Ohio Constitution News

SJR 2 ,introduced on July 22, 2015, reforms congressional redistricting in Ohio to make it more nonpartisan.  A similar proposal is pending in the Ohio House, H.J.R. 2.

See Columbus Dispatch: Ohio senators push for congressional redistricting

See our prior post Ohio Can Proceed with Congressional Redistricting Reforms – SCOTUS Approves Independent Redistricting Commissions

While Governor Kasich vetoed 44 provisions in the FY 2016- FY2017 budget bill, House Bill 64, the language cutting the duration of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission remains.  The commission will end on January 1, 2018 instead of July 2021.  The commission, created in 2011, got off to a slow start, some say because of delay by the legislature.  The commission has just started to finalize recommendations.  The Ohio Constitutional Revision Commission (1969 – 1977) was able to finish its work in 7-8 years.  See our prior post Enrolled Budget Bill Sunsets Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission in 2018.

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The Ohio Legislature redesigned its webpage at https://www.legislature.ohio.gov.  Numerous links have changed including the link to the current copy of the Ohio Constitution  and to particular pieces of legislation.  For legislation from 1997 to 2014, you must visit the Ohio General Assembly Archives. As a result, some of the links in blog posts prior to today may not work.  The links don’t appear to automatically redirect to the right place.

According to a recent Dayton Daily News Article, farmers in Ohio expect bigger tax bills due to:

1)  A huge increase in farmland values and

2) A higher tax rate imposed by taxing authorities. Because property values as a whole have decreased, thanks to decreasing residential property values, local taxing authorities  must raise rates to make the same amount of money.

With the value of agricultural land at record levels, farmers want to reform how the current agricultural use value, or CAUV is calculated.   The CAUV allows land to be taxed by the land’s agricultural value, not the fair market value.  The CAUV came into being as a result of a 1973 amendment to the Ohio Constitution that was designed to insulate agricultural land from the spike in the value of non-residential land. See Ohio Constitution, Article II, Section 36.  How the rate is calculated is set out by tax commissioner regulations.

An administrator with the Ohio Department of Taxation believes the real relief that farmers want fall outside the calculation of the agricultural use value.  Putting farmland into its own tax category would, it is apparently being argued, require amending the Ohio Constitution.  Ohio Constitution Article XII, Section 2 requires that, “Land and improvements thereon shall be taxed by uniform rule according to value …”

See Dayton Daily News Article, Farmers Fear Large Tax Bite . (This link is via Bloomberg Law.  Law Students and Faculty may register for Bloomberg Law for free)

All meetings are on Thursday, September 11, 2014 at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio:

9:00 a.m.

Public Education and Information Committee AND Liaison with Public Offices Committee – Statehouse Room 114

Organization and Administration Committee – Statehouse Room 116

10:15 a.m.

Judicial Branch and Administration of Justice Committee – Statehouse Room 311 (Will discuss Article IV, Section 19 (Courts of Conciliation), Article IV, Section 22 (Supreme Court Commission) and Judicial Selection)

Finance, Taxation & Economic Development Committee – Statehouse Room 115 -Speaker: Jon Honeck (invited) Director of Public Policy at The Center for Community Solutions, “Accounting for Tax Credit”

Education, Public Institutions, Miscellaneous and Local Government Committee – Statehouse Room 114 – Speaker: Robert Alt, President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions

1:30 p.m.

Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission Meeting – Statehouse Room 313

3:00 p.m.

Legislative Branch and Executive Branch Committee – Statehouse Room 114    CANCELLED

Bill of Rights and Voting Committee – Statehouse Room 311 – will discuss:

• Article I, Section 4 (Bearing Arms; Standing Armies; Military Power)
• Article V, Section 7 (Primary Elections)
• Article V, Section 4 (Exclusion from Franchise)
• Article V, Section 6 (Idiots or Insane Persons)

Thomas Suddes asserts that the one subject rule, Article II, Section 15(D) of the Ohio Constitution, needs to be strictly enforced.  Legislators seem to easily get around the one subject rule, particularly in budget bills.  See Cleveland.com: A Slinky is more rigid than Ohio legislation’s one-subject rule: Thomas Suddes

Southern District of Ohio judge, Timothy S. Black, granted a permanent injunction prohibiting the Cincinnati Department of Health from accepting a death certificate for Plaintiff John Arthur that does not record his status at the time of death as “married” and his “surviving spouse” as James Obergefell.  The court held that the failure to recognize a same sex marriage valid in another state violates the Due Process clause of the  U.S. Constitution, as well as the Equal Protection clause.  See Obergefell v_Kasich_,  No. 1:13-CV-501 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 23, 2013).

Attorney General Mike DeWine plans to appeal the case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The ruling is expected to result in more litigation aimed at striking down the gay marriage ban in the Ohio Constitution, which voters approved in 2004.  See NewsChannel5.com article.

Amending the Ohio Constitution to remove the gay marriage ban may be on the ballot in 2014.  See Group Says Sufficient Signatures Collected to Put Gay Marriage Initiative Petition on Ohio Ballot

See our prior post Federal Judge Rules Ohio Constitution’s Gay Marriage Amendment Likely Violates Equal Protection

The following meetings will be at the Statehouse on Thursday, December 12, 2013:

9:00 am

Judicial Branch and the Administration of Justice – Statehouse Room 311
Finance, Taxation & Economic Development Committee – Statehouse Room 115 – Presenter -Professor Dale Oesterle, Moritz College of Law – Public Private Partnerships
Education, Public Institutions, & Miscellaneous and Local Government – Statehouse Room 114

12:20 pm

Legislative Branch and Executive Branch Committee – Statehouse Room 114
Constitutional Revisions & Updating Committee – Statehouse Room 115 (Professor Bruce Cain, Stanford University presenting)

3:00 pm

Public Education and Information Committee and Liaisons with Public Offices Committee – Statehouse Room 114. Presenters – Brandon Lynaugh, Partner – Strategic Public Partners; and Jonathan Varner, President – JVA Campaigns
Coordinating Committee and Organization and Administration Committee– Statehouse Room 122

NO MEETING – Bill of Rights & Voting

No Commission Meeting

9:00 a.m.

Constitutional Revisions & Updating Committee – Statehouse Room 115

Judicial Branch and the Administration of Justice – Statehouse Room 311

12:30 p.m.

Constitutional Revisions & Updating Committee – Statehouse Room 113

Bill of Rights & Voting- Statehouse Room 115

Legislative Branch and Executive Branch Committee-Statehouse Room 114

3:00 p.m.