Ballot issues would hike minimum wage, expand voting

Hourly wage would jump to $13 by 2025.

By Jim Provance / The Blade
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 17:26:29 GMT

COLUMBUS — Voters could get the opportunity in November to write a new $13-an-hour minimum wage and expanded voting opportunities into the Ohio Constitution.

Attorney General Dave Yost must decide by Monday whether proposed petition language submitted to his office accurately reflects what the proposal from a group calling itself Ohioans for Raising the Wage would do.

A separate proposal to lock in early voting, allow someone to register and vote on the spot right up to Election Day, and enact automatic voter registration was first filed with his office on Wednesday. That measure is being pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union, among others.

The minimum wage ballot issue coalition counts the Service Employees International Union-District 1199, the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Unity Coalition, and Ohio Baptist State Convention among its early supporters.

“We are confident that, once the attorney general approves this and as we continue to build out our coalition, we will have the manpower and financial backing to qualify for the ballot. And we know if we qualify for the ballot, we will win,” said James Hayes, the group's spokesman and deputy director of the progressive organizing non-profit Ohio Voice.

The amendment would immediately raise the current $8.70 hourly minimum wage to $9.60 effective Jan. 1, 2021. The wage would then climb annually in equal installments until it reaches $13 by Jan. 1, 2025.

Thereafter, it would be adjusted annually for inflation. Ohio's minimum wage would have to rise to match the federal minimum wage should it ever exceed Ohio's rate and would then resume inflationary adjustments. The federal rate is currently at $7.25.

Roger Geiger, vice president and executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business in Ohio, said this would be an inappropriate use of the constitution and could have unintended consequences for the labor market.

“This will get decided in 30-second TV commercials, and we will not get the full deliberative process that legislature would offer,” he said.

He also said it's no coincidence it's being offered now.

“There is no question in my mind that proponents of this want to weaponize the debate over minimum wage to drive out certain constituencies and make a political statement in a major election year,” Mr. Geiger said. “I don't think that's healthy.”

If the Republican attorney general signs off on the summary language, the group of labor, community, and faith leaders can hit the streets to begin the expensive, labor-intensive process of gathering at least 442,958 valid signatures of registered voters to put the question on the Nov. 3 ballot. The petitions must be filed with Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office by July 1.

“This will be the largest statewide increase outside the coast,” Mr. Hayes said. “We need to get to a livable wage as fast as possible.”

In 2006, 56.6 percent of voters approved a $6.85 an hour minimum wage that has been adjusted annually for inflation to the $8.70 rate that took effect on Jan. 1. That turned out to be a very good election year for Democrats, but there were other factors, including the Coingate scandal that engulfed Republicans, at play that year.

The voting amendment offered by a group calling itself Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections would etch into the constitution current law that allows voters to begin casting ballots 28 days before the election, guaranteeing that voting locations are open on the two weekends preceding Election Day.

It would remove some of the discretion of state lawmakers and the secretary of state's in scheduling those days.

A significant departure from current law would allow someone to register during those 28 days and cast a ballot on the spot. Current law closes registration 30 days before the election.

The amendment would automatically register voting-eligible citizens to vote, or update their existing registration information, when they do business with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles — unless they opt out.

“In the process of building a non-partisan, broadly representative Buckeye coalition, we've had ongoing conversations with Ohio veterans, faith-based groups, members of the disability rights community, advocacy, and legal organizations, and the consensus is clear,” said J. Bennett Guess, executive director for the ACLU of Ohio.

“It's time to remove unnecessary barriers to the ballot and make sure that our elections are secure and fair, ensuring all eligible voters are heard and our democracy is strengthened,” he said.

A decision from the attorney general on the accuracy of the voting petitions is due by Feb. 3.

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