· March 29, 2011

News Release: SB 5 is “Still a Frog”

For Immediate Release March 29, 2011 Contact:  Dale Butland 614- 783-5833

INNOVATION OHIO: SB 5 IS “STILL A FROG” THINK TANK SAYS AMENDED BILL WOULD DESTROY SANCTITY OF CONTRACTS

Columbus, Ohio — Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, reacted today to SB 5, as amended by the House Commerce and Labor Committee. Comments from Innovation Ohio Communications Director Dale Butland are below. In addition, a new analysis by Innovation Ohio of the bill’s language has found that by granting state officials unprecedented authority to void valid contracts simply by declaring a local “fiscal watch”, SB 5 undermines a basic tenet of American law: the sanctity of contracts. Read the analysis (“SB5: Granting New, Broad Powers to Break a Collective Bargaining Agreement”) here. Said Dale Butland: “Apologists for SB 5 say that the House has removed or watered down some of the earlier version’s most objectionable provisions. “But no matter how many warts you take off a frog, it’s still a frog — and it’s still ugly. “The amended version of SB 5 remains a deeply flawed piece of legislation that polls show the people of Ohio don’t want. It doesn’t create a single job. It does nothing to close the state’s $8 billion budget deficit. And it strips public workers of a fundamental right, while also destroying one of the underpinnings of our legal system — the sanctity of contracts. “Yet Gov. Kasich and his legislative allies ignore public opinion and arrogantly insist on shoving this bill down Ohio’s throat anyway. Why? Because SB 5 is not and never has been about jobs or deficits — it’s always been about the “Three Ps” of power, politics and pay-back. “SB 5 is a blatant attempt by one political party to de-fund the opposition and punish its political opponents. “But partisan politics isn’t what Gov. Kasich or the legislature was elected to do last November. The people of Ohio want more jobs, not more politics as usual.”

– 30 –