OH: Supermajority roadmap: Backers have until Wednesday to get 60% amendment on August ballot
It’s a big week for lawmakers attempting to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments in an August special election. The House could vote on a joint resolution sending the question to the ballot as soon as Wednesday. But the legislation setting up the August election is in limbo.
Lawmakers in the House and the Senate have advanced joint resolutions to ask voters whether to require a 60% supermajority to adopt future constitutional amendments. Those resolutions need to get 3/5 support in both chambers, but they’re at different stages in the process.
The Senate measure, SJR 2, has passed the Senate and its committee stop in the House. The only step left is a vote on the House floor. Meanwhile, the House measure, HJR 1, has yet to get a vote from the full House and would need Senate approval.
That’s why the Republican state central committee on Friday urged House lawmakers to coalesce behind SJR 2.
“The message we’re trying to convey is that we have until May 10 to get this out of the House because resolutions don’t require governor’s signature,” central committee member Gary Cates explained. “So the House passes SJR 2, (and) we’re done with that portion of it.”
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/05/09/supermajority-roadmap-backers-have-until-wednesday-to-get-60-amendment-on-august-ballot/
