This article first appeared on Substack.
Will Governor DeWine do the right thing? Or will he cower and cave to his party’s extremists?
He only has a few days left to decide.
Ohio Statehouse Republicans have sent the governor four bills that would cause immense harm to our state. He can choose to sign the bills into law or veto (reject) them.
Three of the bills (HB 129, HB 186, and HB 335) are fake property tax “relief” plans that will devastate Ohio communities while protecting politicians’ wealthy donors.
All three bills will gut funding to local schools, libraries, addiction services, and first responders.
NONE of the three bills will lower property taxes for the people who need it most.
Statehouse Republicans refuse to admit that they caused Ohio’s property tax crisis by repeatedly passing tax cuts for the rich while simultaneously decreasing the state share of funding for public schools.
If they refuse to acknowledge the problem, they damn sure won’t be able to fix it.
Tell Governor DeWine (and his top staff) to VETO the three worst property tax bills: HB 129, HB 186, and HB 335.
Here’s a contact sheet with phone numbers and emails for everyone who speaks to the governor throughout the day
Here’s a document with information about each of these three bills
SAMPLE SCRIPT:
Hello. I’m [calling / emailing] to ask Governor DeWine to VETO the three most [devastating / dangerous / harmful] property tax bills: HB 129, HB 186, and HB 335.
These bills won’t lower property taxes for the people who need it most. But they WILL gut the local programs and services we all use.
Does the governor think our kids deserve good schools and libraries? Does he think someone should come when you call 911? Then he needs to VETO these three bills: HB 129, HB 186, and HB 335
Thank you.
The fourth bill (SB 293) is a blatant attack on voting rights, and it comes directly from the Trump Administration.
SB 293 would stop thousands of legal, eligible Ohioans from voting.
It would require nearly all absentee ballots to be rejected if they arrive after Election day — even if they were postmarked on time. It literally punishes Ohioans for the mail being slow.
It also includes pieces of other voter suppression bills, such as SB 153 (Ohio’s version of the SAVE Act) and SB 4 (creates a new “Election Integrity Unit”)
These provisions will force more Ohioans to vote provisionally. Then your voter registration will be CANCELED if you don’t “cure” your provisional ballot within FOUR DAYS
Contact Governor DeWine. Remind him that the last time he signed a major voting bill, he promised he was done signing voting bills.
Tell the governor to keep his word and VETO SB 293
Here’s a contact sheet with phone numbers and emails for everyone who speaks to the governor throughout the day
Here’s more info about SB 293
SAMPLE SCRIPT:
Hello. I’m [calling / emailing] to ask Governor DeWine to VETO SB 293
Ohio already requires mailed ballots to be postmarked before Election Day. SB 293 literally punishes people when the post office is slow, which is shameful.
Governor DeWine also promised when he signed HB 458 that he was done signing voting bills. He knows there have been way too many changes made to Ohio voting law in just a few years. If he’s a man of his word, he will VETO SB 293.
Governor DeWine will decide in the next few days whether to sign or veto these four ridiculous bills. We know he’s receiving intense pressure from Statehouse Republicans to sign them.
Let’s make sure he hears from us too.
Don’t let anyone ignore the people of Ohio. Our voices will not be drowned out. We demand VETOES of these four awful bills.