Ohio's controversial collective bargaining reform bill passes House

There are many people in Ohio that are union members that will rally with their leaders to overturn this law, and they believe they are right in trying to protect their hard won "rights". This bill covers public employee unions, which even that Liberal Progressive FDR believed should not be allowed the bargaining authority of private unions.

The people of Ohio would be well served to look at their unemployment rates, one of the highest in the country, and the fate of their once mighty manufacturing base to see the results of overzealous unionization. If they look at these realistically and vote accordingly, maybe Ohio can be turned around and they can once again be the economic force they once were.

Governor Kasich is on the right track. Give his policies a chance.

Excerpt: COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's controversial collective bargaining reform bill is now just a signature away from becoming law after the Ohio House approved the amended bill Wednesday afternoon by a 53-44 vote and the Senate approved the changes by the same 17-16 margin that sent the bill to the lower house.

"Both Bill [Batcheleder] and I and Tom Niehaus don't see this a celebratory moment," Governor John Kasich told Newsnet 5 Wednesday night. "There are a lot of people who are upset, we respect that."

"I think they're going to find out at the end of the day we'll have stronger communities. This is all part of a package to help them to deal with limited resources and to get us into a position to start growing jobs instead of losing jobs," said Kasich.

Beachwood Democrat and former house speaker Armond Budish said he was disappointed in the outcome "you should not be balancing the budget on the backs of working people, that's what senate bill 5 does," he said.

Opponents are vowing to begin immediately the process of collecting the 230,000 signatures needed to get the measure up for a vote of the people in the form of a statewide referendum.

If Governor Kasich signs the bill into law by April 6, which is now likely, the measure would go on this November's ballot. If it had been signed into law after that date opponents could choose to wait until November 2012 for a vote. That date would delay implementation of the bill for at the very least another year and put on the ballot with some of the very members who voted to pass it.

Read full NewsNet5 article here.