AUGUSTA – Maine elections officials decided Monday to give voters a chance in November to consider statewide ballot questions dealing with taxes, public schools and medical marijuana.

They disqualified a question to allow residents to buy health insurance from out-of-state companies, however, because it lacked a sufficient number of signatures.

Ballot questions that won the secretary of state’s approval include a measure that would require voter approval of all tax increases and restrict growth in municipal spending, and a repeal of Maine’s 2007 school consolidation law.

Also approved were proposals to reduce the automobile excise tax and one to revamp Maine’s medical marijuana law. Measures with at least 55,087 valid signatures go to the Legislature, where lawmakers may adopt them or send them out to voters.

“I can’t think of a time in Maine history when this office has faced the challenge of certifying five initiatives at once,” said Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.

Both tax proposals, as well as the unsuccessful one addressing health insurance, were sponsored by the nonprofit group Maine Leads, which advocates for lower taxes and government openness.

The first proposal seeks to limit the tax dollars government can spend each year and would require a majority vote of the state or local governing body and voter approval at the next election in order to spend beyond that limit. It would also require voter approval of state taxes, including Maine’s automatic gas tax increases that are based on cost-of-living increases.

The question is a revision of a proposal known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights that was rejected by voters in 2006.

The other tax proposal backed by Maine Leads seeks to cut the car excise tax, which varies depending on the age and the value of the car, in half. It also calls for eliminating the 5 percent sales tax and first three years of car excise taxes on new hybrid vehicles or other vehicles that get over 40 miles per gallon.

“Voters are basically now one election away from tax relief,” Maine Leads Executive Director Roy Lenardson said.

The school proposal seeks to repeal a law requiring Maine’s 290 school districts to consolidate into about 80 regional units to save millions of dollars. Critics maintain that the law is not producing the savings promised by its supporters.

The medical marijuana initiative would create nonprofit drug dispensaries and a statewide ID card system to protect patients from arrest.

Challengers have five days to register their opposition to the state’s decision. Once the challenge period has passed, election officials will transmit the initiated bills to the Legislature for consideration.

Lawmakers customarily reject initiated questions so they can be sent to voters, but there have been exceptions in recent years.

AP-ES-02-23-09 1923EST