COMMENTARY | More Ohioans are developing a fiscally responsible mindset, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today. Opposition to Ohio Senate Bill 5 (Issue 2) has significantly decreased. The effort to share accurate facts about the pending legislation by the nonprofit group Building a Better Ohio likely played a large part in the statistical changes.
In just six weeks, Ohio voters will decide the fate of the job-saving bill. The slight increase in public employee pension and insurance plans will prevent more layoffs and the need to raise costs on struggling taxpayers. According to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, opposition to SB5 decreased from 24 to 13 points. Polling institute Assistant Director Peter Brown stated public opinion within the Buckeye State appears to be moving in favor of the bill.
A Quinnipiac poll conducted in July showed a majority of Ohioans favored specific aspects of the bill but did not fully support changes in collective bargaining laws. Misleading statements and incorrect facts by the liberal We Are Ohio group and union officials caused fear in public workers. In the months after the Senate Bill 5 protests on the statehouse lawn, a multitude of accurate information filtered into living rooms and offices, decreasing the panic over collective bargaining changes.
The September poll was organized after opposing sides created television commercials to express their respective points of view. Building a Better Ohio commercials featured a former Ohio firefighter and current Toledo mayor sharing his story about the budget cuts resulting in the need for him to hang up his bunker gear and search for a new line of work.
We Are Ohio and union-sponsored commercials attempted to tug at the heart and featured firefighters worried about their safety with collective bargaining changes. The commercial's focus on a reduction in safety gear and equipment if the law passes was entirely false.
Safety requirements that do not exist as a matter of Ohio law are written into the fiscally responsible legislation. According to Building a Better Ohio representative Jason Maulk, SB5 includes wording that permits firefighters and law enforcement officers to demand necessary safety equipment and places staffing level decisions into the hands of fire chiefs and police commanders.
Poll Highlights
* 60 percent of Ohioans polled support basing pay increases on merit and factoring in seniority. Those polled oppose a continuation of the automatic pay increase system which awards annual raises regardless of performance, advanced education, infractions or attendance.
* 59 percent favor increasing public employee contributions to their health insurance plans by 15 percent.
* 56 percent support increasing public employee pension contributions to 10 percent.
* Support for limiting collective bargaining privileges to specific aspects of employment increased to 40 percent, with 10 percent undecided.
* Party identification: Poll respondents were 34 percent Democratic, 26 percent Republican and 40 percent identifying themselves as independent or other.
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