Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
To the Editor: We are once again being asked to vote on Ohio spending in the form of a bond referendum.
In Ohio we have an $85 billion a year budget. In the 2024 lame duck session, HB Joint Resolution 8 was passed after it sailed through our legislature and was placed on our May primary ballot.
Issue #2 is asking for authority to sell bonds to the tune of $2.5 BILLION! Our legislature wants to spend up to $250 million of that amount per year for the next 10 years.
Some have called this the “stealth issue.”
I personally become leery when a bill makes it all the way through legislature and most people have heard nothing about it.
That amount ($250 million) is about .2 percent of the total budget. Why do we need new spending? Why do we need to take on new debt? If we are replacing expiring issues, are the expenditures still necessary? These questions need to be answered publicly before we try to push through a “stealth issue.”
We are tired of overspending. We are tired of our tax burden being so high in Ohio! Since Ohio’s constitution requires a balanced budget, this issue would change Ohio’s constitution to allow the state to borrow via bond issue and not include it in the budget.
To me this is a dangerous precedent for future spending. We need to send a strong message to Columbus that they cannot do “stealth” spending in Ohio.
We do this by voting NO ON ISSUE #2. Early voting is beginning so let’s get out the word!
Fred Lewis
Oregon
