Thursday, August 21, 2008

UPDATED - Governor says no to so-called Healthy Families Act

Gongwer News Service is reporting that Governor Ted Strickland and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher declared their opposition to the labor-led Issue 4 that will appear on the November 4 Ohio Ballot. They described the proposed statute as "unworkable, unwieldy," and detrimental to the state's economy.

This is terrific news. Kudos to them!

UPDATE: Here is the text of their press release:

Columbus, Ohio – Governor Ted Strickland and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher today issued the following statement regarding their opposition to Issue 4, the proposed paid sick-day initiative, on the ballot this November:

“While important members of the business community and SEIU participated in good faith discussions, it was, unfortunately, not possible to achieve a compromise acceptable to a sufficient portion of the business community and the proponents to cause its removal from the ballot. We regret that a reasonable compromise was not possible. This reality means that there will be a hard fought campaign centering on this initiative in the coming months. During that campaign, we call upon both sides to avoid portraying Ohio as unfriendly to business and economic development.

“We also recognize it is important to make clear our thoughts on important public policy issues and today are announcing that we cannot support the paid sick-day ballot initiative. While we would hope that all Ohio businesses would make paid sick days available to their employees whenever possible, we believe that this initiative is unworkable, unwieldy and would be detrimental to Ohio's economy, and we will be opposing it and asking Ohioans to oppose it as a result.”

2 comments:

Karen SHANAHAN said...

The company I work for has 20 offices in the US which includes 2 in OH, 1 in Pittsburgh and 1 in Indianapolis. We all work under the same compensation program and receive 5 days sick leave per year, use or lose. I wonder how they would accept the requirement to add 2 more days sick leave and know full well, they could run this business with 2 fewer offices by combining our office with Indianapolis and the Cleveland office with Pittsburgh. Ever hear of the straw that broke the camel's back. Would this be the straw. Who knows, but if they pass this "Healthy Families Act" I guess we'll find out.

Timothy W Higgins said...

Maggie,

While obviously pleased that the Governor has come to the correct conclusion, I cannot help but be suspicious none the less. After all of the backroom brokering and microphone breast beating on the subject, I don't know how I could be otherwise.

Regardless of my reasoning or my suspicions however, let's hope that the voters in Ohio find the same well of reason to draw upon. This initiative would spell nothing but doom for jobs in the state.

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