Tea-Publican Tyranny in Ohio: Repeal of SB 5 on November Ballot

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted certified a referendum on Senate Bill 5 for the Nov. 8 ballot on Thursday. SB 5 makes the ballot; stage is set for battle | The Columbus Dispatch:

Husted reported at noon that 915,456 valid signatures of Ohio voters had been collected, far exceeding the 231,147 signatures needed to place the issue on the statewide ballot. That set a state record.

Two blocks east on High Street at Ohio AFL-CIO headquarters, Richard Trumka, president of the national union, promised an all-out campaign to overturn the Republican-backed law that weakens collective bargaining for public employees.

"We're going to be there every step of the way," Trumka said. "We're providing resources, people, strategy and the will."

Husted's certification of the ballot issue set in motion what promises to be an expensive and rancorous off-year campaign with far-reaching political ramifications. Public-employee unions view repealing Senate Bill 5 as crucial to their viability, while failing to sustain the law would represent a huge setback for FAUX News host Gov. John Kasich and his Republican colleagues who've set out to downsize government.

At this juncture, the momentum appears to be on the side of We Are Ohio, the coalition opposed to Senate Bill 5, which on June 29 delivered nearly 1.3 million signatures to Husted's office – easily a state record.

Trumka, who joined a discussion of 17 Senate Bill 5 foes yesterday, trumpeted a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday showing that if the election were held now, Senate Bill 5 would be repealed 56 percent to 32 percent.

"They decided to scapegoat public employees, and decided to punish workers that really weren't responsible for the recession and the downturn that we've seen," Trumka said, referring to Kasich and legislative Republicans.

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In addition to cruising past the threshold for total number of valid signatures, We Are Ohio also collected signatures equal to 3 percent of the total vote cast in last year's gubernatorial election in all 88 counties – double the counties needed – which campaign spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas said was also a first in Ohio.

"Now it's about talking to voters and about staying engaged with our volunteers. We had over 10,000 volunteers, and they're asking us what they can do next," Fazekas said. "There really hasn't been an enthusiasm gap since we turned in our petitions."

The next step in the process is for the Ohio Ballot Board to approve language for the ballot issue. The five-member board is chaired by Husted.

Matt McClellan, a spokesman for Husted, said the board will hold a public meeting in early August to hear arguments related to how the referendum should be worded on the ballot.

Fazekas said We Are Ohio will pursue ballot language in which a "yes" vote is a vote in favor of Senate Bill 5 and a "no" vote is a vote against the law. The group will base its argument on its interpretation of the Ohio Constitution.

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Husted directed county boards of elections to complete their review of the more than 540,000 signatures submitted for the Ohio Health Care Freedom Amendment by today. Husted has until Tuesday to certify those signatures.

If only we could get the citizens of Arizona this politically engaged and involved. It's like they have been beaten down so long, they have just given up. Rise up and fight back against the Tea-Publican tyranny!