More than 50 Ohio unions have signed on to a letter opposing House Joint Resolution 1/Senate Joint Resolution 2 (HJR 1/SJR 2). And recently, the Ohio AFL-CIO federation (of which OCSEA is a member) sent their own letter to state legislators expressing their opposition. HJR 1/SJR 2 would make it next to impossible to get a citizen-led ballot initiative passed in Ohio. The resolutions would increase the threshold for passage of constitutional amendments to 60 percent, from the current 50 percent plus 1.
This is a clear attack on direct democracy. Ohioans have had the right to put amendments directly on the ballot for more than 110 years. In addition, legislators want to change the rules by putting this up for a vote in a special election in August that most Ohioans will not participate in. That’s wrong!
Ohio is already one of the five worst states in the country based on a State Democracy Index (Jake Grumbach, 2022) in part because of its extreme gerrymandered districts.
Another hearing on House Joint Resolution 1 has been scheduled for next Tuesday, April 18 at 9 a.m. in room 017 at the Statehouse. A possible vote out of committee is also possible next week.
Write a letter now to Senator Mike Rulli stating your opposition. Click here to send that letter.
Here's a list of just a few of the Ohio unions opposed to HJR 1/SJR 2:
Communications Workers of America D4
Ohio Association of Professional FireFighters
Fraternal Order of Police Ohio
Iron Workers
IUE-CWA
OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11
Ohio AFL-CIO
Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE-AFSCME)
Ohio Conference-American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Ohio Education Association
Ohio Federation of Teachers
Ohio Nurses Association
SEIU/District 1199, WV/KY/OH
UAW
UFCW Local 1059
United Steelworkers - District 1