Massachusetts voters in 2026 could have the chance to repeal adult-use recreational marijuana.
The state Elections Division announced last week that it certified 78,301 signatures backing a petition called “An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy.” The measure aims to roll back recreational cannabis use, but would preserve medical use.
In 2016, 53.7% of voters cast their ballots in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana, while 46.3% of voters opposed it, according to data from Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office.
An April 2024 poll from the MassInc Polling Group found 65% of respondents thought legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts was the “right decision.” Another 22% of respondents said it was the “wrong decision.”
The measure is one of five that have been officially certified by the secretary of state’s office to move forward in a long process. Petitions need 74,574 certified signatures to proceed in the process.
The office certified 79,032 signatures supporting a petition that would implement an all-party primary system in state elections, and 87,408 signatures for a Galvin-backed measure that would enable people to register and vote on Election Day.
The office certified 88,132 signatures for a petition that would legalize rent increase limits, and 86,970 signatures for one that would reduce the state’s personal income tax rate from 5% to 4%.
“In total, the Elections Division received eleven ballot question filings of significant size by the December 3, 2025 filing deadline,” the Secretary of State’s office said in a release. “The Division will continue to process the remaining six ballot questions ahead of its January 7, 2026 deadline to transmit qualifying petitions to the Massachusetts Legislature.”
Former Biden appointee leads agency push to crack housing crisis
The state’s latest housing production law drew a former Biden administration appointee back to Massachusetts, where he’s leading a quasi-public agency that provides early funding to nonprofits that help vulnerable residents.
Ethan Handelman is now more than half a year into his run as executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), which underwrites a handful of bond programs for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Handelman said he believes CEDAC, which was created in 1978 and has 27 employees, can make a “dent” in the state’s affordable housing shortage.
“We are, I think, the smallest of the quasi’s in the housing space, but the resources are real,” Handelman told the News Service in a recent interview.
“We’re funding pre-development funds and acquisition funds that start the ball rolling,” he said. “In some cases, they’re the ‘but for’ money — that without this, things wouldn’t get started and they wouldn’t get to construction financing, final financing, people with keys behind doors (and) under roofs. But it is those predevelopment dollars in that starting capital that helps us get to where we need to be.”
CEDAC’s first investment may be a loan as small as $15,000 to a community development corporation embarking on a new affordable housing project, Handelman said. That money could cover an initial feasibility assessment for the site, as stakeholders conduct due diligence and potentially pay for an architect, structural engineer or development consultant, he said.
As the project advances, Handelman said, CEDAC may then award a pre-development loan that could range from around $150,000 to $250,000.
“For us, CEDAC is the go-to because we are comfortable working with them and have a good relationship in our organization,” said Suneeth John, head of real estate at affordable housing nonprofit Fenway Forward.
Fenway Forward recently secured a boost in predevelopment funding from CEDAC for Our Lady’s Guild House in Kenmore Square. The project — which is a joint venture with the nonprofit Planning Office for Urban Affairs — involves transforming a six-story building into 86 affordable studio rental apartments, according to CEDAC. The agency announced the increased funding last month, as it awarded a total of $4.1 million in early-stage financing to nine projects in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
A Michigan native who earned a master’s degree in international relations at Harvard University, Handelman has more than 20 years of experience in the affordable housing space. He previously was vice president of the Massachusetts-based Recap Real Estate Advisors, vice president for policy and advocacy at the National Housing Conference, and senior policy analyst at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
President Joe Biden in 2021 appointed Handelman as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He held that role for four years.
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