Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about a recent labor roundtable tour he did with labor leaders around Ohio. Burga also talked about the end of the signature gathering stage for a proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio and what’s next for Citizens Not Politicians.
Burga recently finished an eight-city Local union roundtable tour around Ohio. The tour's purpose was to prepare Locals around the state for the political program for November’s election. Burga talked about the concerns voiced by the union leaders, as most expressed similar concerns about the future of democracy in the state.
To restore fair and balanced electoral districts in Ohio, there is an active campaign to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The Citizens Not Politicians campaign turned in more than 700,000 signatures from around the state, nearly 250,000 more than the minimum. Burga explained the next steps to verify the signatures and reasons a signature could be removed. He said about one-fifth of the signatures are likely to be thrown out based on past efforts, but even if that is the case, Burga believes they met all the requirements and the proposal will be on the ballot come November.
Burga said the campaign now transitions to what could happen after it is approved for the ballot. After the signatures are verified and all requirements have been fulfilled, the next step will be for the Ohio Ballot Board to write the issue. He said the elected board has previously added ambiguous language to some ballot issues, and it will be up to the Citizens Not Politicians law team to ensure the proposal is written in a clear manner.
For more information from Tim Burga, please listen to the show above.