词条 | Massachusetts Greyhound Protection Act |
释义 |
The Greyhound Protection Act is a Massachusetts statute that gradually eliminated commercial dog racing by 2010. It was enacted as Question 3 on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Massachusetts. It shut down the state's two tracks, Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park and Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere, by January 1, 2010. Violators face minimum fines of $20,000 by the State Racing Commission. Specific provisions in the initiativeDetails of the statute are:
Legislative historyPast initiativeA similar initiative made the ballot in 2000, the racing industry opposed it with television ads arguing that the 2000 initiative would lead to the loss of 1,500 jobs along with $10 million in pari-mutuel betting and other taxes. Petition driveSupporters submitted 45,000 signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot on June 17. The state legislature had until the first Wednesday in May to make the proposals law. Without the legislature's support, proponents had until June 18 to gather another 11,099 signatures.[1] The proponents claimed to have gathered 100,000 signatures, guaranteeing that the initiative would meet the requirements.[2] Lawsuit to strike from ballotOpponents filed a lawsuit in March saying the measure is unfit for the ballot because it singles out the two tracks, when it should apply to the whole state. The Supreme Judicial Court took the matter under advisement after a hearing May 7.[3] On July 15, the court rejected the challenge by the initiative's opponents, which means that unless other lawsuits are filed and are successful, the initiative will appear on the November ballot. The high court rejected the claim that the initiative shouldn't be on a statewide ballot because it was about two local racetracks by saying that racing amounts to a statewide concern.[4] Results{{Referendum| title = Greyhound Protection Act[5][6] | yes = 1,662,352 | yespct = 56.05 | no = 1,303,708 | nopct = 43.95 | valid = 2,966,060 | validpct = 95.59 | invalid = 136,935 | invalidpct = 4.41 | total = 3,102,995 | turnoutpct = 73.52 | electorate = 4,220,488 }} SupportersThe Committee to Protect Dogs is the official ballot committee of the initiative. In addition to Committee to Protect Dogs, the Greyhound Protection Act has been endorsed by:
Arguments for initiativeArguments in favor of the initiative that have been made by its supporters include:[10]
FundingAccording to campaign finance reports, as of November 1, 2008 the Committee to Protect Dogs has raised approximately $903,000 and has $9,169.09 remaining.[11] Grey2k shows no filings for 2008. Between 2005 - 2007 they filed as having received no donations or expenditures and $18,490.21 in liabilities although they appear to have donated approx $55,000 dollars and well over $100,000 in staff and services to the committee since 2005.[12] OpponentsThe official ballot committee opposed to the initiative is The Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition which is mainly made up of the owners of the two tracks that would be shut down, including George Carney, who has owned the Raynham-Taunton track for the past 40 years, and Charles Sarkis, owner of the Wonderland track. Arguments against initiativeArguments that have been made against the initiative include:
Newspaper editorial boards against
FundingAccording to campaign finance reports, as of November 1, 2008 The Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition has raised approximately $436,000 and has $7,720.38 remaining. It also received approx $215,000 in inkind donations such as staff, postage, etc.. mainly from the 2 race tracks. They also have an additional $3,000 in liabilities.[14] See also
SourcesThe original version of this article was taken from Ballotpedia's article about the Massachusetts Greyhound Protection Act External links
References1. ^Boston.com: "Four ballot petitions clear 1st obstacle," Nov 24, 2007 2. ^HSUS: "Animal Protection Group Turns in 100,000 Signatures on Greyhound Protection Act Petition" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215050915/http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/greyhound_protection_act_massachusetts_ballot_112007.html |date=2007-12-15 }} 3. ^Boston.com: "Supporters amass signatures for dog racing ban," June 18, 2008 4. ^Associated Press: "Court rejects challenge to dog-racing initiative", July 15, 2008 5. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/2008%20Return%20of%20Votes%20Complete.pdf |title=2008 Return of Votes Complete |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |format=PDF |date=2008-12-17 |accessdate=2008-11-05}} 6. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ELE/elepdf/st_county_town_enroll_breakdown_08.pdf |title=Enrollment Breakdown as of 15 October 2008 |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |format=PDF |date=2008-10-30 |accessdate=2008-11-05}} 7. ^Springfield Republican 8. ^Blue Mass Group 9. ^The Committee to Protect Dogs: "Endorsements" 10. ^Committee to Protect Dogs "Report on Commercial Dog Racing in Massachusetts" 11. ^Committee to protect dogs "campaign finance reports" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005223822/http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?cpfId=95329 |date=2008-10-05 }} 12. ^Grey2k "campaign finance reports" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005203607/http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?cpfId=95276 |date=2008-10-05 }} 13. ^Boston Globe "Editorial" 14. ^The Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition "campaign finance reports" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216221814/http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchReportResults.aspx?cpfId=95346 |date=2009-12-16 }} 3 : 2008 Massachusetts ballot measures|Massachusetts statutes|Initiatives in the United States |
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