08/08/05 - No TEL Amendment on November Ballot
Citizens for Tax Reform, chaired by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, has scuttled plans to have a Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) constitutional amendment on the November 2005 ballot. Although the group claims to have collected in excess of 500,000 signatures to get the issue on the ballot, the initiative will be delayed a year – and possibly redrafted – to coincide with Blackwell's campaign for Governor.
If the amendment had appeared on the ballot and passed, the limits on state spending could have had a devastating impact on Ohio's public libraries. The amendment would have eliminated the funding of any dedicated state support for public libraries (LLGSF), and, instead, 5% of the state's aggregate revenue would be provided to local governments. The counties would divide the monies among libraries, cities, townships, villages, schools, police, fire, and parks.
In a statement released by Citizens for Tax Reform, Blackwell said, "After consultation with legislative leadership, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett and TEL supporters, the committee decided this issue deserves the widest possible exposure and debate. The 2006 General Election ballot gives Ohio voters that opportunity.”
The Republican leadership in the Ohio House and Senate along with gubernatorial candidates Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro have expressed opposition to Blackwell's proposal. Robert T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, expressed his desire to have the issue debated in the context of the 2006 gubernatorial election. It also was reported by the Gongwer News Service that the Republican leadership had “argued that a modified version of the plan would aid GOP election efforts in 2006.”
The Columbus Dispatch reports that a recent poll sponsored by the Buckeye Institute, a conservative research group, found that 57 percent of Ohioans supported the amendment, while 20 percent opposed it.
