The Ohio Ballot Board is expected to decide Monday if a plan that would eventually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour will take another step toward making it to the ballot.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced a ballot board meeting for Monday, when the board is expected to rule on a proposed constitutional amendment, “Raise the Wage Ohio.” The meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. in the Senate Finance Hearing Room.
The Ballot Board’s sole responsibility is to determine if the proposal contains a single law or multiple laws.
If the board certifies the petition, the group must collect signatures from at least 3% of registered voters based on the ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election. Those signatures must come from at least 44 of the state’s 88 counties, and in each of those counties, the number must be at least 1.5% of the vote cast in the last gubernatorial election.
If that happens, it could be on the ballot in November.
Currently, a proposed constitutional amendment would need 50%-plus-one at the ballot to pass. General assembly Republicans, along with LaRose, are pushing to change that threshold to 60%, as previously reported by The Center Square.
If the plan gets out of the assembly, it would appear on an August ballot and need only 50%-plus-one to pass. Last year, GOP lawmakers passed a bill signed by Gov. Mike DeWine to end August special elections in an effort to save taxpayers money.
The minimum wage proposal follows an abortion rights amendment that could be on the ballot in November.
The proposed minimum wage amendment would raise the state minimum wage to $10.50 an hour Jan. 1, 2025 and increase it annually from there for three years to reach $15 an hour Jan. 1, 2028.
