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Ohio Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2020)
| Ohio Minimum Wage Increase Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Minimum wage | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Ohio Minimum Wage Increase Initiative was not on the ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
The initiative would have incrementally increased the state's minimum wage to $13 per hour by January 1, 2025. After 2025, the minimum wage would have been tied to inflation. The first increase would have been on January 1, 2021, to $9.60 per hour.[1][2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The title for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Raise the Wage Ohio[3] |
” |
Ballot summary
The summary for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:[2]
| “ |
The Amendment would amend Article II. Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution to increase the state minimum wage rate. Specifically. the Amendment would:
The Amendment does not change any exemptions to the state minimum wage currently in the Section. [3] |
” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Support
Ohioans for Raise the Wage led the campaign in support of the initiative.[4]
Opposition
If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Path to the ballot
In Ohio, the number of signatures required to get an initiated constitutional amendment placed on the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Ohio also requires initiative sponsors to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition application. Ohio has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures be gathered from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. Petitioners must gather signatures equal to a minimum of half the total required percentage of the gubernatorial vote in each of the 44 counties. Petitions are allowed to circulate for an indefinite period of time. Signatures are due 125 days prior to the general election that proponents want the initiative on.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 443,958 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit the signatures was July 1, 2020.
County boards of elections are responsible for verifying signatures, and the secretary of state must determine the sufficiency of the signature petition at least 105 days before the election. If the first batch of signatures is determined to be insufficient, the petitioners are given a ten-day window to collect more signatures.
Stages of this initiative
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| Coronavirus pandemic |
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- Anthony A. Caldwell, James E. Hayes, David G. Latanick, and Pierrelle M. Talley filed the initiative with the Ohio Attorney General on January 17, 2020.[2]
- On January 27, 2020, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified the summary of the amendment.[5]
- On February 5, 2020, the initiative was certified to begin gathering signatures after the Ohio Secretary of State determined it met the single-subject ballot measure requirement.[6]
- On March 30, 2020, initiative sponsors filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas asking for the signature deadline to be extended, the number of signatures required to be reduced, and permission to gather signatures online. James Hayes, a spokesperson for the campaign, said, "It might be a long shot that the court will side with us, but we thought it was a shot worth taking. ... And we think that this would be a good decision, a worthwhile decision, in line with protecting the First Amendment rights of Ohioans across the state."[7]
- On April 28, Judge David C. Young dismissed the case arguing that since the petition requirements for initiatives are in the Ohio Constitution "the ability to change those requirements is reserved only to the people." He added that there is no exception for public health emergencies.[8]
- On May 19, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus ordered Ohio to accept electronic signatures from the ballot measure campaigns and extended the signature deadline from July 1 to July 31. Judge Sargus argued in his opinion that "these unique historical circumstances of a global pandemic and the impact of Ohio's Stay-at-Home Orders, the State's strict enforcement of the signature requirements for local initiatives and constitutional amendments severely burden Plaintiff's First Amendment rights." The judge's order applies only to the plaintiffs in the case.[9]
- On May 21, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appealed the court's order.[10]
- On May 26, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the lower court's order that granted the campaign permission to gather signatures electronically and extended the deadline. The judges wrote, "There’s no reason that Plaintiffs can’t advertise their initiatives within the bounds of our current situation, such as through social or traditional media inviting interested electors to contact them and bring the petitions to the electors’ homes to sign."[10]
- On June 18, 2020, the campaign announced that it would be suspending its efforts to place the initiative on the November ballot.[11]
See also
External links
Support |
OppositionSubmit links to editor@ballotpedia.org. |
Footnotes
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "List of petitions submitted to the Attorney General's Office," accessed January 20, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ohio Secretary of State, "Full text of the initiative petition," accessed January 20, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ohioans for Raise the Wage, "Home," accessed May 19, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Attorney General, "Attorney General Certification Letter," accessed January 28, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Ohio Ballot Board letter," February 5, 2020
- ↑ Idea Stream, "As Ohio Stays Home, Minimum Wage Ballot Organizers Sue To Extend Signature Deadline," March 31, 2020
- ↑ Court of Common Pleas Franklin County, Ohioans for Raising the Wage v. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, accessed April 28, 2020
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Federal judge orders Ohio to allow state issue campaigns to collect electronic petition signatures," May 20, 2020
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Toledo Blade, "Appeals court blocks order giving ballot issues more time," May 26, 2020
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Ohio voting access, minimum wage issue campaigns suspend operations, citing coronavirus," June 18, 2020
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