FOR RELEASE: May 6, 2026, 10:00 a.m. ET
CONTACT: Robin Smyton, Assistant Director, Media Relations
robin.smyton@tufts.edu | 617-627-5392
Two technical briefs released today by the Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA) at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life measure the fiscal impact of separate 2026 state ballot questions that propose to: a) reorganize legislative pay, and b) create an earmark for recreation and conservation.
"Voters can’t make informed decisions unless they know exactly how these ballot questions will reshape state spending," said Evan Horowitz, executive director of cSPA. "And the goal of these technical briefs is to provide some answers."
A first brief covers the proposed new system for regulating salary stipends for state legislators. Key findings include:
- Currently, all legislators get the same base salary of roughly $82,000, but the majority also get some kind of salary stipend;
- Under this proposal, annual spending on legislative stipends would fall by roughly 11 percent;
- Despite this overall decline, most lawmakers would actually benefit because stipends would be more equitably distributed; and,
- While the ballot question ties stipends to certain performance goals, these requirements are unlikely to matter in practice--either because they are struck down by courts or because lawmakers find ways to meet them.
READ WHO GAINS AND LOSES UNDER STIPEND REFORM
A second brief focuses on the proposal to earmark some existing sales tax revenue to support nature conservation and outdoor recreation. Among the findings:
- This ballot question doesn't raise any new money; it merely earmarks some current tax dollars;
- The earmark is relatively small, roughly $65 million when fully phased in;
- Currently, the state spends upwards of $400 million each year on recreation and conservation efforts, counting both on-budget and bond-supported spending; and,
- Nothing in this ballot question requires the legislature to actually spend the earmarked dollars on new conservation and recreation efforts, as they could use this money to support existing programs or potentially ignore the earmark altogether.
READ MEASURING THE EARMARK FOR CONSERVATION AND RECREATION
cSPA provides expert, nonpartisan analysis of legislative proposals and ballot questions in Massachusetts. It is based at Tufts University and supported by Tisch College along with a diverse group of funding sources from across the political spectrum.
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