Ohio minimum wage proposal moves forward
(The Center Square) – Another citizen-led effort to change Ohio’s constitution took a step forward while state lawmakers continue a fight over making the process more difficult.
Attorney General Dave Yost on Wednesday cleared a summary of a petition that would eventually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15. The plan now must get approval from the state ballot board before moving to the third step in the process.
It was the third attempt for the petition to gain Yost’s approval.
Yost’s role in the petition process is to determine whether the summary is a fair and truthful representation of the proposed statute. Yost said the third version of the petition met that requirement.
In October, Yost rejected the group’s first attempt at a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage, saying it was misleading to a potential signer and had numerous omissions.
The proposed amendment would raise the state minimum wage to $10.50 an hour Jan. 1, 2025 and increase it annually from there for three years to reach $15 an hour Jan. 1, 2028.
It would also increase the minimum wage for inflation, beginning Jan. 1, 2029, and require employers pay employees who receive tips the full minimum wage with tips on top of the hourly rate.
The Ballot Board will determine if the proposal contains a single law or multiple laws.
If the board certifies the petition, the group must collect signatures from at least 3% of registered voters based on the ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election. Those signatures must come from at least 44 of the state’s 88 counties, and in each of those counties, the number must be at least 1.5% of the vote cast in the last gubernatorial election.
The minimum wage proposal follows an abortion rights amendment that could be on the ballot in November. It also comes at a time when Republicans in the statehouse are trying to change how citizen-led amendments can pass.
A plan currently in the Legislature would require a 60%-voter approval on any citizen-led amendment, rather than the current 50%-plus-one vote. The new benchmark would have to be approved by voters by a 50%-plus-one vote.
