By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff, 11/08/2000

The people have spoken on Question 4, and House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran expects the Legislature to abide by their wishes.

Finneran said last night in his State House office that legislators would find the means to live with the 5 percent income tax rate that voters approved overwhelmingly yesterday. Scheduled to be phased in over three years from the current rate of 5.85 percent, the lower tax rate is expected to cost the state $1.2 billion in annual revenue. The Legislature has the power to alter or repeal the question.

But Finneran, a fiscal conservative, said the principle of lower state income taxes is "a sound principle to strive for," and that "it makes no sense to repeat the sins of the past" when the state's aggressive spending earned it the nickname of "Taxachusetts."

Adjusting state budget-making to the new revenue reality, Finneran said, is "not necessarily a pleasant experience, but it will be a challenging experience."

However, Finneran derided what he called the "transparent political motive" that prompted Governor Paul Cellucci to bring the 5 percent tax rate to a statewide referendum.

Cellucci, however, was ecstatic about the hard-fought tax-cut victory on which he staked the prestige of his office.

"This was important for our economic future. It's one of the simplest tests that voters thought their taxes were too high," the governor said last night.

Contrary to some critics who argued that a dramatic tax cut could haunt the state if the economy sours, Cellucci said the reduction "will make sure that the economy does not go south."

The voters, Cellucci said, "understood the importance in a global economy in being competitive. This sends a very strong message to the Democrats that they have to maintain fiscal discipline."

Finneran blasted the practice of making public policy through ballot questions because, he said, "you end up pandering to raw emotion." However, he conceded that such questions are a sign of exasperation.

But voter exasperation is not with the Legislature's performance, Finneran argued. Despite critics who call the speaker a dictator and say the public is dissatisfied with Beacon Hill, the speaker contended the reverse is true - even if 120 of the Legislature's 200 representatives and senators ran unopposed.

But many political observers saw the ballot questions, combined with the lack of elective contests, as evidence of the Legislature's declining relevance.

Because the State House doesn't act, the thinking goes, a mad-as-hell electorate - as well as a few well-heeled special-interest advocates - take the initiative and put their pet causes on the ballot.

Whether the Democrats behave any differently because of Question 4 remains to be seen, but party stalwarts last night did not have concerns about their commanding political status.

At the Fairmont Copley Plaza, hundreds of Democrats cheered whenever Vice President Al Gore won electoral votes.

But atop Beacon Hill, another kind of vigil moved toward the wee hours of this morning. There, in the nearly deserted State House, about 30 legislators gathered in Finneran's office for an Election Night ritual that spoke more than a little about the state of Massachusetts politics.

In contrast to election years from the Bay State's storied political past, when cigar-chomping party workers in cavernous halls watched votes being tallied on huge blackboards, this war room was decidedly peaceful.

The focus at this political Super Bowl party was the national presidential race, with only leftover attention apparently being paid to the ballot questions and a handful of state legislative races.

But still, Finneran said, Election Night is special - no matter how much - or little - seems to be at stake: "It's the Super Bowl, World Series, and the NBA finals all wrapped up in one."