Associated Industries v. Secretary of the Commonwealth

The plaintiffs commenced this action in the county court, challenging the Attorney General’s certification and summary of an initiative petition entitled “An Act to fund cleanup of hazardous waste dumpsites in Massachusetts.” The single justice reserved and reported the action to the full court on the parties’ pleadings and statement of agreed facts. We hold that both the certification and summary comply with art. 48 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution, governing the initiative process.3

Background. The petition proposes to add a new chapter to the General Laws, chapter 64K.…