The Issue 2 ad war is underway, as early voting starts next month. And leaders on both sides are promoting what they say Senate Bill 5 will do if it passes – or won’t do if it fails. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler talked with two key Senators about it. Republican Senator Keith Faber of Celina says he’s confident that voters will respond to the pro-Issue 2 campaign. But Senator Joe Schiavoni of Youngstown says he thinks it will be defeated. But Schiavoni says he suspects lawmakers will come back and try to pass collective bargaining reform next year.
Schiavoni says because Senate Bill 5 allows management’s last best offer to stand and prohibits a third-party arbitrator, it effectively takes away the power to bargain collectively. But Faber, who talks mostly about the bill’s provisions requiring merit pay and more contributions to health care and pensions, calls it a reasonable approach to reform.