The effort to defeat an abortion-rights amendment in Ohio has resulted in a special election Tuesday that’s putting powerful business groups on the side of abortion opponents — for what they say are economic reasons.
(Bloomberg) — The effort to defeat an abortion-rights amendment in Ohio has resulted in a special election Tuesday that’s putting powerful business groups on the side of abortion opponents — for what they say are economic reasons.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation are among the influential lobbies supporting a ballot measure that would increase the bar to pass constitutional amendments to 60% of the vote from a simple majority.
If the question known as Issue 1 is approved, it would make it harder to pass a measure that would bake abortion rights into Ohio’s state constitution in the November election. And it could hobble future citizen-initiated amendments by increasing the requirements to even make it onto the ballot.
Politicians and advocates nationwide will closely watch the results in the Republican-leaning state as an indicator of how abortion rights are affecting elections, a year after the Supreme Court overturned the national right to the procedure.
But businesses are supporting the measure for completely different reasons: They want to prevent amendments proposed on issues such as raising the minimum wage, legalizing recreational marijuana and establishing new livestock care standards.
“The business community is usually the one left holding the bag when these initiatives make it to the ballot,” said Steve Stivers, president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and a former longtime GOP congressman. “We’d rather make it harder for that bad idea to make it on the ballot than have to raise $3 to $5 million every time to fight it.”
Supporters say they’re trying to stop wealthy special interests from getting their agendas embedded in the state’s constitution rather than having them go before lawmakers.
But opponents including the state’s Democratic party and labor groups say the Republican-led legislature put the issue on Tuesday’s ballot to stop the abortion-rights amendment. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll last month found that 58% of likely Ohio voters support enshrining abortion rights in the constitution.
“The motivation is clearly to stop a reproductive rights amendment, but the implications go so far beyond that and take away a right that Ohioans have had for over a century,” Ohio House Democratic Leader Allison Russo said in a July 25 televised forum.
Critics said issue supporters were hoping the normally low turnout in an August special election would help pass the measure, but almost 578,500 Ohioans had already voted early as of Friday, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. About 639,000 Ohioans voted overall in an August special election last year for statehouse races.
Ohio would become the fourth state to require more than a majority vote for citizen-initiated amendments, among 17 permitting the propositions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That presents an opportunity for Buckeye businesses to better gird against potential changes that could raise their costs.
“From the pro-life, pro-family, pro-Christian lane, yes, a hundred percent about abortion for us,” Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life who supports Issue 1, said in a telephone interview. “But for the rest of our diverse group of coalition members, it has nothing to do with abortion. They’re protecting their way of life.”
One contentious issue is minimum wage: An amendment proposed for the 2024 ballot would increase it from $10.10 to $12.75 an hour starting in 2025 and to $15 an hour in 2026. It would also ban the practice of paying less to those who receive tips.
But restaurants continue to struggle from the pandemic, and paying higher wages would be devastating, said John Barker of the Ohio Restaurant Association. The group is supporting Issue 1 “to try to give the industry a little more protection,” he said.
Read more: Political Ads Mentioning Abortion Jumped 500% After Court Ruling
The issue will test how successful Republican-led efforts to curb liberal initiatives are. Last year, voters in Arkansas and South Dakota rejected proposals to raise requirements to pass ballot measures. Meanwhile, voters in Arizona narrowly approved changes pushed by the business community that raise requirements for ballot questions that increase taxes.
As they seek to sway voters, business groups and their allies had spent $10.7 million on ads as of Monday, according to tracking firm AdImpact, and anti-abortion group Protect Women Ohio said it’s launched a $5.5 million ad campaign in the last week.
The opposition is spending $15.9 million on ads decrying what they call an effort to block abortion rights and undermine democracy.
One ad from the pro-Issue 1 camp explicitly names some of the issues concerning businesses, arguing that out-of-state groups will try to “California our Ohio” with proposals for “oppressive regulations on farmers,” “government rent control” and grocery bag taxes.
“One wrong vote, and they’ll be yours, Ohio,” the ad says.
(Updates with early vote totals in 10th paragraph.)
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