In the galloping competition between States for jobs, the cascade of remarkable actions of state after state continues. For who would have guessed that rust-belt states like Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan (!) could roll back -- and keep rolled back -- union gains to better their local economies?
Yet they did, courageously.
Ohio, under State Senator Shannon Jones, did valiantly attempt to implement Senate Bill 5 four years ago. S.B. 5 was a broad attempt to rein in the scourge of public sector unions, and to their credit, the Ohio House and Senate and Governor Kasich stood firm for this needed reform. But then a ballot referendum trimmed their sails by repealing this landmark legislation, and it appears -- and we say this respectfully -- that they since have had weak knees in confronting Big Labor.
Well, the competitive economy does not allow the luxury of weak knees, or a pause, or capitulation. It is not enough that Ohio Republicans won the House, the Senate and every state-wide constitutional seat. They must DO SOMETHING with those wins.
Now it is Illinois (Illinois!) that is eating our lunch in the fight to scale back the power of public employee unions. Illinois, the home of the Chicago mafia and Barack Obama for God's sake. Illinois. Read about that here.
It's a remarkable notion: Do something while you have the power that the people have given you.
Ohio, Governor Kasich, Speaker Rosenberger, please act, or be left on the ash heap of history and in the dust of competitive economic rivals.
Yes only this time please try to show some political savvy. Don't include police and firemen. Start with something the public is strongly in favor of like making union dues optional in Ohio, pass a law giving union members some say in what the money is spent on. Almost no one opposes those measures. Create a commission in the AG's office to aggressively investigate and prosecute union goons. My bet is Kasich thinks he is VP material in 2016 and he will want to maintain his "moderate" image -- you'll see no action at all from the governor.
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