| Innovation Ohio is thrilled to share our 2023 Annual Report with all of you. As a trusted voice in Ohio’s progressive community, our goal has always been to build and scale the essential elements of infrastructure, research, communication, and policy to defeat the extremist’s agenda and ensure a multi-cycle progressive comeback in Ohio. This year, we met the moment by creating a successful strategy for the 2023 election cycle. Securing victories at the ballot for democracy and reproductive freedom while also educating the public on new voting requirements. Our projects reached Ohioans in every corner of the state and showed the national strength of progressive causes and advocacy efforts. |
About the August 8 Election
Ohioans will head to the polls on August 8 to vote on the question of how hard it should be to amend the state constitution through the citizen initiative process.
Despite eliminating August elections last year, Ohio lawmakers have changed course and scheduled a statewide vote on August 8 on a proposal that would make it harder for citizens to amend Ohio’s constitution by initiative petition.
The timing of the August special election was designed to get ahead of a vote on abortion rights later this year. Advocates filed over 700,000 signatures in July, placing an amendment on the ballot in November to protect the right to an abortion. Statehouse republicans now want to change the results of the game and require a 60% yes vote in order to influence the outcome of important policy decisions best left to voters
Here’s what you need to know about participating in the August election:
Get the Facts: Senate Joint Resolution 2
Ohio Senate Joint Resolution 2, a constitutional amendment proposal that would change the threshold for passing new amendments to the state constitution. If passed by the voters on August 8th, the amendment would increase the required vote to 60% of the electorate, up from the current simple majority threshold. This proposal has generated significant debate and discussion among Ohioans, with opinions divided on whether the higher threshold would help or hinder the democratic process.
To help voters understand the Facts vs. Myths in this important debate, Innovation Ohio has provided the following overview. Whether you’re a staunch supporter of the change or a skeptic of its effects, this overview will be a valuable resource for voters who want to make an informed decision at the ballot box.
SJR 2 Facts
SJR 2 are legislative proposals that would increase the votes required to enact new constitutional amendments to 60%, up from a simple majority (50% +1).
Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misinformation used to gain support for these proposals. Here are the facts.
Since 1912, 19 constitutional amendments have been intimated by citizens, while legislators have initiated a whopping 108. Since 2022, 14 of 19 originated in the legislature.
In reality, most citizen-proposed constitutional amendments fail. Since 1912, 69 constitutional amendments have been proposed, and only 19 have passed, making for a success rate of 27.5%.
There has also been an emphasis from backers of SJR2 on the influence of deep-pocketed special interests in amending Ohio’s constitution, but there is no correlation between the amount spent on a citizen ballot initiative and its chance of passing. Successful campaigns have actually spent less, on average, than the backers of failed campaigns.
$11.2 million is the average amount spent on successful citizen ballot measure, compared to an average of $16.7 million on failed citizen ballot measures.
- Washington requires 50%+1 except amendments about gambling and lottery laws require 60%
- Arizona requires 50%+1 except amendments that raise taxes or impose fees require 60%
- Illinois requires 60%; or a measure can pass with 50% of all votes cast in the election.
- Nevada requires a majority vote (50%+1) in two successive elections
- Oregon requires 50%+1 but 50% voter turnout in the election
- Massachusetts requires 50%+1 and 30% of those voting in that election
- Nebraska requires 50%+1 AND 35% of the total votes cast in that election
- Mississippi requires 50%+1 AND 40’% of the total votes cast in that election
- Wyoming requires 50%+1 AND 50% of the total votes cast in that election
Political power-grab advances in Ohio House/Senate
Despite public outcry, GOP advances HJR1/SJR2 to floor vote
COLUMBUS — Today, Desiree Tims, President/CEO of Innovation Ohio condemned House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR1) and Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR2), proposed constitutional amendments that increases the passage thresholds of new amendments to 60% of the vote, up from a simple majority.
“HJR1/SJR2 are blatant political power-grabs by special interests and corrupt politicians, which seeks to undermine our democracy and silence the voice of the people”, said Desiree Tims. “We stood with Ohioans from every corner of the state to stand up and provide opposition testimony to these bills. Today, our voices were cut short, cast-aside, and ignored. This is not how democracy is supposed to work,” said Desiree Tims. “It has become clear that the only supporters of these bills are out-of-state special interests and corrupt politicians.”
Innovation Ohio is one of 225 organizations that have signed on to oppose these bills. This united coalition represents millions of everyday Ohioans who do not want their vote diminished.
“These proposed amendments would shred our Constitution as we know it, end majority rule in Ohio, and take away our right to decide what happens here by undermining the sacred principle of ‘one person, one vote,” said Desiree Tims.
If these amendments are passed, they will undermine majority rule and give a small number of voters (just 40%) the power to block initiatives that a majority of Ohio voters support. Ohioans need to protect our freedom to determine our own future.
We call on Speaker Stephens to not advance HJR1/SJR2.
HB 458: Voter Suppression in Disguise
After hours on Friday, January 6, 2023, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 458 (HB 458) into law. While originally proposed in 2021 as a 15-page bill intended to eliminate most August special elections, the final 157-page version amended by House Republicans and enacted by DeWine, features an extensive list of alarming updates to Ohio’s election laws, including: a photo identification (ID) requirement for all voters, including provisional voters and those confined in Ohio jails or hospitals; the elimination of early voting on Mondays before Election Day and the six additional hours it provides voters to cast their ballots; a prohibition against a single 24/7 ballot drop box at county Boards of Elections (BOE); and the requirement that absentee ballots be requested sooner and received by BOEs by the close of polls on Election Day, regardless of their postmark date. Touted as an opportunity to promote election integrity, voting rights organizations across the state rightfully beg to differ.
In the days leading up to the passage of HB458, the Ohio Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Ohio branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among other progressive organizations, protested the law’s failure to address the anticipated impact of this law on Ohio’s most vulnerable communities. According to Innovation Ohio’s President and CEO, Desiree Tims: “Experts tell us that as many as 11% of Ohio adults do not have a driver’s license or state ID card. Younger Ohioans are driving less, and many older and low-income Ohioans do not drive. That’s over 800,000 eligible adults who would have significant trouble voting under HB 458. If Governor DeWine values the freedom to vote and civil rights of Ohioans, then he will veto HB 458.”
Tim’s sentiments speak to the burden associated with obtaining a photo ID that will disproportionately fall upon poor, disabled and transient citizens that do not presently meet the requirements under HB 458; populations overrepresented by women and members of Black and immigrant communities. In practice, the cost of transportation to and from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) where IDs must be obtained, and the administrative hassle associated with compiling the documents necessary to present to BMV officials, will operate as a sort of poll tax, and thus deterrent, for those who historically were able to provide various alternatives to photo ID as proof of identity at polling locations. Recent developments have also confirmed that certain Veteran ID cards will also be excluded from those accepted at BOEs; disenfranchising the very citizens whose sacrifices make American democracy possible.
This past December, North Carolina’s Supreme Court struck down a voter ID law for its disparate impact on Black voters and proof of discriminatory intent. Hoping for a similar outcome, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans and Union Veterans Council filed suit against Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank Larose and the 88 BOEs that will enforce the law. Arguing that it “will severely restrict Ohioans’ access to the polls—particularly those voters who are young, elderly, and Black, as well as those serving in the military and others living abroad” and “imposes needless and discriminatory burdens on Ohioans’ fundamental right to vote” in violation of the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Plaintiffs are prepared to exhaust all legal remedies to protect Ohio voters.
Until the courts reach a resolution, advocates must focus on educating their constituents regarding these sudden changes to Ohio’s election law, name those responsible for its enactment and prepare for an ultimately unfavorable decision in light of the Ohio Supreme Court’s composition. In doing so, voters will be empowered to recognize their allies and dispel the myth that Ohio Republican’s obsession with election integrity is anything more than voter suppression in disguise.
Innovation Ohio Statement on Charter School Provisions in Operating Budget
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2019
Contact: Michael McGovern
mcgovern@innovationohio.org
Columbus, OH – Today, Innovation Ohio President Janetta King issued the following statement regarding the charter school provisions in the state operating budget:
“It is disappointing that Republicans in the legislature have once again placed the interests of failing charter schools ahead of Ohio students and communities. The budget passed today weakens state oversight of charter schools like ECOT, which ripped off Ohio schools and taxpayers to the tune of $200 million. After the ECOT debacle, we should be strengthening, not loosening, the rules regulating charter schools. Ohio taxpayers – and more importantly, Ohio students – deserve better.”
Founded in 2011, Innovation Ohio is a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank that blends policy research and advocacy to fight for working families in Ohio.
Ohio Lawmakers Showcase Three Bills to Close the Gender Wage Gap on Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day marks the day each year that the average American woman would have to work until to make up for the gap between her earnings and the earnings of a white man from the previous year.
Over a 40-year career, the gender pay gap means that American women, on average, $500,000 compared to their male counterparts. The impact of this inequity for women of color, in particular, is significantly worse. For black women, those lost wages increase to $700,000 and to $800,000 for Latina women, according to a statement from the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network.
On April 2, the Ohio House Democrats unveiled three bills which comprise a legislative strategy to narrow and ultimately eliminate the gender pay gap in the State of Ohio; the Ohio Equal Pay Act (its fifth introduction), a statewide paid family leave policy, and a bill to create an anonymous system for Ohio workers to report wage discrimination and theft.
The Ohio Equal Pay Act, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) and Rep. Randi Clites (D-Ravenna), prohibits gag orders on employees that keep them from talking about their salaries with one another and requires the state’s private-sector vendors to obtain an Equal Pay Certificate, certifying that women at those companies are given equal opportunity for career advancement. The bill also requires state government entities to evaluate employees’ pay scales to ensure compensation is based on skills, responsibilities and working conditions across job categories.
“It is long past time to empower women in the workplace to be what they are—equal,” said Rep. Clites. “Closing the gap ensures better lives, brighter futures and the opportunity for Ohio women and families to get ahead and save for the future.”
The wage gap has real economic consequences, not only for women but for the State of Ohio as a whole.
“Wage inequality means that women have less to spend on themselves and their families, less to invest and save for the future, and less to put back into businesses and the local economy,” said Erin Ryan, Managing Director of the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network.
The second bill discussed at the Tuesday press conference is a paid family leave policy sponsored by Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) and Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus). House Bill 91 received its first hearing last week on March 26. The bill would create up to 12 weeks of paid parental, family, and personal medical leave insurance benefits for Ohio workers during a 12-month period. The insurance program would apply to individuals who must take a leave of absence from work to address a serious health condition, to care for a family member, or to bond with a new child.
Finally, Rep. Erica C. Crawley said she will soon jointly sponsor a bill requiring the Ohio Civil Rights Commission to establish a system allowing workers to anonymously report wage discrimination by an employer. Such complaints could be submitted by phone or online. A 2018 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimated that Ohio workers lose 600 million dollars each year to wage theft. Meanwhile, the state’s capacity to investigate these infractions is limited to follow-up on complaints by a total of six employees who comprise the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Wage And Hour Enforcement unit.
“If the current pace of change continues at the same rate as it has in the United States since 1960, men and women will not reach gender pay parity until the year 2059,” said Ryan. “And that is far too long for women and their families to wait.”
The persistent, pervasive wage gap remains a problem among working women in Ohio. Whether in low or high wage jobs, women experience wage gaps in nearly every sector of work, even when accounting for variables like education level and work experience #EqualPayDay #OhioEqualPayAct pic.twitter.com/YCi3GABKEM
— Women’s Public Policy Network (@OhioWPPN) April 2, 2019
Buckle up, Ohio’s budget season starts next Monday.
Republican governors pushing radical tax reforms that could be at Ohio’s doorstep soon
In Washington, President Obama and Congressional Democrats secured a historic fiscal victory in early January. By finally passing legislation that asked the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes, lawmakers moved one step closer to securing our nation’s fiscal health.
At the state level though, Republican Governors from around the country are pushing for tax reforms that would do the exact opposite. These governors want to see income taxes reduced or eliminated while raising other more regressive taxes that harm low- and middle-income taxpayers. These pieces of legislation are taken straight from the radical conservative playbook in an effort to transfer the burden of paying for public services from the wealthiest to the less well off. The Republican argument is that if a state lowers their income tax rate it will become more competitive in the eye of businesses who may want to relocate there or to help attract high-skilled workers.
For example, according to a recent New York Times article, Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback introduced legislation to phase out the state’s income tax by cutting services and keeping in place what was meant to be a temporary increase in the state’s sales tax. Republican lawmakers in Kansas said that individuals were leaving the state to move to states that do not have income taxes and that this legislation would make them more competitive.
In reality, recent evidence points to the fact that there is no correlation between a state income tax rate and economic growth. What is worse is that these policies are simply another gift to the rich at the expense of low- and middle-income workers.
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