Learn about HB 197, Ohio’s Community Solar Bill
We’re very excited to share news of a webinar on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. on this bipartisan bill which will prioritize renters, small businesses, and Appalachian Ohio. Please attend and see if this inspires you to contact your state representative. Register here.
As Green Energy Ohio explains, “HB 197 will make solar power available for the first time to renters, condo owners, and most small to medium-size businesses who can’t install rooftop solar. It will also provide access to solar power for Ohioans who cannot afford a residential system on their home, and those homeowners whose location or design is not suitable for a solar installation.”
“A new analysis from the Center for Economic Development and Community Resilience at the Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service finds that an ‘Ohio Community Solar Pilot Program” could contribute nearly $3.49 billion in gross state product (GSP), 27,254 Ohio job years with total earnings of $2.48 billion, and $409.5 million in local tax revenue over its lifetime.” The webinar is sponsored by Green Energy Ohio, Solar United Neighbors, and the Coalition for Community Solar Access.
Farm Bill Webinar Sept. 12
Due for reauthorization this fall, the Farm Bill is needed to continue the nation’s major nutrition programs including SNAP (formerly “food stamps”) which are vital to food security for people and communities across the United States and overseas. The Farm Bill also covers an array of conservation, rural economic development, and sustainable agriculture programs. Offered by the ecumenical Hunger Network in Ohio, the Sept. 12 webinar will help you advocate on behalf of the people and communities you serve. Register here. Even if you can’t attend the 7 p.m. webinar, you’ll receive a link to the recording.
Hurdles for redistricting and reproductive rights amendments
Last week (Aug. 21-24), these two proposals made headlines: Ohioans’ renewed quest to prevent partisan gerrymandering and the wording for the reproductive rights amendment which voters will decide on in this fall’s election.
Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost refused the language for the proposed constitutional amendment to prevent people with partisan conflicts of interest from drawing Ohio’s electoral districts, and to increase public input and oversight of the map- drawing process. Calling the wording “confusing and vague,” he ruled that the ballot petition and summary failed the test of being a “fair and truthful statement” of the proposed constitutional amendment. It’s not unusual for ballot measures to be refused at least once. The sponsors, the bipartisan group Citizens Not Politicians, must revise the language in response to the AG’s critique and collect a new set of 1,000 signatures on petitions to re-submit it. Oh, and by the way: Ohio’s Redistricting Commission and Supreme Court are gearing up for a new round of drawing state and Congressional district maps, part of the gerrymandering fight that began in 2021 and until now has seemed like one of the circles of endless strife in Dante’s Inferno.
Ohio’s ballot board voted Aug. 24 to approve wording written by Secretary of State Frank LaRose for this November’s vote on whether or not reproductive rights will be protected under Ohio’s constitution. The wording approved by the Ballot Board departs significantly from the wording of the petition that won over 700,000 signatures, including replacing the word “fetus” with “unborn child” and substituting this: “Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.” The original petition states that “abortion may be restricted after fetal viability.”
LaRose, a Republican, opposes abortion and led the unsuccessful campaign to raise the hurdles to amend Ohio’s constitution, rejected by over 57% of the voters on Aug. 8. If it had passed, the requirement to reach 60% of the vote to amend the constitution would have applied to the reproductive rights amendment. Because of the outcome of the Aug. 8 special election, voter-proposed constitutional amendments can still pass with a simple majority, which has been our law for over a century.
Rep. Elliott Forhan, D-South Euclid, one of the two Democrats on the ballot board, protested that the wording passed by the Ohio Ballot Board last week “doesn’t address the other areas of reproductive rights that the amendment protects, including contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and the continuation of one’s own pregnancy,” the Dayton Daily News adds.
On a party line vote, the Ballot Board voted down Democrats’ request to place the same wording as the petition lon the ballot, so voters can see exactly what policy they would be approving or refusing.
Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United For Reproductive Rights, reminded the public that Republican Attorney General Dave Yost certified the petition’s original wording as fair and accurate and that this was the language that over 700,000 Ohioans saw when they signed the petitions to put it on the ballot.
The group must now decide whether to challenge the Ballot Board’s wording in a suit to the Ohio Supreme Court. Like the Ballot Board, our Supreme Court also has a Republican majority whose newest justice was appointed by Gov. DeWine, who has signed Ohio’s bills including the Heartbeat Bill restricting abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Advocacy briefings are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com
