Much of Ohio’s attention has been focused recently on the probability that voters may get the final say in November on whether a new collective bargaining stays or goes. There’s another issue that voters may also decide --- a proposed constitutional amendment declaring that Ohioans are exempt from that new federal mandate that everyone must buy health insurance.
The Ohio Tea Party movement is the prime mover behind that proposed ballot issue, and its leaders have just announced they are well on their way to collect the 386,000 signatures they need to qualify the issue for the ballot.
If legislators want to be the ones putting the health care issue on the ballot, they need at least 60 votes in the Ohio House, so even if all 59 House Republicans vote “yes,” they need at least one Democrat to join them. That quandary is why the Tea Party is using an alternative method (a petition drive) to put the issue on the November ballot.
Chris Littleton heads the Ohio Liberty Council and he talked with statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen.