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As I noted yesterday, the Ohio Senate passed SB 5, a bill that would strictly limit collective bargaining for all public employees, give local officials the final word in arbitration and ban strikes under penalty of law, by a single vote, despite having a 23-10 partisan advantage in the chamber. Six Republicans voted no, and two of them had to be yanked off committees in order to smooth the bill’s passage. Those who voted yes, along with Gov. John Kasich, claimed that the state of the economy demanded that they get more control over the collective bargaining system.
The economic benefits of SB 5 can be proven by the fact that it includes this language (h/t Barbara Morrill):
Sec. 3101.01 of S.B. 5: … A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.
The Ohio Legislature has already passed a gay marriage ban, AND a referendum put a gay marriage ban in the Constitution in the Bush-Kerry year of 2004. I guess Ohio Republicans would tell you this redundancy was needed because the State Supreme Court limited the impact on parenting and custody relationships. So that necessitated this language. In an anti-union bill. I guess Ohio Republicans are really anti-union!
That this has been completely overshadowed and had to be snuck into this kind of bill shows how different a landscape we’re in from 2004. Back then, Republicans would have openly paraded around with this kind of bigotry. Today they have to tuck it in secretly.
UPDATE: The Hotline is right that Scott Walker’s shenanigans in Wisconsin have taken the heat off John Kasich to some extent for this bill, but there are two additional points to that. One, Kasich is taking plenty of heat locally. And two, Kasich has the votes to do whatever he wants. Democrats in Ohio don’t have the opportunity to block the bill due to quorum requirements; there are enough Republicans in the chamber to make a quorum on the bill.
The bill could pass the Ohio House as soon as today. They really want to fast-track this thing. Democrats may be able to force the bill up to a vote of the people in a referendum, incidentally.
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Obama is a bigot? This is indeed concerning.
The Goopers have no problem busting up Union Contracts, but bankstas…
NO DEAL!
Setting presidence here. Surely they will soon realize the corporatists that are pulling their strings are actually throwing them under the bus and then backing over them again.
Kasich and his House are giving the Taliban Theocracy a good name. I guess these Republican governors and the sycophants they hauled into office with them will dismantle what was left of a great country after G W Bush laid waste to it as much was possible in his 8 years. What Democratic Republic. I hope the people of Ohio who voted for these neanderthals are satisfied. The punking of Ohio began in 2004 when people decided that a single issue was all they needed to vote on. Good luck. Unfortunately, the people in your state who had better sense will have to suffer with you.
Well well. In Ohio, at least, there are *enough Republicans* to pass whatever laws they feel like, no matter how much the “small people” outside their doors clamor for something else.
Yet, in DeeCee when the Vichyrats (tip of the hat to Margaret) had a majority in the House & the Senate, there was absolutely no way that they could pass the laws that *their voter constituents* voted them in to pass… no way. Rather the “will” of the minority prevailed.
It’s interesting, is it not?
So sorry about Ohio and what’s happening there. It’s quite frightening how much citizens have been brainwashed by mindless “God & guns” junk to be persuaded to vote against their own economic interests. Very sad.
Best of luck to us all. I have no idea what else to say at this point.
Wtf? Do the MOTU want us to turn over our first born to be their slaves, too?
The Rs in Ohio who back this bill are not anti-unions (in the broadest sense) they are anti-community.
One: voting machine tabulation fraud. Unless we find a safe way to register the intent of the voter and get it counted the koch teaparty minority will be able to convince Americans that there are enough stupid Americans to put these un-Americans into elected office. Distract and Divide.
I am frankly tired of everyone saying these ideas were elected into office. To the extent that some misguided people voted for “change” here in Ohio, it is due to our electoral system of false advertising and our inability to cross class lines to dialogue.
The demonstration crowds I have been a part of in Ohio are beginning to change that. We carry a sign “the rich don’t need collective bargaining but 98% of Americans do!” When we talk to Union people in the crowd we begin with: “We have not been lucky enough to belong to a Union.” We make sure they know we are unemployed and appreciate the small savings we have to keep us viable but know others who don’t.
And let me say too: There are lots of people out there who think they don’t need think they need to get cold standing shoulder to shoulder with other people at a demonstration- you are wrong 1000 is the total of a thousand ones! Get out there! Carry a sign saying what your profession is and talk to everyone you see- the choir is getting bigger.
Mortarboards, pencils, rubber gloves and hardhats together, that’s the only way we came make America.
The anti gay language was also put in there for protection should this come to a referendum.
That was the “planning in advance” by the Ohio GOP.
Palli you are correct.
Are you going to the State House today?
According to legislature.state.oh.us/BillText129/129_SB_5_PS_N.html SB 5 as passed by the senate did not include the anti-gay marriage language.
What, no sections criminalizing birth control? Or calling for mandatory child labor?
Come on, pukes, you’re falling down on the job.
I campaigned for Ted Strickland and the Democratic slate for state office. All of them fine hard-working, enthusiastic candidates! Not one of them won. I thought we would slog through 4 years of Kasich and the Repub ultra-majority methodically whittling away at what is left of Ohio, and then the SOB would get re-elected because Ohio would start to look like it was recovering because the rising tide of an improving economy would naturally lift all boats and Kasich would get credit. I thought from late on Nov 2 that the election would have consequences the people who voted for these clowns wouldn’t like, certainly they didn’t know what they had done. I never imagined Kasich and Co. would put all their money down right up front and pi$$ off and scare so many people so soon. And have to cheat to do it. This is really incredible and I think it proves that what Ted Strickland said about Kasich is true: he’s reckless and mean-spirited. I hope that rather than killing the unions, this proves to be the spark that resurrects unions in both the public and the private sectors. I hope the momentum of this bill is slowed in the House, although the Repubs have a big majority there too – 59-40. Maybe national attention will turn to Ohio.
Ohio SB5 won with 1 -ONE- vote margin, and it was a bipartisan vote 6: Republicans voted with the Democrats. Thank you letters to all are in order. Kasich does not have a mandate.
I think Kasich is in Cleveland crowing – at least he was scheduled to be in Mayor Jackson’s State of the City audience of the Cleveland City Club-
Just heard on the broadcast- Kasich is in Clevelan; poor Mayor Jackson had to welcome him but (bite your tongue) we were expecting to go there but the sudden vote has thrown me off the game plan. We also expected to go on Sat to what was going to be another big event in Columbus- waiting to hear what is happening on that. Wish we could put our energies to a recall campaign as Wisconsin is doing.
I think the mandatory prison time of 30 days for strikers was amended by Sen LaRose and passed But La Rose still voted with the slim majority: apparently only worried about swelling the ranks in the prison system.
Sorry for all the typing errors recently.
Not really. The passage you cite is already OH law, and has been for several years. That law initially made reference to the collective bargaining section of the Ohio Revised Code, and the current bill strikes that reference consistent w/ repealing the collective bargaining law.
One man & one woman. Couldn’t that translate as you are only allowed to marry ONCE (as long as you were straight?) I’m thinking these bigoted laws could be turned on their heads and be read as no remarriages allowed.
This is not new code. It already exists under Ohio law.
The problem here is that people are misreading the bill. Here’s a quick primer:
* Any underlined text is new language that would be added to existing law.
* Any Strike-through text is language that would be removed from existing law.
* Any regular text (not underlined or strike-through) is existing law.
That particular law was passed in 2004