Vote Yes Ohio, the official campaign to protect the state constitution has launched a new digital advertisement supporting Ohio State Issue 1 and highlighting the need to protect the state constitution from special interest groups.
The ad, titled “We The People,” is the first 30-second advertisement released by Vote Yes Ohio aimed at informing voters of the need to raise the threshold of the state constitution by voting yes on Issue 1 during the August 8th special election.
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Following the sentencing of former Ohio Republican Speaker of the House Larry Householder on Thursday, Ohio lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives voiced their opinions.
A federal judge sentenced Householder this week to the maximum of 20 years in federal prison for his participation in the largest bribery scandal in state history.
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Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) says that he is now confident in lawmakers passing the state’s biennial budget before its June 30th deadline.
This follows his previous statement that with the approximately 800 differences between the biennial budgets passed by the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, it is likely that the state legislature may miss its end-of-the-month deadline and need to pass a temporary budget until they can strike a final deal.
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Six Republican Ohio House veterans wrote a letter opposing a committee adding a seven-day interim budget to a bill that gives military families a tax break.
On Monday, the House Rules and Reference Committee approved an amendment to include this budget to Senate Bill (SB) 43 to expand the situations in which surviving spouses of disabled veterans may receive the “homestead” tax exemption.
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Another major Ohio business organization has come out in support of Ohio State Issue 1 which aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
Issue 1, if approved by voters, 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.
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The Democratic League of Women Voters have said that they are adamantly against Ohio State Issue 1 which aims to change the percentage needed to amend the constitution by a statewide ballot initiative to a supermajority of 60 percent from the current 50 percent plus one.
Their opposition is inconsistent however as their own organization’s bylaws require a 66 percent vote for amendments.
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Ohio Democrats have said they are adamantly against Ohio State Issue 1, which tries to change the percentage needed to amend the state Constitution by a statewide ballot initiative to a supermajority of 60 percent from the current 50 percent plus one.
However, their opposition is inconsistent, as their party constitution uses a 60 percent amendment threshold.
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Ohio Republican and Democratic lawmakers submitted written arguments for and against Issue 1 on Monday, which aims to alter how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
Issue 1, if approved by voters, 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.
Issue 1 if approved by voters 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.
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.
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On Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives approved an amendment that aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments as well as legislation to allow for a statewide special election in August to vote on it.
The Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment, Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 2 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.
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The Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider endorsements for the three Ohio Supreme Court seats up for grabs in 2024, as well as a resolution to support the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.
In the Ohio Supreme Court, Democratic Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart are up for re-election and Republican Justice Joe Deters must run for retention in 2024 and re-election in 2026. It will give Republicans an opportunity to hold 6 of 7 seats in the high court. Currently, the GOP has a 4-3 majority in the state Supreme Court.
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Supporters of legislation that aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments have told Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) that they have the support of at least 59 House Republicans who want a floor vote on the resolution.
It will take a three-fifths majority of the 99-member House to pass the resolution to put before voters House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1 requiring 60 percent voter approval for future constitutional amendments.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Monday that he would sign a bill allowing an August special election to decide whether to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments if both chambers of the state legislature pass it.
The proposed August election would decide whether the voter threshold for initiative petitions should be raised to 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.
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As a bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers push to move Ohio’s presidential primary elections from March to May, a Republican state Representative has introduced an amendment to the state budget to retain Ohio’s March primary for the 2024 election.
Every four years, during the presidential election season, Ohio’s holds their primary election in March. The state generally holds other statewide primaries in May but in 1996, the Ohio Legislature changed the presidential primary to March.
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Moderate Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) removed State Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) on Thursday from his position as chair of the House Constitutional Resolutions Committee and the committee all together due to Wiggam signing a discharge petition for the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.
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On Wednesday, a group of Republican lawmakers filed a discharge petition on House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1 which aims to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions.
A bill or resolution may be discharged from committee if it wins the support of a simple majority of House members (50 percent + 1). This implies that even if the resolution has not yet been approved out of committee or finished holding hearings, it would automatically advance to the floor for a vote if 50 representatives signed on.
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Alex Triantafilou, the newly elected head of the Ohio Republican Party, endorsed legislation on Thursday that aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
There are currently two pieces of legislation that Republican lawmakers have introduced this session to protect the state Constitution from out-of-state special interest groups.
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Republican state lawmakers are getting closer to putting a measure on the ballot in August that would need 60 percent of voters to approve constitutional amendments.
State Senators Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) introduced two pieces of legislation on Wednesday one which aims to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions and one to allow for special elections to be held in August for certain purposes.
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On Monday, the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously certified that the proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state called “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” incorporates only one constitutional amendment and therefore advances.
The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, must now gather over 413,000 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 counties, which equals 10 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election before July 5th. The amount of signatures must equal at least 5 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial race in each county.
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The Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified the petition summary on Thursday for “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state. The amendment would add Section 22 to Article 1 of the state Constitution.
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A group of Ohioans wants to try again to change the state’s Constitution to permit lawsuits against government employees.
By placing the proposed amendment on the general election ballot for 2024, the Ohio Coalition to Eliminate Qualified Immunity (OCEQI) aims to close what it refers to as a legal loophole – qualified immunity. Similar measures have been rejected twice before for various reasons.
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Two pro-abortion organizations announced Thursday plans to join forces in their ongoing fight against the constitutional rights of the unborn.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights plan to collaboratively file a ballot initiative to insert legalized abortion in the Ohio Constitution.
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Although State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said that there was ample time to have the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment” on the May ballot, it did not pass in the Ohio House and Senate prior to the February 1st deadline.
Stewart introduced House Joint Resolution (HJR) 6 in November; however, the legislation did not pass before the end of the session. Stewart indicated at the end of the year that he intended to resurrect the legislation in the 135th General Assembly which he did along with 30-plus GOP cosponsors last month.
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According to former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor , a group seeking to overhaul Ohio’s redistricting procedure plans to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November 2024.
Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected maps produced by Ohio’s Redistricting Commission on numerous occasions. O’Connor sided with the Democrats in redistricting lawsuits despite the GOP holding a one-seat majority.
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The Ohio House approved a new rules package Tuesday despite objections from Republican lawmakers. The provisions set the guidelines for the upcoming session. House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) advanced the House rules to a vote without allowing for any debate or amendments. Republicans who supported state Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) for speaker argued that Stephens excluded them from the process.
Lawmakers controversially elected Stephens as speaker earlier this month to succeed state Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima). The choice came despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of Merrin as the new speaker. Although the GOP caucus voted for Merrin as Speaker of the House in December, Stephen fought in collaboration with the Democrats to collect votes and garner a win.
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According to its executive director, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) may examine the prospect of banning Ohio sports gamblers who harass college athletes over gambling losses on social media.
OCCC Executive Director Matt Schuler said he would ask the commission to look into adding any Ohio sports bettor to a sports betting exclusion list if they harass college athletes based on the outcome of a sports bet.
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In a letter dated Monday, state Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Township) and his leadership team urged new House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) to rethink hiring Megan Fitzmartin as the taxpayer-funded position of the House GOP policy and communications director because she was “a chief campaign operative” of former Speaker Larry Householder, whose corruption trial is set to begin next week.
The letter claims that Fitzmartin’s appointment is “extraordinarily ill-advised and demonstrates questionable judgment” and that a “sizable number” of House Republicans are unlikely to cooperate with her.
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A coalition of abortionists and pro-choice activists have announced their intent to file a ballot initiative to insert legalized abortion in the Ohio Constitution.
The group called Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom is a group formed by the left-leaning organizations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and others.
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Following a closed-door meeting at the Ohio Statehouse held by State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova), a group of over thirty lawmakers filed a new version of their proposal to increase the threshold for citizen-led ballot initiatives.
47 Republicans who adhered to the Republican caucus’s decision to abstain from voting for state Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) for speaker of the house, were invited by Merrin to a meeting on Wednesday. The meeting included discussing house rules, redistricting, and progressing the proposed constitutional amendment to require support from at least 60 percent of voters rather than a simple majority to pass future proposed amendments that was introduced last legislative session.
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About a week after 22 Republicans sided with the Democrats to elect moderate State Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) as Speaker of the Ohio House, State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) invited his 45 supporters to a closed-door meeting Wednesday at the Ohio Statehouse to discuss their next steps.
This follows Merrin losing the vote for speaker over Stephens, who won with 22 Republicans and all 32 Democrats voting for him despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of Merrin as the new speaker.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Republicans censured 22 lawmakers on Friday for voting with Democrats to choose the new Speaker of the Ohio House, saying they had disregarded their obligations to the party and the public.
Earlier this week, a number of Republican lawmakers joined forces with Democrats to choose State Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) as speaker. The choice comes despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Moncolva) as the new speaker.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed 19 bills into law on Monday, the start of the new legislative session, that lawmakers approved during the lame duck session last year.
On December 22nd, DeWine’s office received a raft of 24 bills. He signed 18 of those 24 into law.
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During the legislature’s overnight culminating session, Ohio lawmakers approved over 30 pieces of legislation that now head to Governor Mike DeWine’s desk for approval. If DeWine does nothing the legislation will take effect without his signature. However, he has ten days, with the exception of Sundays, following the acquisition of the bills to approve or veto the legislation if he so chooses.
On December 22nd, DeWine’s office received a raft of 24 bills. The deadline for DeWine to take action on those bills to either sign or veto is January 3rd.
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The Committee of Government Oversight amended a resolution Thursday to require all proposed ballot issues to receive 60 percent of the vote in order to amend the state constitution, not just citizen-led amendments.
State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), requested the committee to adopt an amendment to his resolution, House Joint Resolution (HJR) 6, to include legislative ballot initiatives to also require 60 percent of the vote on election day in order to be enacted.
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Ohio Republicans introduced a new resolution on Thursday that would require citizen-led constitutional amendments to gain a 60 percent supermajority at the ballot for passage.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) initiated the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment,” which they say is designed to help protect the Ohio Constitution from continued misuse by special interest and out-of-state activists.
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