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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > November > 10
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sen. Seitz surprised by House committee OK of election bill; could doom quick final passage
Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said late on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that he was surprised that earlier in the day the House Elections and Ethics Committee passed a comprehensive elections overhaul bill.
The 7-6 vote on House Bill 260 was along party lines, with Democrats voting “yes” and Republicans “no.” Democrats control the House.
Seitz is sponsor of Senate Bill 8, a less comprehensive election overhaul bill being considered by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Seitz said he thought there had been an agreement for him, Rep. Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, and key staffers to negotiate an agreed-upon bill that both the House and Senate could consider before any action was taken.
Now it is likely the Senate will proceed with its own bill and that there will not be time to reach agreement on a final bill before the end of the year, said Seitz. The goal had been to have a bill signed by Gov. Ted Strickland for the May 2010 primary. It is not considered likely that negotiations would go on in 2010 before the primary and general election on a topic as sensitive as election overhaul.
Seitz predicted that if the full House goes ahead as planned next Wednesday and approves House Bill 260, that the Senate would pass its own bill and the two pieces of legislation would pass each other like two ships in the night.
He said he objects to many parts of the House bill. For example, it would allow the secretary of state to break a 2-2 tie on a county board of elections to permit increasing the number of early voting centers in a county from one to as many as four.
Seitz’s bill would require approval of at least three of four elections board members to increase the number of early voting centers. His bill would let counties increase the number of early voting centers to three. Seitz said he is not concerned whether the number of centers would be three or four but that a three-member super majority should be required to add early voting centers, not the involvement of the secretary of state.
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Rep. Yates proposes overturning Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban
Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, wants voters to repeal the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Yates on Tuesday, Nov. 10, introduced House Joint Resolution 7 which calls on the House and Senate to put the repeal on the May 2010 ballot. To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot would require 60 votes in the 99-member House and 20 in the 33-member Senate.
Yates said his timing might not be good but he wants to start a discussion.
“I think in light of the recent situation in Maine, that the actual hopes may be for the moment diminished,” he said.
Maine voters last week repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex marriage.
Ohio voters in 2004 approved 62-38 percent the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment also bars government from creating a legal status for situations such as civil unions that approximate marriage.
Yates said that over time he thinks Ohioans will see that some provisions of the amendment are “not business friendly and make it difficult for us to attract a diverse population.”
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Gay rights advocate takes national job
Equality Ohio Executive Director Lynne Bowman is leaving the statewide gay rights advocacy group for a national job with Equality Federation.
The federation is an association of all statewide lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered rights organizations across the country.
Bowman, who has led the Ohio group since its inception five years ago, will work on leadership development, strategic planning and other topics as state services director for Equality Federation.
Equality Ohio is interviewing candidates for the executive director post.
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Committee OKs elections overhaul; full House to vote next week
The House Elections and Ethics Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 10, approved a major overhaul of the state’s elections system, setting the stage for a vote by the full House next week.
The committee vote was along party lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed.
Key provisions of House Bill 260:
*Ohioans would have 28 days before an election to vote absentee, either in person or byi mail.
*Absentee voting would end on the Monday before a Tuesday election.
*Counties could have up to four early voting locations.
*Online voter registration would be authorized for Ohioans who have a current and valid ID from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
*To vote, Ohioans would be required to show government or school-issued photo identification or provide their birth dates, signatures and the last four digits of their Social Security or driver’s license numbers.
*The overhaul provides clear rules for quickly and efficiently providing ballots to military and overseas voters. It modernizes the system for absentee ballot requests from these voters and uses up-to-date technology to track when ballots are received and mailed.
“This is an important day for for Ohio voters,” Committee Chairman Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, said in a press release. “As we take one step closer to long-needed corrections in our election law.”
The Senate is considering its own elections reform plan, Senate Bill 8.
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Cordray warns of AG impostor scam
Somebody’s posing as Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray - or at least a representative from Cordray’s office.
Cordray on Tuesday, Nov. 10, issued a press release warning Ohioans of a phone scam in which he said callers say they are from the attorney general’s office and demand personal information.
The calls are not authorized and Ohioans shouldn’t provide personal information, Cordray said.
Kim Kowalski, a Cordray spokeswoman, said the office has received reports of such calls being made statewide, including in the Dayton area.
“We know that these scam artists are particularly assertive and in at least one instance have used threats of arrest and job loss,” Cordray said.
Some reported calls have been automated, while others involved a live voice, the release said. In both types of calls, recipients were asked to provide Social Security numbers.
Ohioans who believe they’ve been victims of a scam, can file a complaint by calling Cordray’s office at 1-800-282-0515 or at the Web site, www.SpeakOutOhio.gov.
Cordray provided these guidelines to avoid falling victim to such scams:
*Don’t give out personal information to an unexpected caller. The attorney general’s office won’t ask for your Social Security number.
*When in doubt, ask for the name of the organization and check it out on your own. Call back to a listed number.
*If you think you’ve given out your Social Security number in a scam, place an alert on your credit reports and monitor your credit reports for unauthorized activity.
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Tax refunds could go directly toward retirement
Ohio taxpayers could have their state income tax refund checks deposited directly into a retirement savings account, such as a 401(k) or an individual retirement account, if a bill sponsored by state Sen. Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati, becomes law.
Kearney says the bill would make retirement saving easier and it would cut costs for the state. The Ohio Department of Taxation already allows direct deposit of refunds for checking or savings accounts.
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Health care bill divides Ohio delegation
Ohio’s 18 members in the U.S. House of Representatives split almost evenly on the vote Saturday, Nov. 7 on the controversial health care bill. The bill represents the most significant expansion of government run health care since Medicare was created in 1965.
The 1,990-page bill passed largely along party lines with a 220-215 vote.
Ohio Congress members voting in favor included: Steve Driehaus, D-Cincinnati, Marcia Fudge, D-Cleveland, Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus, Tim Ryan, D-Niles, Zack Space, D-Dover, Betty Sutton, D-Chardon, and Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville.
Those opposed were: Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, John Bocceri, D-Alliance, John Boehner, R-West Chester, Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland, Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, Robert Latta, R-Bowling Green, Jean Schmidt, R-Cincinnati, Pat Tiberi, R-Columbus, and Mike Turner, R-Centerville.
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Casino backers to meet with Strickland, legislative leaders
Two key backers of the successful campaign to approve casinos for four Ohio cities are scheduled to meet separately on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with Gov. Ted Strickland, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, and Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan said.
“It’s really an initial meeting to say, ‘look, there’s legislation that needs to be passed,’” said Tenenbaum.
Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Tim Wilmott, president and chief operating officers of Penn National Gaming, are to be in the meetings with the top state officials, said Tenenbaum
Issue 3, the casino ballot plan approved by voters last week, called for passage of legislation implementing the casino plan within six months.
The constitutional amendment also called for Strickland, with the approval of the Senate, to appoint the seven members of the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
Tenenbaum said that Gilbert and Wilmott are aware that there already has been talk of putting new constitutional amendments on the ballot next year to change the casino plan.
The plan approved by voters calls for casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus.
