The Ohio Senate advanced a Republican-led resolution on Wednesday that tries to alter how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments and a bill to allow for special elections to be held in August for certain purposes.
Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 2 and Senate Bill (SB) 92 passed along party lines. The resolution passed 26 to 7. The bill passed 25 to 8, with State Senator Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) voting with the Democrats.
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.
SB 92 aims to allow Ohio to hold special elections in August for certain purposes.
SJR 2 now moves to the Ohio House for consideration. Both chambers must pass a joint resolution to place the issue on the ballot for voters. That does not require Governor Mike DeWine‘s signature. However, SB 92 would require DeWine to sign off on the bill.
Republican lawmakers have said they hope to place the resolution on the ballot in a statewide August special election.
Lawmakers must pass both pieces of legislation because DeWine signed House Bill (HB) 458 into law earlier this year, which drastically altered the state’s election laws, including the requirement for a photo ID and eliminating August elections.
Also, on Wednesday, a committee in the House passed a similar measure, House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1. Due to lawmakers establishing the House calendar a day in advance, the bill did not make it to the House floor on Wednesday.
State Representative Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield) attempted to circumvent the committee procedure on HJR 1 last month by submitting a discharge petition. If 50 lawmakers sign the petition, lawmakers can remove the resolution from committee consideration and put up for a vote right away. The petition does not yet have 50 signatures at this time.
SJR 2 and HRJ 1 come 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.
Republicans say that the state Constitution is a sacred document that special interest groups should be able to amend so easily.
“Our Founding Fathers ensured that the United States Constitution would be protected against outside influence and special interests by requiring a super majority vote for amendments. We can and should protect the Ohio Constitution in a similar way,” state Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said.
“The Ohio Constitution is supposed to serve as a framework of our state government, not as a tool for special interests. Requiring a broad consensus majority of at least 60 percent for passing a petition-based constitutional amendment provides a good government solution to promote compromise and to have a historically proven record of passage,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
According to State Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus), these resolutions will not protect the state constitution from special interests but will add to the problem.
“Having to get all 88 counties is going to make more money involved. People who want to change the constitution are going to spend more and more money and now they will spend more money to get more signatures to get all of the counties,” Demora said.
According to LaRose, lawmakers need to pass the legislation in both the House and Senate by May 10th to place it on an August ballot.
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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 “Ohio Statehouse” by Jsjessee. CC BY-SA 2.0.
