80,000 Certified Voter Signatures to be Delivered to Secretary of State

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Right to Repair Coalition announced today that the group’s consumer voter initiative will advance toward the 2012 ballot, having collected 80,000certified signatures to be delivered to the Secretary of State’s office in advance of tomorrow’s December 7th deadline, far more than the 68,000 required.

“For too long, the big automobile manufacturers and their dealerships have dictated where you get your car repaired”
When passed, the new law will require carmakers to provide all non-proprietary repair information to consumers or technicians through a device that can access the same information that manufacturers now provide to their own dealers but often not to independent technicians.

“This strong, pro-motoring-consumer language makes it easier and more cost-effective for motorists to get their cars repaired where they want, especially important during tough economic times,” said Art Kinsman of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition. “For the first time, consumers in Massachusetts will have a full range of affordable options when it comes to car repairs,” he added.

“After the ballot question wins in 2012, and the law goes into effect a few years later, when the dreaded “Check Engine” light comes on, every consumer and the neighborhood technician of their choice will be able to obtain repair information they can’t currently get,” he added.

Currently, auto manufacturers provide only some of the diagnostic and safety information needed to repair vehicle owners’ cars with independent technicians, limiting consumers’ choices and losing business for neighborhood repair shops.

“For too long, the big automobile manufacturers and their dealerships have dictated where you get your car repaired,” said Kinsman. “The Right to Repair law will level the playing field and help motoring consumers keep more money in their wallets.”

The 80,000 certified signatures will be delivered to Secretary of State William Galvin on December 7th.

SPONSORS OF 4 BALLOT QUESTIONS FEEL THEY’VE CLEARED SIGNATURE HURDLE

By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, NOV. 30, 2011…..Massachusetts voters may be asked next year to settle policy standoffs over legalizing marijuana for chronically ill and suffering patients, permitting certain terminally ill residents to self-administer life-ending medication and forcing auto dealers to send diagnostic information to repair shops, according to campaign organizers who say they’ve gathered enough signatures to advance their proposals closer to the ballot in 2012.

Ballot campaigns were required to file 68,911 valid signatures with city and town clerks by last week, the toughest, most expensive hurdle to placing a policy question before voters. Activists need to bring those signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office by next week for final certification. A successful signature drive opens a six-month window for state lawmakers to support their own versions of any of the proposals if they wish to prevent them from moving toward the ballot.

Advocates for these proposals, as well as a plan to attach consequences to teacher evaluations and eliminate seniority as a factor in teacher hiring and placement decisions, say they hope a successful collection of signatures will influence lawmakers to act favorably on their preferred policies, avoiding expensive, divisive and often unsuccessful ballot box fights.

“At this point, we would prefer that the Legislature take this up and pass it. We still think it’s a good vote for them, for their constituents,” said Art Kinsman, spokesman for the car repair question. “We are prepared to go all the way with the ballot if necessary, but I really think the best solution is always that the Legislature takes a vote.”

“We’re fully ready to go to the ballot and we’re always open to working with the Legislature and lawmakers to address it through the legislative route,” said Sam Holdren, communications director for Stand for Children, sponsor of the proposal concerning teachers. “It’s something that we’re still pursuing and still discussing.”

Already this year, two ballot campaigns – one to permit more food stores to sell beer and wine, another to bar auto insurers from basing premium rates on customers’ credit scores – were called off after lawmakers brokered compromises proposals.

A proposal to add a 5-cent deposit to the cost of beverage bottles that may be redeemed upon recycling was also called off when backers suggested they had the votes in the Legislature to pass the plan this session. Legislative leaders have given no indication that the plan is on their upcoming agenda.

Should lawmakers opt to allow the proposals to head to the ballot, supporters would be required to collect another 11,500 signatures, clearing the way for their proposals to come before voters. The last time voters were asked to resolve more than three policy questions in one election cycle was in 2000, when an income tax cut was one of eight policy questions on the ballot.

Equally of note is a proposal derailed by the signature requirement: a plan to repeal the mandate that all Massachusetts residents obtain health insurance. That requirement is a cornerstone of a 2006 law signed by Gov. Mitt Romney intended to provide near-universal access to health insurance. The law also served as a model for a 2010 federal law signed by President Barack Obama that has been attacked by Republicans as costly and disruptive.

The ballot question to repeal the individual mandate failed to collect enough signatures, according to campaign treasurer Bridget Fay, who works with Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Fay said Citizens for Life will turn its attention to defeating the so-called Death With Dignity ballot proposal. She said she’s spoken with “a few state legislators” who she said may introduce legislation to repeal the individual mandate or ban penalties for residents who obtain insurance that doesn’t meet existing coverage requirements.

Fay said supporters of this year’s question are eyeing 2014 as a chance to renew their effort.

“We did get some heavy national interest, but it was about a week before signatures were due,” she said.

Supporters of the “Death with Dignity” question say permitting terminally ill and suffering patients – with no other medical recourse – to end their lives is humane and can save patients and families months of anguish. Opponents argue that it is error-prone and lacks safeguards.

Proponents of the medical marijuana question say it, too, is a human course of treatment for cancer patients or those suffering from debilitating and chronic diseases. Opponents say it could result in greater availability of illegally sold marijuana, could cause crime and might subject Massachusetts to federal prosecution.

Backers of the auto repair question say auto manufacturers routinely withhold key diagnostic repair information for increasingly complex and computerized vehicles, forcing consumers to go directly to the manufacturers for repairs. But auto manufacturers counter that the proposal is a ploy by aftermarket auto parts dealers to produce cheap replicas of car parts.

Supporters of the teacher evaluation questions say they will attach consequences for teachers who fail to demonstrate their students are improving and will deemphasize seniority as a factor in hiring, layoff and placement decisions, guaranteeing that high-quality teachers will be rewarded. But opponents, including the Massachusetts Teachers Association, say teacher evaluation criteria were approved by a state board a few months ago and should be tested without sharp consequences first to ensure they are reliable.

Advocates for a ballot question to limit the annual increase in water and sewer rates did not respond to a request for comment. Proposals to sanction three casinos for Massachusetts, to forbid no-bid energy contracts and to force voters to present identification at the polls were scratched in August when Attorney General Martha Coakley determined they failed to meet the legal criteria to advance.

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11/30/2011

Vote closer on opening auto repair system

By Beth Healy and Robert Weisman, GLOBE STAFF