Necessary Roughness

On September 8, Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell certified the form of the official ballot for the 2006 general election. Because of our fun state election laws, issues can be put on the ballot before the petitions are fully validated. At the time of the form certification, only two of the five issues were guaranteed to be on the ballot: Issue 2 and Issue 5. I have since seen commercials for Issue 3, so I think it’s fair to say that it has been certified.

The ballot certification containing the text for all five issues can be found at the Secretary of State’s web site (PDF). One can also see the candidates for state offices and for U.S. Senate. After today’s Meet the Press I may have to put Barb the Evil Genius as a write-in candidate for the Senate seat. I may address that later.

The five state issues that could be on the Ohio ballot for November 7, 2006 are:

1. Referendum on Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 7: Amending Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation Law
2. Proposed Constitutional Amendment: Minimum Wage Increase, a.k.a. “Minimum Wage”
3. Proposed Constitutional Amendment: Horse Racing and Gaming to Support Schools, a.k.a. “Learn and Earn”
4. Proposed Constitutional Amendment: “Smoke Less”
5. Proposed Law: “SmokeFree Workplace Act”

Issue 1: Worker’s Compensation Changes

This is a tough one to decide, because it is a hodgepodge of changes not holding to a single principle. For example:

Allows workers’ compensation and benefits to be awarded to a victim of sexual assault at the workplace.

Sexual assault is assault, is it not? I would like to know why this addition has to be made.

I do like jailbirds not receiving worker’s comp. That’s a plus for Issue 1.

The next bullet point exempts the publication of addresses and phone numbers of WC recipients, except to journalists. Sorry; if you collect public funds, then the recipient of our disbursement should be public record. If the journalists want the privilege, we should all get the privilege.

I understand the desire to let brain-trauma sufferers work while collecting worker’s comp, but this is ripe for abuse and goes against the principle of worker’s compensation.

I think I would be for worker’s comp claims voiding if the recipient dies. I don’t think HAL would be cutting me post mortem checks.

There are some good suggestions on this measure, but they need to be separated out from those that reduce accountability and fiscal responsibility in our government. At this point in time I would vote No.

Issue 2: “Minimum Wage”

I have to ask the proponents: Are you flipping kidding me? Any ballot measure that takes up three columns of text cannot avoid being evil.

My favorite phrase:”This section shall be liberally construed in favor of its purposes.” You got that right.

Please vote No against this impediment to employment. Those who are worth more than the minimum wage will negotiate for it and prove themselves worthy. Raising the minimum wage also bolsters the market for illegal labor, because some people would rather work cheaply and illegally than not work at all. The minimum wage is not meant for complete subsistence. More reasons covered here and here.

Issue 3: “Learn and Earn”

I don’t like gambling to raise money for education, not because I’m an anti-gambling fascist, but because this kind of funding hides the cost of education from those people making the demands. We’ve also seen state lotteries that raid the portion going to education to boost their cash prizes.

I also don’t like the fact that we have a statewide Constitutional amendment to govern one county in Ohio. I don’t care if it is Cuyahoga. Either make something legitimate or illegal, statewide.

Issue 4: “Smoke Less”

Issue 4 is a constitutional amendment to ban smoking in any enclosed area except for “tobacco stores, private residences or nonpublic facilities, separate smoking areas in restaurants, most bars, bingo and bowling facilities, separated areas of hotels and nursing homes, and race tracks.”

At least Oklahoma gave their businesses the option of properly ventilating their enclosed areas. Ohio gets no such break.

Every time you visit a restaurant you make a choice. Either the food is good enough that you are willing to tolerate a little cigarette smell and perhaps a secondhand smoke risk, or you leave. Most proprietors have the incentive of attracting both smokers and non-smokers to their restaurants and provide facilities to each. I’m voting No to relieving building owners the responsibility to care for all their customers.

Issue 5: “SmokeFree Workplace Act”

Issue 5 is just proposing law without amending the Ohio Constitution. Nevertheless, voting No is the right thing to do for reasons cited previously.