Buckeye State Collective Bargaining Battle Could Be National Bellwether

By Bill Flax/Forbes

With few statewide elections and nothing nationally in 2011, several initiatives in Ohio provide bellwethers with broad implications for 2012. Issue 2, if passed, will uphold Senate Bill 5, a Republican attempt to alleviate looming budget problems by decelerating the expansion of employee compensation packages via collective bargaining reform.

Thanks to a gargantuan grassroots effort, Issue 3, the Healthcare Freedom Amendment, will test Obamacare’s mettle. It would prevent pretentious governments from forcing citizens to finance their care in fashions fancied by bureaucrats. The attention afforded these contests across the ideological spectrum from Rush Limbaugh to the Huffington Post underscores their national significance.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/billflax/2011/11/03/buckeye-state-

Tagged as: collective bargaining rights, Gov. John Kasich, Issue 2, Ohio, public-sector unions, SB 5