This seems to be a habit with Mass, that they pass a rule which subtly punishes conservatives somehow, and it comes back and bites them in the ass later. The most memorable instance was the special-election rule change they passed to protect Kerry’s seat when he ran for prez, which then virtually guaranteed that a Republican would get Kennedy’s seat after he croaked. The libs desperately tried to walk the change back, so the special circumstance would only ever help the Dems, but couldn’t make it stick.
I remember that one. IIRC, part of the reason that Scott Brown got elected was the Dem-dominated legislature got a little too cute for even Massachusetts voters.