All it does is make the constitution for sale to only those who have the deepest pockets. Miller: If we want to protect the Constitution, Issue 1 in August is not it. If we get something wrong in our constitution, we're essentially stuck with it forever. I do think that if we get a law wrong in the General Assembly, we can fix it, we can change it the next day, essentially. I think that it is a bit of a separate question from what we're going to do in our constitution. Stewart: I've said from the beginning I'm open to beefing up the initiated statute process. Should Ohio change the initiated statute process instead? If someone is anti abortion, they should vote no, but that doesn't mean we should change the rules of the game for all of us. We needed the ability to check the power of corrupt state government. When we got the right to amend the constitution, even Teddy Roosevelt came to the Ohio Statehouse because our Ohio Statehouse was so corrupt, and the idea being that Ohioans needed the ability to pass policies that better our lives. But we need to keep in mind that this is a tradition that Ohioans have had for over a century. The only reason to rush an August election is this idea that an abortion amendment would be harder to pass in the fall. Miller: I think this is completely about abortion and completely about other things as well. That applies to abortion, that applies to redistricting, that applies to wage hikes, that applies to qualified immunity. I think it's entirely reasonable, knowing that that's on the horizon for this November, next November and so forth, to ask Ohioans to say wait, we're going to have an election to decide the rules of the game. We know that's coming on a whole host of issues. This is an effort to raise outside-of-Ohio money and then come to Ohio and try to buy policy in the state that I think is contrary to what the elected legislature would elect. As I mentioned, this is a change in tactics nationally. Stewart: There are a whole host of issues that we know are coming down the pike. Is this about the potential November ballot initiative on abortion and reproductive rights? And it also would make it incredibly hard just to get an issue on the ballot, because we would have even more arduous signature requirements. This would end majority rule, in which 40% of voters could block what the majority of Ohioans want. It's already incredibly hard to amend the constitution. Miller: It's unfair, it's undemocratic and it's unnecessary. Everything else, we believe, should be subject mostly to the give and take of a legislature, the checks and balances that come in with that legislative process. A constitution is the broad parameters of government. It should not be a vehicle for the fringe ideas that divide us. A constitution is supposed to be made up of the broad ideas that unite us. Don't allow for outside special interests and monied interests to essentially buy a spot on the ballot to attempt to change public policy, and sometimes − in too many instances in Ohio − pursuing policies to benefit themselves first and Ohioans a distant second. Stewart: Ohio's Constitution should be protected in much the same way as the federal constitution. You can listen to both episodes on this newspaper's website, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Here are some highlights from the interviews. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau invited a supporter and opponent to discuss Issue 1 on the Ohio Politics Explained podcast: Rep. Ohio Issue 1: What you need to know about Ohio's August special election Specifically, it would require 60% of the vote to enact new amendments − instead of a simple majority − and citizens would need to gather more signatures to place a proposal on the ballot. 8 whether to support Issue 1, a proposal that would make it harder to amend the constitution. Ohio is weeks away from an election that could transform how the state constitution gets changed.
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