CLEVELAND, Ohio — A group of business leaders and corporate executives signed an open letter opposing State Issue 1, a ballot-initiative that would make it harder to amend the state constitution if passed in a special August election.
This comes a month after the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Restaurant Association and other major state business groups endorsed the issue — showing that business leaders are split on the topic.
The letter, released Wednesday by the Leadership Now Project, says that business depends on the “health and stability of our democracy to thrive.” They write that they are “concerned about the growing attacks on our democracy.”
“In an act of desperation, the Ohio legislature overreached and rushed through a constitutional amendment proposal that would upend Ohio’s process for amending its constitution,” leaders wrote in the letter.
Among the leaders that signed the letter were Jeni Britton Bauer, founder and chief creative officer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Thomas Hoaglin, former CEO and Huntington Bank and John Pepper, the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble.
It also included several notable Clevelanders such as Ronn Richard, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation, James Ratner, Charles Ratner and Ronald Ratner, who are all currently directors with The Max Collaborative, and Vanessa Whiting, who chairs the MetroHealth board and is president of A.E.S. Management Corp., the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen franchisee in Northeast Ohio.
In a statement, Peppers called Issue 1 a “misconceived and dangerous last-minute proposal.” He said Issue 1 passing would make it harder to convince workers to move to or stay in Ohio.
Issue 1 would require that constitutional amendments receive 60% support in a statewide vote. Currently, the threshold is 50%, plus one.
While the 60% proposal would have wide-ranging ramifications, GOP lawmakers specifically fast-tracked it for a special August election - and likely low turnout - to try to defeat an abortion rights amendment aiming for the November ballot. Passage in August would raise the threshold for November. Earlier, the Ohio legislature had banned August elections and grounds they were costly and involved low turnouts.
Ohio Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Stivers, a former Republican congressman, said his organization’s board voted to endorse Issue 1 because it would create additional legal hurdles for citizen groups trying to propose amendments, something he said has been has been a long-term goal.
In the the Chamber’s announcement the business organizations cited two pending ballot issues — a potential 2024 proposal backed by labor unions to ask voters to hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and another, less organized campaign backed by anti-vaccine groups that would bar employers from requiring vaccines or other medical products — as a major reason for their endorsement.
The Ohio Business Roundtable, another business group that tends to represent larger companies, said previously that they are not taking a position in Issue 1.
Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the Leadership Now Project, said there has already been interest from more business leaders who want to sign onto the letter. He said he expects the list of leaders that oppose Issue 1 to grow.
Sean McDonnell covers business and consumer topics for cleveland.com. You can reach him at smcdonnell@cleveland.com You can read more Cleveland business stories at cleveland.com/business/.
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