Ohio Passes Law Restricting Collective Bargaining

 The Ohio legislature has passed a controversial bill which will ban collective bargaining for that state's public employees. This comes after weeks of debate in which the Senate passed the bill by only one vote. Governor John Kasich (R) is expected to sign the bill as soon as possible.

The passing of this new law is a big victory to try and reign in that state's budget deficit and comes after similar efforts in Wisconsin are held in limbo. This is also a big defeat for public employee unions, which have mounted a serious counter-offensive against the Governor and the Republican-held legislature.


The bill passed the Ohio House by 53-44, a more comfortable than the 17-16 vote in the Senate. There are hopes that this will help cover the $8 billion shortfall the state faces.

Of course, the excuses have begun:

The Rev. Michael Harrison, a member of Protect Ohio Families, a pro-union group, said says the legislation is reckless and Kasich is using the budget shortfall to chop away at the rights of government workers.
"SB-5 proves that reckless Ohio legislative leaders care more about corporate special interests than Ohio families," he said.

 Good for Governor Kasich and the the government of the state of Ohio. Maybe this will be the first step in getting that state back on track.


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