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Constitutional amendment to limit state spending pulled from November ballot consideration

Aug. 9, 2005 - Two days before the filing deadline, Citizens for Tax Reform (CTR) officially backed off plans to submit signed petitions for a proposed Nov. 8 ballot issue to limit state spending. The group yesterday announced, however, it would instead seek a November 2006 vote on the constitutional amendment.

The development follows weeks of discussions between the amendment’s chief backer and gubernatorial hopeful, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, and other Republicans who have urged the official to delay the effort. Key Republicans have argued that a modified version of the plan would aid GOP election efforts in 2006, when half of the Senate seats and all House seats and statewide offices are on the fall ballot.

“This gesture by Secretary Blackwell will allow us to focus our resources this year on defeating the special interest amendments being pushed by pro-Democrat unions and liberal activist groups,” Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said in the news release issued by CTR. The group says it wil file the signatures it has collected on Thursday, the day after the deadline for this fall's ballot.

Blackwell also said that he intends to be the GOP nominee for Governor and expects that this budget-choking amendment will be a major part of his platform.

If a constitutional amendment to limit expenditures—similar to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)—had been in place over the last decade in Ohio, state and local services would have deteriorated substantially, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The Coalition for Ohio’s Future is a bi-partisan organization of more than 125 service, business, medical, labor, public safety and many other groups—all dedicated to defeating a proposed TABOR-style constitutional amendment for Ohio. OCSEA is a coalition partner.

See Related

Editorial - State-spending issue tabled; Secretary of state's proposal to cap expenditures won't be on fall ballot

News Release - Citizens for Tax Reform bypasses Aug. 10 petition deadline; Says it will target resources instead against pro-democrat and union efforts to fight political corruption (Reform Ohio Now)

Full Report - A State of Decline: What A TABOR Would Mean for Ohio

Member activists impacted Ohio's state budget