Ohio Constitution News

After an initial rejection by the Ohio Attorney General, Better for Ohio resubmitted their proposed initiative to legalize marijuana.  The second attempt, entitled “Legalize Marijuana and Hemp in Ohio Initiative Petition “ was certified by the Ohio Attorney General as containing a fair and truthful summary of the proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution.

Better for Ohio created their own  initiative petition in response to ResponsibleOhio’s initiative.  Better for Ohio’s version will allow forty grow sites instead of ResponsibleOhio’s ten, and a specified percentage of the grow sites must be owned by Ohioans.  Under the Better for Ohio plan, local communities that allow dispensaries and retail stores will receive more tax money from marijuana sales.  Another difference is out-of-state residents may only purchase one-quarter ounce of marijuana under Better for Ohio’s plan. Better for Ohio also aims to make home growing easier.

Better for Ohio can  begin collecting signatures once it is certified by the Ohio Ballot Board.

See our prior post, New Marijuana Legalization Proposal Rejected by Ohio Attorney General and Cleveland.com, New plan to legalize marijuana in Ohio clears first step toward reaching ballot

A new initiative petition to amend the Ohio Constitution to legalize marijuana was rejected by the Ohio Attorney General on April 24, 2015.  The petition, called “Legalize Marijuana in Ohio” was proposed by the group Better for Ohio.  The Attorney General found the summary of the proposed amendment was not fair and truthful.  Specifically,  the proposal misstated the amount of tax that marijuana sales would produce for a municipal and township government stabilization fund.  Also, the summary states that persons 21 and over may share marijuana accessories with another person over 21, but does not mention an exception for younger medical marijuana patients.  See Cleveland. com, One marijuana legalization effort faces setback, but others are in the pipeline.

Better for Ohio’s web site states that, “This was about creating a version of the initiative that is Better for Ohio, but more importantly, a version that will get more votes than the RO [Responsible Ohio] initiative if both are on the ballot.”  Better for Ohio’s version will allow forty grow sites instead of Responsible Ohio’s ten, and a specified percentage of the grow sites must be owned by Ohioans.  Under the Better for Ohio plan, local communities that allow dispensaries and retail stores will receive more tax money from marijuana sales. Another difference is out-of-state residents may only purchase one-quarter ounce of marijuana. Better for Ohio also aims to make home growing easier. See Better for Ohio’s website.

For a summary of other marijuana proposals, see Cleveland.com, Current Status of Ohio’s Marijuana Legalization Proposals.  Responsible Ohio’s Proposal has been certified by the Ohio Attorney General and the Ballot Board.  Responsible Ohio is currently collecting signatures  to get their issue on the ballot in November 2015.

The Ohio Senate voted in favor of SJR 1, which would amend the Ohio Constitution to create a Public Office Compensation Commission.   The Commission would review and set pay for lawmakers, constitutional officers, judges and others.  Currently, the General Assembly has authority over pay raises for public officers.  A commission would take lawmakers out of the business of setting their own pay.

Under SJR 1, the General Assembly has some authority to reject final pay amounts.  However, if the General Assembly rejects a final compensation plan or portion thereof, a member of the General Assembly is not entitled to an increase in compensation for the duration of the member’s term of office.

The Ohio House also needs to approve the joint resolution by a 3/5 vote before the proposal goes on the ballot.   This issue potentially could be on the ballot in November 2015.

See The Morning Journal, Ohio Senate approves pay raise commission proposal.

See our prior posts It’s Back! Senate Joint Resolution to Create Commission for Public Office Pay Increases, Constitutionally Created Commission for Ohio Public Officials’ Pay Increases?  .

The Marijuana Legalization Amendment, submitted by ResponsibleOhio,was certified by the Ohio Attorney General.  This is the marijuana amendment proposing ten designated growing areas owned by campaign investors.   Next, the proposed amendment goes to the Ohio Ballot Board, to determine whether the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues.  If it passes muster, ResponsibleOhio can begin collecting the signatures required to get the proposal on the ballot.

Update: The Ohio Ballot Board certified the Marijuana Legalization Amendment as a single issue, so signature collection may begin.

Yesterday, H.J.R. 2, a proposal to revise the redistricting process for congressional districts, was introduced in the Ohio House.  The proposal would, via new language added to the Ohio Constitution, create an independent Ohio Redistricting Commission and take the redistricting process out of the hands of the state legislature.  The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in cases concerning whether independent congressional redistricting commissions are valid under the U.S. Constitution, or whether the Constitution reserves this task solely for state legislatures.   See NPR, Supreme Court Seems Divided Over Independent Redistricting Commissions.   The cases are: Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission , Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama.  See Hannah Report, LaRose Working on Congressional Reform if Supreme Court Strikes Down Arizona Process.

HJR 2 would change the current redistricting process by creating a seven member Ohio Redistricting Commission , including the governor, auditor and secretary of state plus one member appointed by the Speaker of the House, one appointed by the President of the Senate, and two members appointed by minority leaders in each body.  This appears to be the same body as the Ohio Redistricting Commission that would be created for redistricting pertaining to the Ohio Legislature, as described in HJR 12.  The affirmative vote of four members of the commission, including at least two members of the commission who represent each of the two largest political parties represented in the general assembly, shall be required to adopt any congressional district plan.  There must be three public hearings before a redistricting plan is adopted.

If the Ohio Redistricting Commission is unable to approve a plan with  approval of at least one member of each of the two largest political parties, then a plan can be approved by the majority vote of the Commission, after a public hearing.  If the plan is adopted by a simple minority vote it will be in effect for two general elections for the United States House of Representatives (which are held every even numbered year) have occurred under the plan, instead of being in effect for ten years.    If the plan is adopted by simple majority, the Commission must issue an explanation of what the Commission determined to be the statewide preferences of the voters of Ohio and how the proportion of districts in the plan whose voters favor a political party corresponds closely to statewide preferences.  The Ohio Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over congressional redistricting cases.

HJR 2 also sets out guidelines for how the districts must be drawn.

In the last legislative session,  HJR 11  also proposed to amend the congressional redistricting process, but it was different than the current HJR 2. For example, the impasse mechanism required a majority of the board to approve a plan, then it must be voted upon by the General Assembly.  See our prior post New Ohio Redistricting Idea Proposed with Only Weeks Left in the Legislative Session. The governor, auditor and secretary of state were not on the commission under HJR 11.

As you may recall, the last general assembly succeeded in passing an initiative to reform how districts for the Ohio legislature are drawn.  See our prior post: New Redistricting Procedure Will Go to Ohio Voters

Also see Ohio.com, Finish the job of repairing redistricting

ResponsibleOhio filed revised a Marijuana Legalization Amendment Initiative Petition (PDF) with the Ohio Attorney General.  The Attorney General rejected the group’s previously submitted amendment, finding that the summary was not a fair and truthful representation of the proposed amendment.  ResponsibleOhio planned to file revised language anyway, to allow adults to grow a limited number of plants for their own use.

As you will recall, ResponsibleOhio plans to limit commercial growing sites to 10 areas designated in the Ohio Constitution, which sites are promised to campaign investors.

See Cleveland.com, ResponsibleOhio submits new marijuana legalization language to attorney general for ballot review

The Ohio Attorney General rejected the proposed constitutional amendment entitled  “End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act” for lack of signatures.  Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis plans to collect more signatures and resubmit the language.  See Cleveland.com, Second marijuana legalization proposal rejected by Ohio attorney general.

For more on this proposal, see our prior post, Latest Marijuana Initiative Petition Allows Adults to Grow, Releases Marijuana Offenders from Jail.

Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis filed their proposal for marijuana legalization with the Attorney General on February 17, 2015.  They propose to amend the Ohio Constitution to:

• Allow adults over 18 to possess up to 99 plants and 99 kilograms of marijuana for personal use, without a commercial license.
• Prohibit testing for cannabis metabolites as a requirement for employment, insurance, licenses and from being considered impaired/intoxicated.  A person must display impaired behavior to be considered under the influence of cannabis.
• Release marijuana offenders from prison if their actions are no longer illegal under the amended Constitution.  Expunge records and grant amnesty to marijuana offenders.

Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis  is not the same group as ResponsibleOhio.  The ballot initiatives presented by each group are very different.  ResponsibleOhio wants to limit growing sites to 10 areas designated in the Ohio Constitution, which sites are promised to campaign investors.  ResponsibleOhio’s plan permits individuals 21 and over to grow four plants, upon obtaining a license.

ResponsibleOhio’s ballot language, as submitted to the Ohio Attorney General did not contain the personal growing allowance.  The group plans to add this language and file again.  The Attorney General ended up rejecting ResponsibleOhio’s submitted initiative petition summary as inadequate.   See WTAM article.

For a summary of marijuana proposals, see Cleveland.com, Current Status of Ohio’s Marijuana Legalization Proposals.

ResponsibleOhio filed ballot language with the Ohio Attorney General for its proposal to legalize marijuana, limiting growing sites to ten areas.  The Ohio Attorney General must certify that it is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment.  AG action is due on Feb. 23, 2015.

For our prior posts dealing with marijuana legalization, see the Tag: marijuana

For a summary of current proposals, see Cleveland.com: Current status of Ohio’s marijuana legalization proposals