oters will decide questions involving tax cuts, health care, and treatment for drug offenders in November's state election.
As of 5 p.m. yesterday, six initiatives had drawn the required number of signatures to appear on the state ballot. Two c onstitutional amendments advanced by the Legislature will also be put to voters.
Three tax proposals include Governor Paul Cellucci's plan to reduce the state income tax from 5.85 to 5 percent by 2003. The cut would translate to about $1.2 billion per year when fully phased in.
''To keep our economy strong and our state competitive, we must cut the income tax to 5 percent,'' Cellucci has said. ''If the Legislature won't join us and cut your taxes, we'll beat them at the ballot box in November and do it ourselves.''
Also on the ballot is a provision that would create a personal income tax deduction for charitable contributions. While it is estimated that this would siphon $175 million in revenues from the state, it is hoped that it will increase donations to charities by more than $220 million statewide.
Potentially more costly to the state is a referendum that would provide a 100 percent rebate for money spent on Massachusetts Turnpike tolls.
According to the Free the Pike Coalition, the proposal, which also includes a provision allowing car owners to deduct auto excise taxes from their income taxes, could save a Boston commuter from Central Massachusetts $500 to $700 yearly. Its detractors warn that the measure could also punch a $700 million annual hole in the state budget.
Another measure, which critics warn could strain state resources, would revise health care in Massachusetts. In addition to demanding a p atients' b ill of r ights and putting a temporary moratorium on the conversion of not-for-profit hospitals to for-profit status, the bill mandates that the Legislature devise and enact a plan for universal health care by 2002.
Also filed was a petition to create a ''drug treatment trust fund'' to pay for drug treatment programs, bankrolled largely by money seized in drug-related arrests. The money currently funds a variety of police programs.
Voters will also get the chance to decide whether to ban greyhound racing. A group called ''Grey2K'' has filed an initiative that would make Massachusetts the first state with existing tracks to ban g reyhound racing, putting more than 1,000 jobs in jeopardy.
Conspicuously absent from the ballot is a proposal requiring open access to high-speed cable Internet connections. The initiative was dropped last week after proponents reached a compromise with AT&T, the measure's chief opponent.
Groups pushing for an initiative petition must first gather 57,100 signatures and submit those in the fall to the s ecretary of s tate's office. If the Legislature fails to enact the measure, the group then must collect an additional 9,517 signatures for a ballot spot.
The Legislature is also asking voters to approve changes to the state c onstitution. One amendment would ban prisoners who have committed felonies from voting in state, local, and federal elections. The other would make changes to voting districts within two years of a federal census, rather than the current four.
