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Republicans' plan to make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution could get a full House vote next week.
The House plans to be in session April 27 but has yet to release an agenda, which could include House Joint Resolution 1, which narrowly came out of committee Wednesday by a 7-6 vote. Seven of the committee's eight Republicans voted for the resolution. Rep. Brett Hillyer, R-Uhrichsville, joined five Democrats to vote no.
At the same, the Senate passed similar legislation on a straight GOP party-line vote. Both pieces of legislation include an appropriation, which would allow for a statewide vote on the resolution in August, months after a Republican-led effort to end August special elections was signed into law.
The House committee vote came after Rep. Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield, attempted to bypass the committee process by filing a discharge petition that, if signed by 50 representatives, would remove the resolution from committee consideration and bring it to an immediate floor vote.
Also, House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, removed former committee chair Scott Wiggam, R-Wayne County, as chairman and a member of the committee, citing a failure to prioritize HJR 1 in committee and his support of Manchester's petition to bypass the committee process as grounds for removal.
Stephens appointed Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, as the committee's new chair, although Plummer also signed the petition to force a floor vote on HJR1.
The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based policy, Thursday called the plan prudent and allowing a simple majority to pass amendments would be a "Californication" of the state constitution.
"As The Buckeye Institute has argued time and time again over the years and well before any present controversies, Ohio simply must avoid the Californication of our state constitution," Robert Alt, president and CEO of The Buckeye Institute, said in a statement. ""If a constitution can be amended instead by simple majorities, it becomes an increasingly silly document with unserious amendments (like one that actually passed here in Ohio a few years ago to change the location of a casino) becoming the norm and other rights becoming fundamentally insecure and subject to changing whims.
Democrats argue the plan changes an amendment process that has been in place since 1912 and allows for minority rule.
"Together, we will continue to fight extremist Republicans and special interest groups, and do whatever it takes to preserve our right to decide what happens in our communities. House Democrats believe in the people's freedom to vote, and the freedom to make private and safe reproductive healthcare decisions. We will never stop fighting to protect those freedoms, and all other fundamental freedoms, because it's what Ohioans believe in, too," House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said.
House committee testimony was overwhelming in opposition to the resolution, with countless individuals and groups like Ohio Citizen Action, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, the ACLU-Ohio, the Ohio Education Association and the League of Women voters all testifying against it.
"Despite the claims of HJR1 supporters, the ballot initiative process is not easy nor is it overused. Successfully placing a Constitutional initiative on the ballot requires hundreds of thousands of verified signatures in at least half of Ohio's 88 counties," Jenn Miller, with the League of Women Voters, testified. "It's even harder for ballot initiatives to pass; since 1912, only 69 citizen-initiated constitutional amendments have been placed on the ballot in Ohio, and only 26.1% passed.
Buckeye Firearms, the Ohio Sportsman's Alliance, Cincinnati Right to Life, End Abortion Ohio and the Ohio Restaurant Association all voiced support.
"As a group that represents employers, job creators, entrepreneurs and hospitality employees, we worry about threats to Ohio's economic growth and vibrant, thriving communities that are proposed as amendments to Ohio's Constitution," Tod Bowen, managing director of external affairs and government relations of the ORA, said. "A more appropriate threshold is one way our state's leaders and voters can work to protect Ohio's future economic engines."