Below is information on the ballot issues proposed for the Ohio statewide November 2008 ballot.

Healthy Families Act

APRIL 14 2008 UPDATE. On April 14, 2008, House Bill 536, to enact the Healthy Families Act, was introduced in the Ohio General Assembly.

The Healthy Families Act is a proposed initiative petition to enact Chapter 4114 of the Revised Code to require employers to provide a minimum amount of paid sick leave to employees in Ohio. Specifically, the proposal seeks to require Ohio employers with 25 or more employees to pay full-time employees at least 7 days of paid sick leave each year and part-time employees a pro-rated amount of leave to care for themselves and their families’ health needs.

On April 16, 2007, the Ohio Attorney General certified the proposed Act’s language and on April 26 the Ohio Ballot Board endorsed the proposal, thus triggering the process of collecting the required 120,683 signatures to submit the proposed Act to the Ohio General Assembly.

On January 4, 2008, Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, announced that the Healthy Families Act proposal had enough petition signatures for her to send it to the Ohio General Assembly.

The submitted petitions contained 154,693 valid signatures, although only 120,683 valid signatures were required. As a result, the General Assembly has 120 days to act. If the General Assembly does not enact the proposed Act, passes the proposed Act in amended form, or takes no action within 120 days after the Secretary of State transmits the petition to the General Assembly, supporters of the proposed statute will have 90 days to collect a second set of 120,683 different signatures to place the Act on the November 2008 general election ballot.

Full text of the petition

Bulletins and other resources on the Healthy Families Act petition

Clinton County Casino

On December 20, 2007, the Ohio Attorney General approved an initiative petition for a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize a privately-owned casino in Ohio. The petition, which is currently being circulated for signatures, would allow only one casino in the state to be located at State Route 73 and Interstate 71 in Clinton County. The petition requires that the casino include a hotel and other resort amenities with a $600 million minimum investment by casino developers. Under the proposal, the casino operator must pay a gross receipts tax that would be distributed among the eighty-eight Ohio counties.

Backers of the proposal must now gather at least 402,275 valid signatures across the state. Signatures must also be obtained in sufficient numbers from registered voters residing in at least forty-four of Ohio's counties. All signatures must be submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State no later than ninety days before the election, or by August 6, 2008. If a sufficient number of valid signatures are found, the proposal will appear on the ballot in November 2008.

Military Bonus

Senate Joint Resolution 5 would amend the Ohio Constitution to authorize the state to sell bonds and raise an estimated $100 million to provide bonuses to veterans of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. The Resolution has passed the Senate and is pending in the Ohio House.

Petition Deadlines

House Joint Resolution 3 also proposes a constitutional amendment for a vote by electors on November 4th. HJR 3 proposes to change filing deadlines for ballot issue petitions in the future. If approved by the voters, deadlines for filing petitions before the election would be earlier for submitting a constitutional amendment, referendum, or to initiated law. HJR 3 is also pending in the Ohio House.

Clean Ohio

Governor Ted Strickland and legislative leaders are working on a Resolution that would authorize the state to raise $400 million for the Clean Ohio conservation and revitalization programs. The proposal would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot authorizing the sale of bonds to fund Clean Ohio.

Please contact the Government Relations Group at Bricker & Eckler LLP for additional information about the 2008 ballot issues or ballot issue campaigns in general.