Ohio Senate president: ’The rabid opposition to State Issue 1 is the height of hypocrisy’

Matt Huffman, R-Lima is president, of the Ohio Senate.

Editor's note: In 2017 Ohio lawmakers considered changes to the constitutional amendment process. One of a committee's recommendations was to raise the passing percentage from 50% to 55%. It did not recommend requiring signatures be collected from all 88 Ohio counties to get an issue on the ballot or eliminating time to make up for bad signatures. Before that proposal was tabled, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board endorsed the idea of letting voters decide. That never happened.

They were for it before they were against it.

The rabid opposition to State Issue 1 is the height of hypocrisy by Democrats and the Dispatch's Editorial Board.

State Issue 1 on the August 8 special election ballot would require the consent of 60% of voters to change the Ohio Constitution.

It is a much lower threshold than the one enshrined in the U.S. Constitution but it is designed to build upon the American tradition that protects the rights of all, not just the frenzied mob, special interests, and the wealthy.

Business leader: An end to majority rule in Ohio? Issue 1 an unprecedented affront to democracy

Opinion: It is already hard enough to amendment Ohio's constitution

The Ohio Democratic Party even agrees with the wisdom of not allowing a simple majority to change its founding document.

Hidden deep within its own constitution and bylaws, article 4 states, “The constitution may be amended by 60% of all delegates to any convention.”

Democratic Sen. Vernon Sykes actually co-chaired the bipartisan committee that recommended raising the threshold for adopting amendments to Ohio’s Constitution to at least 55%.

Based on the committee’s recommendations, Rep. Glenn Holmes, a Democrat, then co-sponsored a resolution in 2018 to raise the threshold to 60%.

Letters: Stop the gaslighting. Changing Ohio's constitution too easy. Vote 'yes' on issue 1

Is August election about abortion? Secretary of State Frank LaRose says '100%'

Now? Sykes is one of five Democratic lawmakers who submitted arguments against Issue 1 to the Ohio Secretary of State. He says it “shreds our constitution” and “takes away our freedom.”

Maybe he didn’t get a copy of his own party’s constitution?

In a 2017, the Dispatch editorial board actually endorsed the idea of raising the threshold, saying, “There is much to commend (about) efforts to make initiated laws easier and initiated amendments harder.”

The board declared it should be up to voters “to decide if initiating constitutional amendments should be more difficult.”

From the archive: Protect integrity of Ohio's constitution. Make citizen-driven laws easier, amendments harder

The Dispatch Editorial Board even criticized the current amendment process, noting how “over time the Ohio Constitution becomes weighted with ornaments more suited to the Ohio Revised Code, such as livestock-care standards and casinos.”

They were correct, then.

Now? The board has done a complete about face. The board now declares raising the threshold would be “reckless, reprehensible and disrespectful to democracy.”

The vitriol is more than two-faced, it gets personal.

The editorial board calls Ohio Republican legislators "untrustworthy and dishonest lawmakers"..."despicable and disappointing"..."dangerous and disingenuous"..."abhorrent" and "cowardly" because, they claim, we "are willing to lie to and cheat voters to win."

Our view: Deceitful bill proof some GOP lawmakers willing to steal rights from all Ohioans

Our view: Desperate Ohio lawmakers ready to slap voters in the face to stop abortion vote

All this because Republican lawmakers put an issue on the ballot that they supported just a short while ago. The rank hypocrisy of yet another far-left meltdown from our state media reeks to high heaven.

No one sincerely believes a 50% threshold will protect Ohio’s constitution. Democrats and the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board supported raising the threshold….until we put it on the August ballot.

Ohio August election: Sec. of State Frank LaRose 'wouldn't be surprised' by low turnout

It took $50 million in advertising but only 52.9% of the vote for the casinos to literally buy a law and put their own financial interests into our state constitution.

We already know the big money behind the legalization of recreational marijuana is preparing for an assault on our constitution.

Forces looking to restrict Second Amendment rights or expand minimum wages costs on small businesses won’t be far behind. And, of course, the billion-dollar abortion-on-demand machine of Planned Parenthood lurks anxiously in the wings.

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board: 8 reasons for why Issue 1 is wrong for all Ohioans, even conservatives

More: Letters: Stop the gaslighting. Changing Ohio's constitution too easy. Vote 'yes' on issue 1

If State Issue 1 is approved, Ohioans will still enjoy a freedom not available in the vast majority of other states that don’t even permit petition-initiated constitutional amendments.

Thirty-two states do not allow constitutional amendments to be proposed by outside groups. Of the 18 that do, half of them require more than a simple majority vote.

Ohioans will still be able to easily pass constitutional amendments that enjoy genuine broad and bipartisan support. A prime example would be Marsy’s Law protecting victim’s rights that passed in 2017 with 82.59% of the vote.

More: Suddes: Republican lawmakers betting Ohioans won't vote in August

It’s really quite simple. A 60% threshold proposed in State Issue 1 would significantly increase the protection of the Ohio Constitution. And here’s the real bottom line — if an idea isn’t popular enough to unify three-fifths of Ohio voters, it doesn’t belong in our state constitution.

Matt Huffman, R-Lima, is president of the Ohio Senate.

Editor's note: In 2017 Ohio lawmakers considered changes to the constitutional amendment process. One of a committee's recommendations was to raise the passing percentage from 50% to 55%. It did not recommend requiring signatures be collected from all 88 Ohio counties to get an issue on the ballot or eliminating time to make up for bad signatures. Before the proposal was tabled, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board endorsed the idea of letting voters decide. That never happened.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Matt Huffman| Opponents of Issue 1 are hypocrites. August 8 special election