Well, I'm not sure I understand your question fully but given your code, something like the following would be cleaner:

foreach $ss (split /,/,$INPUT{'ss'}) { 
    print qq($ss: <input type="checkbox" name="ss" value=")
          . lc($ss) . qq(" checked>&nbsp;&nbsp;\n); 
}
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-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";