BuckeyeBlog

Gongwer News Ohio reports in an email update today:

A coalition pushing a ballot initiative that would have provided seven days of paid sick leave for certain Ohio workers said Thursday it will remove the issue from the fall ballot.

Service Employees International Union District 1199 President Becky Williams said the Coalition for Healthy Families will ask to have the proposal taken off the ballot.

Ms. Williams said the decision “was not easy nor made lightly,” but was reached after “it became clear that a shrill and vitriolic ballot campaign marred by misinformation and disinformation would be impossible to avoid.”

Ohio’s economy has dodged a bullet.  As I wrote in the Wilmington News Journal in August,

The employees who work for companies affected by H.B. 536 will be hurt rather than helped, as their employers will be forced to respond to this bill by reducing wages and other benefits, in effect punishing responsible employees who currently manage to uphold the attendance agreements they have made with their employers.  Current PTO plans (paid time off) and vacation policies offered by employers will be reduced or eliminated, and telecommuting and work-at-home arrangements will have to be significantly altered.  Investors in Ohio businesses will likewise be hurt; the bill would require an administrative headache for Ohio businesses, which would be forced to complete costly and time-consuming compliance paperwork.  These costs will make investment in Ohio businesses an unattractive option, creating the incentive to invest resources in more business-friendly states and escalating Ohio’s capital drain.  Consumers will be hurt by the higher prices which will be required to cover the costs of Ohio’s sick day requirements.

David Hansen also discussed the proposal back in May with WSPD’s Brian Wilson.