December 29

State constitutional panel is forming

Group of legislators, others will look at founding document

By  David Eggert

The Columbus Dispatch Thursday December 29, 2011 4:24 AM

Before starting a decade-long process to update the Ohio Constitution — just the third review in a century — a bipartisan commission first had to get organized yesterday.

The main order of business? Figuring out how to fill the panel’s ranks with 20 additional people from outside the legislature.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/29/state-constitutional-panel-is-forming.html

Constitutional review begins

·         12/28/11 at 5:21pm

·         Written by pkostyu

·         Cincinnati Enquirer

The last time Ohio did a thorough review of its constitution occurred 40 years ago. After meeting over a span of seven years, the review panel recommended 47  changes to the state’s primary legal document. Of those, 44 were approved by Ohioans.

The process started again today with the organizational meeting of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, which will become a 32-member bipartisan body charged with examining all aspects of the document and making recommendations to the Legislature. It is patterned after the review in the 1970s. Any suggested constitutional changes require a two-third majority vote of the commission.
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/28/constitutional-review-begins/

Batchelder Launches Commission To Recommend Constitutional Changes

Gongwer 12/28/11

With the possibility that voters might call for a constitutional convention in November, lawmakers inaugurated a new panel Wednesday to review and recommend revisions to the state's founding document.

Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina), who sponsored the legislation creating the Constitutional Modernization Commission (HB 188 ), said the 32-member body would lay the groundwork for a new constitution if voters approve the 2012 constitutional convention question.

If voters reject the issue, as they have every time since the 1912 Constitution required it be placed on the ballot every 20 years, then the commission will identify problem areas and recommend amendments for the legislature to place on the ballot in coming years, he said during the organizational meeting.

http://www.gongwer-oh.com/programming/news.cfm?article_ID=802490201

WKSU

A bipartisan panel charged with reviewing Ohio's Constitution for possible updates has set a Jan. 31 deadline for applicants to the group. 

The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will ultimately include 32 members - 12 appointed from the General Assembly and 20 picked by majority vote from the outside. 

Creation of the commission was spearheaded by House Speaker William Batchelder as a way of preparing for the possibility that a constitutional convention will be called in 2012. 

The question is put before voters every 20 years. 

Ohio's Constitution affects voting, marriage, taxes on casinos and other businesses, elective terms and how the state pays for schools.
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/30311