COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican leaders in Columbus are floating the idea of attempting to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution, a proposal that was defeated in 2023 by Ohioans across the political spectrum.
Issue 1, decided on Aug. 8, 2023, sent a bipartisan message, say those who worked against its passage.
"Ohioans of all walks of life — Democrat, Republican, independent, labor, business, rural, urban — said, 'Why are you doing this?'" said union leader and president of AFL-CIO Tim Burga after the election.
Issue 1 would have taken away majority rule in Ohio. The proposed constitutional amendment would have raised the threshold for constitutional amendments to pass from 50%+1, a simple majority, to 60%. It was defeated 57-43%.
But some Republican leaders have floated a rerun, saying special interest groups have been pushing their agendas, and constitutional amendment proposals have gotten out of control.
"A warning that I had a few years ago; we're going to see a real uptick, I believe, in, people attempting to legislate by constitutional amendment," Secretary of State Frank LaRose said during a ballot board meeting this May.
LaRose recently raised red flags about two new issues collecting signatures to get on the ballot: one to abolish property taxes and another to end qualified immunity, protecting police and other government agencies from lawsuits.
"That's not a great way to govern a state, and [I think] that legislation should be done by the legislature," LaRose said. "I think that's something to be discussed in this building going forward."
House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) wants to change the rule, too — having said for years that it’s too easy to change state law.
"Good government folks want it raised to 60%," he said in early May. "I think that it should be."
Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro was one of the leading voices against raising the threshold back in 2023.
"When the people of Ohio are confronted with a choice, either protect your freedom and your ability to exercise your rights in our democracy or give more power to power hungry, corrupt politicians — the people of Ohio are going to say, 'We want to have the freedom to choose our destiny,'" DiMauro told News 5 on Friday.
RELATED: How Issue 1 was defeated
People deserve a voice, DiMauro said.
"It's from people that are just frustrated that they believe that their elected representatives and senators in Columbus just are simply unresponsive to their needs and interests," he said. "People will take matters into their own hands."
Putting the question back on the ballot would have the same result, he said.
Huffman acknowledged this, saying that it would be an uphill battle and unpopular.
"Short of everybody steps back and says, 'We really should raise the limit,' which I don't see that happening," he said. "I don't think that's a reality."
Some lawmakers, like state Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township), still think it's a good idea to try again.
Former Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) disagreed.
“First and foremost, the Legislature works for the people," he said in a text. "Changing the current method of holding the legislature accountable when it acts (or does not act) would require consensus across the political spectrum as to what those rules should be... Recent history has shown the effort will not be successful."
Said DiMauro, "The people have spoken, and they spoke pretty loudly and pretty clearly. I wish they would start listening to the people."
