Rob McColley
Ohio Redistricting Commission kicks off regional hearings
The Ohio redistricting commission met in Deer Creek State Park Friday to discuss the latest version of General Assembly district lines. The proposal, introduced by Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, would maintain durable supermajorities for the GOP in both chambers. The party’s advantage, according to GOP mapmakers themselves, would likely give them control of 62% of […]
Ohio Redistricting Commission selects GOP working map, sets public hearings
The Republican members of Ohio’s redistricting commission set aside their bickering long enough to introduce a new legislative map Wednesday. Despite objections from Democrats on the panel, Republicans adopted their plan as the commission’s working document. The maps’ partisan breakdowns are 62-37 GOP-to-Democratic in the Ohio House and 23-10 in the Senate. The commission briefly […]
GOP remains undecided on co-chair, Ohio Statehouse redistricting on hold again
With a week to go before Secretary of State Frank LaRose says legislative districts need to be set for the November election, uncertainty continues to mire the redistricting process in chaos. Republican legislative leaders still can’t come to an agreement on who should be their representative as co-chair on the Ohio Redistricting Commission, creating a […]
Ohio Redistricting Commission descends into chaos and dysfunction on first day back
If Ohio politicians planned to show exactly why they deserve to be kicked out of the redistricting process entirely, they couldn’t have done a better job than the shameful display they put on Wednesday morning: They immediately descended into chaos and dysfunction after waiting more than 16 months to begin the process of drawing new […]
Columbus Metropolitan Club hosts debate over supermajority amendment
In Columbus on Wednesday, state Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and former state representative and Dispatch editor Mike Curtin debated Issue 1. This August, Ohio voters will weigh whether to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution. McColley co-sponsored the legislation that sent the question to the ballot, and Curtin has been one of […]
One Toledo law professor is helping drive two of this year’s most controversial proposals in Ohio
Since introducing a plan last year to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution, supporters have insisted their proposal was an issue-neutral effort to protect the state’s founding document. But advocates for a new 60% threshold for constitutional amendments have repeatedly hewed toward a variety of very specific issues: Firearms groups worried about future […]
Supermajority amendment opponents sue, arguing ‘no legal basis’ for August election
State lawmakers approved a measure to ask voters if Ohio should raise the threshold for approving constitutional amendments to 60%. But in an unusual move, they set the August date for that election through the resolution itself. They made no changes to state law which strictly limit such elections. Republican House and Senate leaders insist […]
Ohio lawmakers send 60% supermajority amendment to the ballot
Wednesday, Ohio House lawmakers voted 62-37 to advance a resolution asking voters to raise the passage threshold for constitutional amendments. The vote caps off nearly six months of legislative wrangling largely meant to hobble an abortion rights amendment. Lawmakers are entering questionable legal territory, however, as they set the vote in August through the resolution […]
Ohio House lawmakers consider Senate version of supermajority resolution
Ohio House lawmakers took up the Senate version of a measure asking voters to raise the threshold for future constitutional amendments. The House’s version of the proposal is already awaiting a floor vote. The jousting between sponsors or supporters and the Democratic members attempting to forestall the measure covered familiar territory. But a few new […]
Ohio House begins hearings to bring back August elections
An Ohio House committee took up two measures Wednesday aimed at re-establishing an August special election. Lawmakers eliminated nearly all such contests in the waning days of the last session, just a few short months ago. But with an abortion amendment looking likely to appear on the November ballot, Republicans are pulling out all the […]
Constitutional amendments and initiated statutes: one question or two?
During the most recent hearing for SJR 2 — the Ohio Senate resolution to establish a 60% supermajority for constitutional amendments — Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, made an interesting assertion. “I personally — not speaking on behalf of any other senator or the caucus — am not opposed to a conversation to make the statutory […]
Ohio Right to Life makes spurious, anti-trans argument in favor of supermajority amendment
Late last year, Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose introduced their plan requiring supermajority for constitutional amendments. It didn’t take long for opponents to check the calendar and argue the resolution was advancing — and advancing now — to block an abortion rights amendment on the horizon. Despite Stewart and LaRose’s […]