After Senate Bill 5 passed in the Ohio House yesterday, Ohio members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are looking to petition for a “citizens’ veto.”
Gov. John Kasich’s new budget plan, released earlier this month, will result in the City of Athens losing $500,000 in fiscal year 2012, according to a previous Post article.
In addition to those cuts, S.B. 5, which limits collective bargaining rights, could mean layoffs and reduced salaries for Athens workers, said Dennis Willard, a spokesman for AFSCME and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees.
“What is going to happen here is we’re going to take this to the people and give them an opportunity to exercise their veto power,” Willard said. “A citizens’ veto.”
The veto would allow citizens to vote on the bill during this November’s elections. AFSCME would have a 90-day window to petition for a citizens’ veto after the governor signs the bill in law. Kasich is expected to sign the bill on April 6.
Before collecting the 231,149 registered voter signatures needed to repeal the legislation, 1,000 signatures would be needed to submit the petition language to the attorney general and secretary of state for approval, Willard said.
“That language will have to truly reflect what the vote is and the character of the bill … it’ll have to be reflective of what this really is,” Willard said. “The vote will be a ‘no vote’ to overturn Senate Bill 5; it’ll be a repeal of this legislation.”
Willard estimated yesterday’s crowd of protesters at the state house to be in the tens of thousands, adding that he had never seen such public outcry over a piece of legislation.
“There will be a referendum,” Willard said, adding that plans have been made to collect the necessary signatures to force a citizens’ veto.
“We knew this was going to happen, and we have been planning, and we will hit the streets running as soon as the governor runs this bill,” he said.
Norma Pecora, president of Ohio University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, could not be reached for
comment.
ph835608@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCampus
