Four Ohio business organizations have come out in support of the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment, Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 2, which aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
On Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives approved the amendment that would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary sending it to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose for approval and to make preparations for an August special election to vote on it.
The legislation comes at a time when pro-abortion activists are working to pass a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would legalize abortion throughout the state.
A second proposed amendment that would eventually raise the state’s minimum wage will likely appear on a 2024 ballot.
On Thursday, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Ohio Restaurant Association, and the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association sent out a public statement in favor of the constitutional amendment on the ballot in August.
“Ohio’s Constitution is the bedrock of our system of government and should not be subject to changes based on fleeting public opinion. For far too long, the Ohio Constitution has been an easy target for those seeking to enact anti-business policies or further narrow special interest initiatives outside of the traditional legislative process. Currently, there is an effort to massively increase Ohio’s minimum wage and eliminate the tipped wage, which is the latest example. Ironically, Ohio already has a minimum wage that is indexed for inflation,” the group said.
The organizations said that they are focused on business issues and growing the economy in Ohio. They state that they have long held the position that Ohio should safeguard the state constitution and agree with SJR 2’s requirement that initiative petitions gather signatures from at least 5 percent of electors from all of the state’s 88 counties.
“If a constitutional issue is significant enough to impact all 11.8 million Ohioans, then it should have to garner and demonstrate broad statewide backing for consideration. Eliminating the cure period for the signature gathering will ensure that we hold ballot measures to the same standards that we apply to candidates for public office,” the group said.
The group claims that these combined reforms will result in more sensible constitutional proposals with more active and broader campaigning that garners broadly adequate support from Ohioans.
State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) applauded the business organizations for their support of the amendment.
“Ohio’s business leaders know that a stable Constitution with reasonable protections against outside special interest meddling is good for Ohio. Thank you Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio National Federation of Independent Businesses, Ohio Restaurant Association, and Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association for your support of SJR 2,” Stewart said.
Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) spoke out against the business organization’s claim that their support of this amendment goes against their top policy goals.
“The Ohio Chamber’s stated top policy goals include workforce development, equality of opportunity, and healthcare. Yet, they support a 60 percent threshold intended to block a women’s full access to healthcare and living wages. Remind me again which companies contribute to their PAC (political action committee),” Minority Leader Russo said.
Stewart refuted this, saying that the Democrats only care about businesses if they fully abide by their woke agenda.
“Here’s the Minority Leader saying the quiet part out loud: disagree with the Democrats on any policy and they’ll sic the professional activists on your donors and try to tank your funding. Democrats only care about businesses if they bend the knee to the woke agenda 100 percent,” Stewart said.
According to LaRose, he instructed Ohio’s county election boards to begin preparing for an August 8th special election immediately.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Restaurant” by Gary Barnes.
