Legislation in the Ohio House and Senate

Ohioans better start paying attention to what is happening in Columbus. State government, especially the work of the Ohio General Assembly, is publicly the least known part of the entire governmental process. For instance, most of us are hard pressed to name our representative in the Ohio House.

Despite this fact, the members of the Ohio House and Senate pass a lot of legislation that greatly impacts our lives. The legislature funds public schools and many programs related to health care and public safety. Although lobbyists for corporations effectively advocate for their interests, General Assembly members are not accustomed to hearing testimony from average citizens. 

Although it’s important to know what the General Assembly is doing, the subject which requires our immediate attention relates to the democratic process itself. Here in Ohio, the House and Senate have passed one of the most rigid voter ID laws in the country. Students and older adults will find that this law makes it much harder for them to cast their ballots.

Then there is the issue of gerrymandering. In 2011, the ranking majority in the Ohio House and Senate locked in a large majority of seats for their candidates. A grassroots movement led by the League of Women Voters held successful campaigns in 2015 and 2018 to pass two constitutional amendments that prohibited this. However, the majorities in the House and Senate failed to follow the new guidelines when drawing new districts in 2021. Although the Ohio Supreme Court initially rejected the partisan district maps, this initiative is far from finished.

Finally, Ohio votes who cherish democracy must become knowledgeable about a constitutional amendment on the ballot August 8th. This proposal would make it harder for grassroots citizen coalitions to place on the ballot and pass a constitutional amendment. Not only would it require a lot more signatures to get an amendment on the ballot, it would require a super majority, a 60% affirmative vote, to approve it. This latest anti-democratic initiative is an effort to greatly reduce citizen participation and requires educating Ohioans how to use an unnecessarily complicated absentee voting process. Nevertheless, advocates for democracy could transform this special election into a starting point for making people aware of the dangers of ignoring state government.

Excerpted from Streetvibes No. 503, June 2023, by Bill Woods, Contributing Writer (lightly edited for content and clarity)