Abortion Amendments Proposed

Proposals to support abortion rights and measures calling on the state to share revenue with local governments were among the nine new initiative petitions submitted yesterday to Secretary of State Michael J. Connolly's office.

The record-high number of petitions include two proposed amendments to the state constitution, which state officials said cannot appear on the ballot before 1992.

A coalition of pro-choice groups said they had collected 95,895 signatures for one of the proposed amendments, which would guarantee a woman's right to an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy and an unrestricted right to choose methods of birth control.

Petition organizers said they were extremely pleased by the statewide support for the proposed amendment.

"In some places, there were people lining up to sign the petitions," said Dorothy M. Lohmann, public information coordinator for the Planned Parenthood Committee, which originally sponsored the petition.

The number of signatures "exceeded all the private goals we set," said Nicki Nichols Gamble, executive director of Planned Parenthood in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association also said it filed more than 90,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment to provide funds through taxes to guarantee equal educational opportunity across the state.

"The disparities in educational funding between districts in Massachusetts are large and growing," said Rosanne Bacon, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

The Committee to Save our Cities and Towns said they garnered 70,000 signatures for a petition designed to guarantee the state's cities and towns a 40 percent share of the state's new growth revenues.

The petition comes as the Dukakis administration has threatened deeper cuts in local aid. The initiative would provide "a guaranteed formula that returns to the cities and towns a fair share of tax dollars...the basic services every community needs," said Peabody Mayor Peter Torigian, the committee's chair.

If Connolly's office verifies that the petitions have the necessary signatures, they will move on tho the next hurdle in the process.

Initiative petitions to change state law go to the Legislature. If they are approved and signed by the governor, they become law. If the proposals are rejected, supporters can gather 8421 additional signatures to put them on the 1990 ballot, said Susan Pye, a spokesperson for Connolly.

Some questions filed this year-- particularly the four calling for changes in the state tax law--may conflict. If voters approve conflicting changes in the law, the court will have to decide which initiative survives, Connolly said.

Constitutional amendments must garner 25 percent support from constitutional conventions this spring and in the spring of 1991 to be placed on the ballot in 1992. If the joint legislative sessions reject the proposed change in the state constitution either time, the initiative dies, Pye said.

Another petition would make various changes in the state income tax, the state sales tax and local property taxes.

In a statement released yesterday, Connolly attributed the record number of petitions to an "increased interest in direct democracy through the initiative process."

"The citizenry perceive the initiative process as one which not only fosters participation among citizens but also delivers direct results, in a rapid fashion," the statement read.

Other petitions filed include:

.A measure to force the state to roll back any tax increases made this year or next to their 1988 levels within the next two years.

.A measure to reduce waste by requiring that packaging used in the state be either reusable or made of recycled or recylable materials by 1996.

.A measure to minimize the use of consultants in state government.

.A measure concerning fair access to the ballot.