Ohio
Growing up outside of Wheeling, WV, I spent much of my life getting weather reports from channel 7’s John Domenick. Mr. Domenick has since retired from television and moved on to the Ohio House of Representatives, where he is looking to bring what may be the storm of the century to bear against the voting rights of Ohioans.
Nearly 200 people showed up for a Northeast Ohio public meeting Tuesday asking for ambassadors to spread the word about Issue 1 in the upcoming primary election. While the issue would expand Ohio’s 8-year-old Third Frontier economic development initiative, supporters were told to forget the phrase ”Third Frontier.” Polls show the name has no recognition with the public.
A war that waged between two factions of California’s veterinary profession in 2008 could repeat itself in the Buckeye State as the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) works to determine its stance on a proposed constitutional amendment designed to cement minimum housing requirements for pigs, veal calves and hens. Veterinary insiders are calling the initiative Ballot X ”” a currently nameless proposition pushed by an activist consortium led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
Little Miami school board members met Saturday, Feb. 6, and took the first step toward returning to voters with two tax requests. On the May 4 ballot, the district will ask voters to approve a 1 percent earnings tax, as well as a smaller millage levy ”” 6.483 mills ”” than the one voters rejected Tuesday, Feb. 2, said Little Miami Superintendent Dan Bennett.
By overwhelming bipartisan margins, the House and Senate on Wednesday, Feb. 3, approved putting a renewal of the Third Frontier high-tech economic development proposal on the May 4 ballot. The vote in the Democratic-controlled House was 83-14; in the Republican-controlled Senate, the vote was 30-2. The proposal calls for issuing $700 million in bonds over four years.
In May, Ohio voters will decide the fate of yet another gambling issue. But this time, the ballot measure won’t propose a big expansion of gambling. It would simply move the location of a Columbus-area casino….one of 4 that voters statewide approved last November. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports that lawmakers finished putting the casino-move plan onto the May ballot after beating back an effort to add another city to the casino list.
Ohio has 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Yet even in what is expected to be a volatile political year, more than a dozen shouldn’t have a care in the world about the November elections. As most Ohio congressional incumbents cruise to re-election this year, they can thank the relatively safe congressional districts drawn up in 2002 by the Republicans when they controlled the governor’s office, the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House.
People around the country have been fighting against speed and red light cameras ever since they started dotting intersections and roadsides in the 1990’s. In many states this policy debate is moving to the ballot, where initiative and referendum rights are able to give voters a voice on an issue that is often decided by unelected law enforcement and highway officials.
Last month, Ohio state representative Jennifer Garrison announced a plan for what she inappropriately refers to as a “Ballot Integrity Act”. The proposal would require people who help initiative and referendum campaigns collect signatures, and the companies they work for, to go through an onerous and potentially expensive registration process before they could work on a petition campaign.The law would also allow voters’ signatures to be thrown out because of mistakes made by campaign workers.
Two Democratic lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives said they’re looking to put into motion plans to extend the life of Ohio’s Third Frontier technology initiative. State Reps. Jay Goyal, D-Mansfield, and Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, said Monday that they plan to co-sponsor a joint resolution to seek voter approval for $1 billion in Third Frontier bonds over five years. The Third Frontier initiative was designed to last until 2012, a decade after it began, but is set to close a year early because of reduced state revenue.
Groups that collect signatures on petitions for ballot issues would be required to register with the state and face suspension for improper activities, under legislation being introduced at the Statehouse. Rep. Jennifer Garrison (D-Marietta) and candidate for Secretary of State, said the law change was needed to cut down on the number of ballot issues and misconduct among petition circulators, many of whom are paid for each signature they collect.
River Valley Local Schools will not return to the ballot for a Feb. 2 special election, according to votes taken at Wednesday’s school board meeting. Two of four present board members voted against placing the emergency operating levy on the ballot after a discussion on the pros and cons of a February attempt. The decision comes about a week after the Nov. 3 election in which 2,491 of 3,807 voters opposed a 4.66-mill, five-year levy.
Enforcement for red-light and speed cameras in Chillicothe has been suspended by Mayor Joe Sulzer after Tuesday’s vote showing local opposition to the devices. In a brief statement Wednesday afternoon, Sulzer said he issued an executive order to Police Chief Roger Moore to suspend the program.
The results are in from the numerous ballot measures that were voted on yesterday. It looks like about half passed and half did not. Next year should be quite a bit bigger in terms of the number of citizen-initiatives on the ballot. You can check out the results here.
The Ohio ballot initiative that called for the establishment of a board on livestock care standards — was adopted by voters in the state yesterday, with almost two-thirds of voters approving the concept late last night. The measure establishes a 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board that will set standards for the care, treatment and welfare of livestock and poultry raised in Ohio based on ethics and science. The measure takes the form of an amendment to the Ohio State Constitution.