Voters in Massachusetts weighed in on ballot questions that are expected to shape policy for years to come.
Questions 1, 2 and 3 were approved. Respectively, the measures allow the state auditor's office to audit the Legislature, end the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement and let rideshare drivers unionize.
Question 4, which would have legalized some psychedelics, and Question 5, which would have raised the minimum wage for tipped workers, did not pass.
According to Evan Horowitz with the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, both measures are technically done deals, but that doesn't mean legislators won't make changes.
"They take effect, they enter the general laws, they become law. But every law is like that. When a law passes, it has no binding effect on future lawmakers," Horowitz said.
Horowitz told NBC10 Boston that most likely, the measures will be certified within the next 30 days by the state, but lawmakers could then amend the laws or create new laws.
"I think the most likely path, if they do decide to make a change [to Question 2], will be to say, 'You know what a lot of states do?' They don't have a final test for students to pass, but they do say, 'You've got to take three years of math, and these three classes, you've got to take three years of English, you've got to take two years of foreign language,'" Horowitz said.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association said on social media that Question 2's approval "welcomed a new era in our public schools."
