Ohio Labor Leaders Should Accept the Invitation of Governor Kasich & State Legislative Leaders

Columbus – Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine released the following statement in response to this afternoon’s press conference, where Governor John Kasich, House Speaker Bill Batchelder, and Senate President Tom Niehaus invited Ohio labor leaders to engage in discussion and compromise on reform legislation for Ohio:

“Our path forward as a state struggling under the weight of a sluggish economy begins with offering proposals to find common ground on reforms which place jobs and economic recovery before political point scoring,” Chairman Kevin DeWine said.

“While the Ohio Republican Party stands solidly behind the reasonable reforms of Senate Bill 5, we urge Ohio labor leaders to join Governor John Kasich and our legislative leadership in heeding the public’s calls for setting aside political differences in our shared desire to guide our state toward prosperity.”

Background Information:

State Democratic officials and union leaders should listen to Ohioans’ desire for compromise.  That begins by offering concrete policy proposals for bipartisan consideration.

Senate Democratic leader Capri Cafaro of Hubbard said in a statement: “The time to negotiate was during the legislative process, not 197 days after Senate Bill 5 was first introduced in the Ohio Senate.” (Julie Carr Smyth, “Ohio Gov Seeks to Stop Union Law Repeal Effort,” AP, 8/17/11) 

It’s difficult to find common ground and negotiate when one side fails to offer any alternatives.  Democrats failed to offer a single amendment, and one union leader said at a We Are Ohio news conference last week that they intentionally refused to do so for inherently "political" reasons:

“The Democrats were supportive of our position in its entirety,” said Steve Loomis, president of the police patrolmen’s union in Cleveland, during today’s press conference.  “The fact that they didn’t offer any amendments is political in nature and they had their reasons for doing that,” Loomis said. (Courtesy: Ohio Capital Blog, We Are Ohio Press Conference, 8/12/11)