Petition circulators aiming for November

COLUMBUS

The general election will be a heated affair, likely preceded by ugly campaigns for president, U.S. Senate and state legislative races.

But the November ballot also could be packed full of statewide issues on everything from election law reform to legalized marijuana use.

Granted, only two issues have actually qualified to date, and the future of one of those is in question.

The others will require the gathering of 380,000-plus signatures, a task not likely to be accomplished in time to qualify for this year’s general election.

Still, petition circulators are out in the field and hard at work, hoping to convince enough like-minded Ohioans that their issues merit voter consideration.

You’ll probably run into some of them at some point in the near future. Here’s the rundown of what they’re proposing:

Constitutional Convention: Voters already will decide whether the state should hold a constitutional convention, an issue placed on the ballot every 20 years. Such a gathering would give state officials an opportunity to review changes to the constitution, then suggest amendments to voters to clean up language added over time.

Ohioans have never OK’d a constitutional convention, rejecting it most recently in 1992. Instead, lawmakers created a commission to study the constitution and offer recommendations for changes.

House Bill 194: Democrats unhappy with a GOP-backed package of election law changes gathered enough signatures to place the legislation before voters in November.

Republicans in the Ohio Senate, however, have decided it would be better to repeal HB 194 now, with hopes of passing a new reform package with Democratic support.

Backers of the referendum aren’t supporting the preemptive repeal, saying voters should have their say, so it’s anyone’s guess whether HB 194 will remain on the November ballot.

Dog Auctions: A citizens’ group unhappy that lawmakers have not regulated dog auctions have collected enough signatures on petitions to force the legislature to consider their law changes.

The Ohio House and Senate have a deadline to act or the group can begin collecting additional signatures to place the issue on the November ballot.

Medical Marijuana: Competing groups are gathering signatures on two different constitutional amendments that would allow marijuana usage for medical purposes.

One is called the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment, and it includes specifics on how much medical marijuana users could possess at any given time and other details.

The other is titled the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment, and it would create a commission to determine specific rules for medical marijuana use.

Personhood Ohio: The much-discussed proposal would amend the constitution to define the words “person” and “men” to include “every human being at every stage of biological development, including fertilization.”

The amendment would effectively ban abortions and affect the use of some forms of birth control, though it likely would be subject to legal challenges.

Right to Work: Tea Party and like-minded groups have proposed a constitutional amendment banning forced union membership or union dues payments.

Indiana recently enacted its own right to work law, and Republican presidential candidates have discussed a national right-to-work law.

Backers of Ohio’s issue have said they don’t expect to quality for this year’s general election, eyeing November 2013 instead.

Clean Energy: Attorney General Mike DeWine last week certified yet another ballot initiative effort, this one called “Yes for Ohio’s Energy Future.”

It would direct lawmakers to issue bonds of more than $1 billion to pay for solar, wind, biomass and other energy projects.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.