Party priorities could clash

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Voters in Ohio could get a chance this fall to weigh in on two divisive new laws: the federal health insurance overhaul Democrats backed in Washington and collective bargaining restrictions Republicans backed in Columbus.

Political scientist John Green of the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute says the nation will be watching if both issues make the Nov. 8 ballot because the state is a political bellwether.

“There’s a real capacity for these Ohio initiatives to attract a lot of national attention, because there may not be this same confluence of ballot issues in any other states,” Green said. “Once again, Ohio might be the center of debate nationally.”

The Ohio Liberty Council, a coalition of tea-party groups, is taking on President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. As with like-minded groups in other states, the council seeks to block provisions of the federal law that require individuals and companies to choose certain health insurance carriers. Under its Healthcare Freedom Amendment, such mandates would not be effective inside state borders.

Chris Littleton, interim president of the council, said Friday the group has collected 300,000 signatures toward its effort.

The second measure would allow voters a chance to accept or reject Senate Bill 5, which limited unions representing 350,000 public workers across the state, including firefighters, police officers, teachers and state government employees. The law allows bargaining on wages and certain working conditions, but not on health care, sick time or pension benefits.

Dennis Willard, a spokesman for ballot committee We Are Ohio, said petition-signing events were planned for Friday and Saturday to accommodate the volume of requests by people seeking to add their names on the first weekend of signature-gathering, he said. Events are being held in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, Youngstown, Athens, Lima and Zanesville.

For average Ohio residents, it could be an epic faceoff over the proper roles of government and the private sector.

The Obama administration touts the year-old health care law for reining in insurance industry abuses, protecting consumers from being rejected for pre-existing conditions, and making treatment more affordable and accessible. Critics of “Obamacare” call the law an expensive overreach into the private sector and patients’ health care decisions.

The administrations of Republican Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, as well as other GOP governors, tout collective bargaining restrictions as an important step to fighting back union bargaining might that has raised the cost of government. They say many public sector workers collect salaries and benefits that exceed those of the average taxpayers who pay them. Opponents argue the bills overreach into the lives of union workers who have worked well with their employers to cut costs and improve services.

Littleton said the council’s petition circulators worked the crowds at the Senate Bill 5 rallies, which drew thousands to the Statehouse in protest. Though the issues would seem to represent contradicting points of view, he said he’s not prepared to say that if one issue passes, the other will fail.

“In theory, Democrats should be more motivated by the union ballot initiative, but what’s fascinating about ours is that the trend we’re seeing throughout the state is that just over 20 percent of the people signing this are Democrats,” he said. “Americans intuitively just don’t like when you go tell us to do something, they just don’t like it. That seems to cross party lines. Will theirs affect ours, will ours affect theirs? Probably. We just don’t know how.”

In essence, the We Are Ohio campaign is also about telling people what to do, Willard said.

“I believe Ohioans are fair people, just like Americans, and they believe this bill goes too far,” he said. “It will stop police officers and firefighters from standing up in the workplace. ... It will give bosses too much power.”