Protesters filled the statehouse this week as Republicans pushed a resolution asking voters to block the constitutional amendment. Ohio learned why its lottery director abruptly resigned and the state House came close to banning transgender girls from women’s sports teams.
We break down what it all means on this week’s episode of Ohio Politics Explained. A podcast from the USA TODAY Ohio Bureau Network that gets you up to speed on Ohio political news in 15 minutes or less.
This week, anchor Anna Staver was joined by reporter Jessie Balmert.
1) August special elections
Ohioans will hold a special election this August to decide whether to block an amendment to the state constitution, three months before they are expected to vote on an abortion access amendment.
Republicans say raising the bar for constitutional amendments from 50 percent plus a vote to 60 percent will protect Ohio’s founding document from being overridden by politics.
“It’s simply asking Ohioans whether they want to pass a 60 percent threshold or not by voting in a free and fair election,” said Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville.
But Democrats say spending millions of dollars to hold a special election instead of waiting until November shows that Senate Joint Resolution 2 is about moving the sticks to block most Ohioans from protecting access to ‘abortion.
“What I hear when the sponsors say we’re protecting the constitution is that they want to protect the constitution from you, the people,” said Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake.
2) Transgender student athlete ban gets one vote
House Republicans took another step this week to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in K-12 and college.
Known as the Save Women’s Sports Act, House Bill 6 would prohibit all Ohio schools from “knowingly” allowing any male-born student to “participate on sports teams or athletic competitions designated for female participants only.”
And it would create a framework for civil lawsuits for student-athletes who believed they were denied opportunities or otherwise harmed by violations of this law.
3) Big changes for the higher education bill
A controversial plan to change the way faculty and students experience life at Ohio’s public colleges and universities got a major rewrite this week.
“I think between the accommodations and the clarifications we’ve made, we’re in a very good place,” said Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, the bill’s sponsor.
The latest version of Senate Bill 83 would allow for mandatory diversity training and partnerships with Chinese universities, two things that were prohibited in the original version. But it still won’t allow teachers to strike during labor negotiations.
“They know that the changes that were made were not enough,” said Sara Kilpatrick, director of the Ohio chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “They know that stakeholders are still opposed to the bill, and I think they intend to push through anyway… They don’t seem to care.”
4) Late night text messages
A series of inappropriate late-night text messages sent by the former Ohio Lottery commissioner to an employee have shed new light on why Pat McDonald abruptly retired last month.
The messages, obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, stemmed from an independent investigation into McDonald after the employee complained to the commission’s human resources office.
In the exchanges, McDonald declared his love for the employee, calling the person a “gift from God” and saying, “I still have a big crush on you.” He also sent romantic songs like Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere,” where Stevie Nicks sings, “I wanna be with you everywhere.”
Listen to “Ohio Politics Explained” on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link in this article.
USA TODAY Network’s Ohio bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 affiliated news organizations throughout Ohio.
