To the editor:

Thanks to the passage of Ohio House Joint Resolution One Ohioans have a vital decision to make on August 8. This special election will determine whether the Ohio Constitution will be a contract between the citizens and the government, or if amendments to the Ohio constitution will continue to be a way to bypass the legislature. Constitutions are outlines of the government’s duties to the citizens and the limitations of the government’s powers. Constitutional amendments change the relationship between the government and the citizens, as well as the government’s powers.

In Ohio amendments have been used by wealthy interest groups to pass legislation to their benefit without going through the legislature. That is why a constitutional amendment should require more than a simple majority to pass. There have been twenty-seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution; “The Bill of Rights,” the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and others added to the agreement between the citizens and the government. To put this into perspective there have been 11,000 attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution. Of the 33 that have been sent to the states 27 have been ratified. 

  A quick civics lesson for the readers. Amendments can be proposed in a joint resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of both chambers of Congress. Amendments can also be proposed by a convention of states when a convention is called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. The president has no role. The proposed amendment becomes a part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the states, 38 out of 50 states. 

 The issue on Ohio’s ballot August 8 is a proposed higher standard for amending Ohio’s Constitution. The new law would require signatures to be collected in all 88 counties — not less than five percent of the electors (registered voters) in the county. Once that standard is met 60 percent of Ohio voters need to approve the amendment. This is closer to the standard of the U.S. Constitution.  

 Democrat State Rep Ismail Mahamed of Columbus called Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s proposal “unfair. Is it fair to Ohioans for millionaires and billionaires from out of state to amend our state’s constitution?  

 The Casino Commision Amendment passed with 52 percent of the vote. Casino corporations campaigned on dreams of grandeur. Have you seen grand around casinos? I see drugs, bankruptcies, foreclosures, prostitution and corruption.   In 1992 a Term Limit Amendment passed overwhelmingly by 68 percent. This amendment was change to the relationship between the government and the citizens. However, the amendment led to the ouster of legends in Ohio politics such as Bill Batchelder, and ushered in the bribery scandal of people like Larry Householder. The Term Limit Amendment also gave lobbyists more power in Columbus. I’ve heard first-hand stories of lobbyists telling elected representatives: “we’ll just wait you out and get the next guy,” if the representative does not want to go along with the lobbyists’ agendas.  

 In 2015 there was a proposed “marijuana amendment” in Ohio. The amendment read in part: “Endow exclusive rights for commercial marijuana growth, cultivation, and extraction to self-designated landowners who own ten predetermined parcels of land in Butler, Clermont, Franklin, Hamilton, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Delaware, Stark, and Summit Counties.”

There should not be a constitutional amendment that only a few “self-designated landowners” with “exclusive rights” benefit. Constitutions are not written, or amended, to create monopolies. In November 2015 David A. Graham of The Atlantic wrote of the failed Ohio marijauna amendment: “Voters may have rejected a constitutional amendment because of concerns about monopoly control, not because they oppose looser laws.”  

 The readers should know the old standard of signatures from 44 counties and a simple majority vote still applies to ballot initiatives. That is something critics of the new law leave out of their argument — ballot initiatives are still an option.  

 When I first saw Secretary LaRose’s proposal I was opposed to the idea. After some thought I remembered constitutions are a broad contract between the citizens and the government. Constitutions explain the rights of the people and set the limitations of the government. Constitutional amendments are not a way of bypassing the Ohio Legislature. There should be a high standard for amending Ohio’s Constitution it should not be changed a whim based on the latest fad, or empty dreams of out of state corporations.   

 JOHN MORROW,

Wellsville