Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Senate Democrats Still Oppose Amended Senate Bill 5

Columbus – Senate Democratic Leader Capri S. Cafaro (D-Hubbard) said today that a new version of Senate Bill 5 is a bad idea that has only gotten worse. The Senate majority presented a substitute bill in the Insurance, Commerce and Labor committee that would still take away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

“The amended bill still strips public employees of any means to effectively bargain and would put them in jail if they strike,” said Senator Cafaro. “Senate Bill 5 turns collective bargaining into a one-sided conversation where management always gets the last word.”

Even though the committee hearing was delayed until the afternoon, Senate Republicans did not provide Democrats with a summary of the amended bill until the hearing began.

“Senate Republicans gave us a 99 page document one minute before the hearing and expected us to ask questions about it,” said Senator Schiavoni, the ranking member on the committee. “That’s ridiculous. But, that’s what they did with the original bill. Polls show the public doesn’t want to strip public employees of their right to collectively bargain. We are wasting time on this bill when we should be working to create jobs.”

Today’s committee hearing took place against the backdrop of a “Rally to Save Ohio’s Middle Class.” An estimated 15,000 Ohioans showed up at the Ohio Statehouse to protest against ending public employees’ right to collective bargaining.

Senate Democrats have requested the opportunity for more witnesses to testify on the amended bill. However, the chairman has not announced if additional testimony will be allowed when hearings resume Wednesday morning.

The Caucus


Minority Leader Eric H. Kearney - Cincinnati - 9th District
Assistant Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni - Canfield - 33rd District
Minority Whip Nina Turner - Cleveland - 25th District
Assistant Minority Whip Edna Brown - Toledo - 11th District
Senator Tom Sawyer - Akron - 28th District
Senator Charleta B. Tavares - Columbus - 15th District
Senator Shirley Smith - Cleveland - 21st District
Senator Michael J. Skindell - Cleveland - 23rd District
Senator Lou Gentile - Steubenville - 30th District
Senator Capri S. Cafaro - Hubbard - 32nd District

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