Mass. AG gives OK to 28 proposed ballot questions

BOSTON (AP) - Attorney General Martha Coakley has given a constitutional OK to the majority of proposed ballot questions activists are hoping to put before voters next year, including a minimum wage hike and cut in the state sales tax.

Coakley said all but five of 33 proposed questions met the constitutional requirement.

Among the five that failed were proposals to outlaw casino gambling in Massachusetts and require labels on genetically modified food.

Another disqualified question sought to create a constitutional amendment declaring that "corporations are not people, money is not speech."

Among those questions moving forward are proposed nurse-patient staffing ratios and a repeal of a new tax on computer software services.

Those questions deemed constitutional by Coakley face a tough road to the 2014 ballot, with supporters required to collect more than 80,000 voter signatures.

Cox Media Group