By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A “yes” vote on Ohio State Issue 2 is a ballot to retain Senate Bill 5 (SB 5), the reforms to public employee collective bargaining laws passed by the General Assembly in March. Issue 2 will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) has announced its support of Issue 2. We Are Ohio is a citizen-driven bipartisan coalition that has come together to repeal SB 5. That group urges a “no” vote on the issue.

“This is an issue that impacts all Ohioans … farmers, farm families, the farm community and everybody who lives in our communities,” Jack Fisher, OFBF executive vice president, said. “We looked at all sides – those supporting SB 5, now State Issue 2, and those opposed.”

After doing all its evaluations the OFBF board endorsed supporting State Issue 2, Fisher said. Provisions of the issue are consistent with the policies established by Farm Bureau’s grassroots membership.

With the private sector losing jobs and generating less revenue, and with salaries, health care and retirement benefits accounting for as much as 80 percent of local budgets, local governments must be able to manage their finances in ways that are fair to their public employees while also being accountable to tax payers, Farm Bureau stated.

“Our economy is in a tough shape and we have to do things to create and sustain jobs, and we think this is part of the package to do that,” Fisher said. “We also fully recognize this is not the end; anytime you pass policy, we as citizens have to stay engaged and make sure that we deal with the end result in a positive way.”

We Are Ohio disagrees. SB 5 is unfair and unsafe and will hurt all local communities and middle class families in Ohio, said Melissa Fazekas, spokesperson for the group. “We Are Ohio is working hard to make sure that people know that they need to come out in November and vote ‘no’ on Issue 2,” she said. “It really has become an attack on the middle class and what we want people to know is, the public employees that are under attack are really integral part of our local communities. They are the police officers, firefighters, nurses and teachers who provide critical care for us.”

These people are the pillars of the communities and not only do they provide a vital service to local communities in keeping them safe they also are part of the tax-paying base, Fazekas said. “They pay taxes and they also give their hard-earned dollars to local communities,” she said. “They shop in our local grocery stores, eat in the restaurants, they buy their cars locally to keep the economic engine going.”

Ohio’s current collective bargaining law has worked really well, Fazekas said. In past negotiations, employees prevail about half the time and management prevails the other half. Passage of Issue 2 will take away the employees’ rights to be able to talk about these issues.

“It’s like one of the state senators said on the floor, a Republican senator actually, that this would be like going to divorce court and when you walk in you see that your in-laws are the judge and jury,” Fazekas said. “It’s really unfair and takes away their rights.”

For information on Farm Bureau’s position on Issue 2, visit www.ofbf.org
For information on We Are Ohio’s position, go to www.weareohio.com/about