Citizens Not Politicians submits signatures for ballot initiative
Citizens Not Politicians submits signatures for initiative against gerrymandering in Ohio. With 731,000 signatures, supporters expect the initiative to be on the ballot
Thomas Suddes is a former parliamentary reporter for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. [email protected]
A ruling by a Republican judge last week shows why Ohioans should approve the “Citizens, Not Politicians” ballot proposal in November to put an end to gerrymandering in the General Assembly and Congressional districts.
What is controversial is an attempt by opponents to overturn the recent push by Republican state lawmakers to denigrate transgender residents of Ohio. Substitute House Bill 68, passed in January, overrode the veto of Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
DeWine is wrong about gerrymandering: Why Governor Mike DeWine is wrong again about gerrymandering
All Republican members of the General Assembly present voted for the repeal, with the exception of Senator Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville. All Democrats present in the House and Senate also voted against the repeal.
The most important points of HB 68:
- It prohibits doctors from performing gender reassignment surgery on minors.
- And amid a flood of legalese, it prohibits school sports supervisors from allowing male athletes to participate in women’s sports competitions.
If you’re wondering why Republicans in the General Assembly (26 of 33 Senators, 67 of 99 Representatives) are trying to play both family doctor and Friday night referee, the reason is that they’re engaging in demagoguery.
It’s become harder for unscrupulous politicians to target non-white Americans and women. But these days, at least in Ohio, it can make sense to vilify sexual and gender minorities — even with bills like HB 68 that are so half-baked that even DeWine, a lifelong pro-family conservative, wouldn’t sign them.
Transsexual youth in the crosshairs of the Republicans
The American Civil Liberties Union, its Ohio chapter, and the Boston-based law firm Goodwin Procter filed suit to overturn HB 68 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of two transgender youth and their families. The suit was overturned on a number of grounds, including allegedly violating the Ohio Constitution’s single-subject rule.
The “one-subject rule,” which has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1851, is aimed at combating so-called “logrolling.” The Legislative Service Commission describes this as “the combination of independent bills into an omnibus bill in order to achieve ‘a level of support for the measure that it might not have enjoyed on its own,'” citing a 1983 study by historian David E. Bowers.
Last week, Republican Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael J. Holbrook summed up a key point of the lawsuit as follows: “Plaintiffs will have to leave Ohio to receive gender reassignment treatment if (HB 68) becomes law… and will therefore be adversely affected by enforcement.” But Holbrook dismissed the challenge to House Bill 68 and allowed it to become law.
Twice, the judge’s decision contains tongue-in-cheek passages that illustrate a senselessness in Ohio politics today. Holbrook rejected arguments that HB 68 violates the Constitution’s single-issue rule — by mixing transgender care and sports regulation — writing that mixing those issues “constitutes a ‘legitimate issue’ for the purposes of the single-issue rule… the remedies for those who object do not lie with the court. but with their voice.
Voters in Ohio are not treated equally
Likewise, the single-subject rule was violated in rejecting arguments in other parts of HB 68: “Providing redress to those dissatisfied with the decisions of the General Assembly (regarding proper compliance with the single-subject rule). must be exercised through one’s own voice and not through the judicial system.
Good advice, your honor—except for the fact that not all Ohio voters are treated equally due to gerrymandering. The way Ohio works now, the General Assembly districts were drawn by and for Republicans. That means a state that voted twice for Bill Clinton and twice for Barack Obama has a legislature that is overwhelmingly Republican—and is struggling to make Ohio a backwater and sometimes even a laughing stock.
Voting issue promises hope for Ohio: Ohioans have a chance to regain the power seized by lawmakers
In November, Ohioans will have the opportunity to ensure fair redistricting in the General Assembly by voting for a petition-proposed “Citizens, Not Politicians” ballot, which would give a citizen redistricting commission that excludes politicians the power to draw fair districts for the Legislature and Congress.
Under no circumstances should there be a House of Representatives that is 68% Republican and a Senate that is 79% Republican in today’s Ohio, where 51% of the vote went to Donald Trump in 2016 and 53% in 2020.
Simply put, last week’s decision – that only voters, not the courts, can stop the General Assembly’s antics – describes an Ohio that doesn’t exist without November’s ratification of the first bill.
Thomas Suddes is a former parliamentary reporter for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. [email protected].