Mass. high court says app-based driver questions are eligible for ballot

A pair of potential ballot questions reshaping the work landscape for app-based drivers will be permitted to advance, the state's highest court ruled Thursday, clearing the way for voters to make decisions with national implications.

The Supreme Judicial Court deemed constitutionally eligible all five versions of an industry-backed measure seeking to define drivers as independent contractors, not employees, as well as a union-supported proposal allowing drivers to organize and collectively bargain.

Companies backing the independent contractor measure have said, including during oral arguments before the court, they intend to submit only one draft of the question for the ballot. SJC judges in their opinion Thursday said they retain jurisdiction to withdraw their favorable ruling if the campaign winds up placing more than one question on the ballot.

Opponents of both questions challenged the attorney general's decision to certify them as ballot-ready, arguing that the proposals each improperly combined topics too different to be considered with a single yes or no vote.

But judges said each proposal appropriately takes aim at one interrelated matter, even if the material is dense and complicated. It's a different outcome than two years ago, when the court spiked an earlier draft of the independent contractor question.

The rulings tee up a pitched political battle that will unfold in the months to come. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart appear primed to spend heavily on securing a change to state law their executives view as key to supporting their business models.

Judges on Thursday also ruled that the official title and one-sentence summary of another question that would eliminate the use of MCAS exams as a graduation requirement are not misleading, turning aside challenges filed by both sides of that debate.