Global Courant 2023-04-20 04:03:51
A proposal by Republicans in the Ohio Statehouse that would increase the ballot threshold needed to change the state constitution has passed through both the House and Senate committees. Democrats accuse the Ohio GOP of “legislative whiplash,” Republican Senator Theresa Gavarone noted that her party is not “reinventing the wheel,” but simply modifying an existing process.
A contingent of statehouse Republicans in Ohio pushed through Wednesday with their plan to make it harder to change the state’s constitution, an effort to thwart an abortion rights amendment in the works for this fall.
After months of consternation over the issue, identical resolutions were passed within hours of each other by the Senate and House committees — each calling for an increase in the 50% threshold plus one in effect for passing Ohio constitutional amendments since 1912 up to 60%. When the committee’s vote was held in the House, “Shame!” echoed in the corridors, where dozens of opponents still lined up to testify.
About 59% of Ohio voters believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 90,000 U.S. midterm voters. Only 7% said abortion should be illegal in all cases.
PETITION TO ESTABLISH ABORTION RIGHTS IN OHIO CONSTITUTION HAS AWAY MAJOR LEGAL OBSTACLE
The Senate version of the 60% bill went straight to a floor vote, where it passed 26-7 along party lines. The chamber also passed separate legislation calling a special election on August 8 to address the issue, allocating $20 million to pay for it.
A floor vote in the politically fractured Ohio House was not immediately scheduled on the plan’s version.
Republican speaker Jason Stephens previously expressed concern over the rush, which hampered backers’ efforts to get the measure on the ballot in May. He then called it bad form to revive August’s special elections just months after passing a bill to largely eliminate them.
His critics have accused Stephens of deliberately delaying as part of a deal he says he struck with Democrats to secure the speakership; both he and Democratic leader Allison Russo have denied there was a deal.
Ohio Republicans’ bid to make changing the state constitution more difficult has approved committees in both chambers of the legislature.
The key witness to the cancellation of most of August’s special elections was Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who described them as a drain on the Electoral Commission’s budgets due to low voter turnout, which is bad for the state and for democracy. But LaRose now says he favors this particular election in August, which he calls an exceptional circumstance.
Democratic state Senator Kent Smith used LaRose’s own testimony against him during Wednesday’s floor debate, accusing him and his fellow Republicans of putting Ohioans through a “legislative whiplash” to pursue their own interests.
“This is an attack on democracy, designed to harm citizens by limiting their right to self-government,” Smith said.
OHIO LAWMAKER MOVES TO FORCE VOTE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT RULES
GOP state Senator Theresa Gavarone said Republicans are not “reinventing the wheel,” simply adding another exception to the kinds of items Ohioans can vote for in August.
Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine will have the final say on whether to call elections in August, if legislation eventually passes the House. His office said Wednesday that it is still reviewing the bill and can’t say whether it could be vetoed.
But the governor plays no part in putting the 60% resolution on the ballot. Legislators do that directly.
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More than 250 groups are lining up to oppose the measure when it comes, including many who testified against it on Wednesday. They include the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and an array of labor, faith, civil rights, good governance, and community organizations.
