OHIO 2 sides prepare for battle over tax-repeal effort

There will be a legal review of petition signatures.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Tax opponents and groups whose support depends on public spending have drawn the line over a movement to repeal Ohio's temporary penny-per-dollar sales tax increase.
Repeal opponents are promising a fight, starting with a legal review of signatures on petitions to force the Legislature to consider the issue.
Backers say the signatures already have been checked against voter registration rolls through computer software.
The petitions submitted by Citizens for Tax Repeal, led by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, bore 157,482 signatures, far more than the 96,870 needed.
Lawmakers approved the temporary increase from 5 cents to 6 cents in June to raise $2.5 billion during the current two-year budget period.
"We're not just going to stand by and watch this effort to wreck Ohio's carefully crafted budget," Mark Hatch, spokesman for Ohioans for Fiscal Responsibility, said Wednesday.
Included in group
The coalition includes several public-employee and teachers unions and supporters for a variety of human services organizations and senior citizens groups.
Petitions will be checked by county boards of election to ensure that signatures are valid and that the required number has been submitted. The Republican-controlled Legislature then would have four months to repeal the tax increase, which is set to expire June 30, 2005.
If the Legislature fails to act, Citizens for Tax Repeal can collect another 96,870 signatures to place the issue on the November ballot.
Donald McTigue, attorney for the opposition group, said he would review signatures validated by county boards of election to ensure the petitions comply with all legal requirements.
"If the legal requirements are not met, then it's our goal to stop this from being placed before the Legislature," he said.
Blackwell and state Rep. Linda Reidelbach, a Columbus Republican who voted against the $49 billion budget bill that included the increase, warned opponents it would be fruitless to challenge the signatures.
"If they do that, they will be wasting their time and money," Reidelbach said of the potential challengers.
What opponents say
Opponents of a repeal say the shortfall resulting from it would be devastating for many Ohioans. If a ballot repeal is successful, the tax would expire Dec. 2, according to Blackwell, forcing the state to cut $650 million to $700 million from the current state budget.
"We know the kind of budget hole this would create ... and all for what appears to be political gain for a gubernatorial campaign," Hatch said.
Blackwell, a candidate for governor in 2006, said Citizens for Tax Repeal plans to argue against claims of the "tax zealots" who have a "Chicken Little, the-sky-is-falling mentality."
He referred to the coalition opposing the tax repeal as "a collection of runaway spending addicts, left-wing organizations and big government defenders who don't have a corner on human suffering."
Blackwell said his group will present the side of human misery caused by economic policies that stifle growth and income-producing jobs.