intended for that state's schools may be redirected to redevelopment projects by local governments. Georgia has permitted this for years, but the state supreme court in February ruled the practice unconstitutional.

LOCAL SF BALLOT MEASURE HEATS UP: Lennar Corp is advertising heavily in favor of its municipal San Francisco initiative to approve its development plan for the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. One question I have about Lennar: Given Lennar's financial troubles, how can San Franciscans be sure that the company will be able to develop what it promises? Lennar has had to abandon projects all over the country; in Anaheim, Calif., not far from where I live, is a giant overgrown field in the ground where a Lennar project was supposed to go.

TABOR

Tuesday Round Up: Massachusetts Goes to the Dogs