The wait is over – Issue 1 and 2 have been decided. Issue 1, a proposed amendment to Ohio’s constitution, passed. It will allow judges to deny bail in felony cases where the person charged could pose a significant threat to the community, according to the Ohio Issues Report. It would also let judges deny bail in felony cases where it is highly likely that the person charged committed the crime. Issue 2, a referendum placed on the ballot asking Ohio voters whether proposed changes to the workers’ compensation system should be made, failed. At press time, with 72 percent of the votes counted, Issue 2 was defeated 57 percent to 43 percent.If passed, Issue 2 would have implemented these workers’ comp reforms:

  • Cutting the time period in which a person can receive lost-wage benefits from nearly four years to six months.
  • Eliminating lawyers in the first stage of workers’ comp cases.
  • Slashing the period an inactive case is held open in half, from 10 years to five.
  • Giving those applying for permanent disability status a non-working wage loss payment until a decision is reached on their claim.
  • Removing the 40-week waiting period for the start of partial disability payments.

Issue 2 would have ended the benefits seasonal workers, mainly students, could collect.”The college students have spoken,” said Steve Mindzak, treasurer for the Committee to Stop Corporate Attacks on Injured Workers. “It was a horrible bill punishing students for trying to work.”Mindzak said many Ohio State students helped pass out fliers to inform people about Issue 2.”I just want to say thank you to every student at OSU who helped,” he said.Mindzak said the effort to overthrow Issue 2 was purely a grass roots effort. “It was people standing up to say enough is enough,” said Mindzak. “Politics has to get back to basics. It (the failure of Issue 2) made history tonight.”Don Day, secretary/treasurer of the Ohio AFL-CIO, said, “This was all for them (Ohio’s students). We were there to help stop corporate interests. We feel that if we wouldn’t have won, this would have been a license for corporate America to do what ever they want.”The workers’ comp reforms were contained in Senate Bill 45, passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed into law by the Gov. George Voinovich.Issue 2 was the first referendum brought to voters since 1939. The question was placed on the ballot because about 415,000 valid signatures were collected in a 90-day period. A group of labor unions and trial lawyers mounted the successful campaign.Attempts to reach “Keep Ohio Working!,” which supported Issue 2, were unsuccessful.