Ohio Republicans Slip In Anti-Gay Union Language in SB 5

There have been some right wing people who've spent a lot of time going after public employees.  However, they really have no clue what kinds of things teachers, firefighters, police,  nurses, and public employees do in their daily lives.  The effort to attack these public employees and remove their workers' rights has been very disheartening for those who work in fields that assist the public.


A fire in Philadelphia illustrates the dangers faced by public employees who work as firefighters.

Philly.com:

Philadelphia fire department personnel making a rescue at the fire yesterday at the Norman Blumberg apartments at 24th and Jefferson St. in North Philadelphia. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer) 

The fire in a high-rise in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resulted in 10 injured firefighters, and 6 injured civilians. (see Philly.com)

*****  Did you know that the Republicans slipped in a little something extra in SB 5?

Firedoglake:

As I noted yesterday, the Ohio Senate passed SB 5, a bill that would strictly limit collective bargaining for all public employees, give local officials the final word in arbitration and ban strikes under penalty of law, by a single vote, despite having a 23-10 partisan advantage in the chamber. Six Republicans voted no, and two of them had to be yanked off committees in order to smooth the bill’s passage. Those who voted yes, along with Gov. John Kasich, claimed that the state of the economy demanded that they get more control over the collective bargaining system.
The economic benefits of SB 5 can be proven by the fact that it includes this language (h/t Barbara Morrill):

Sec. 3101.01 of S.B. 5: … A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.

The Ohio Legislature has already passed a gay marriage ban, AND a referendum put a gay marriage ban in the Constitution in the Bush-Kerry year of 2004. I guess Ohio Republicans would tell you this redundancy was needed because the State Supreme Court limited the impact on parenting and custody relationships. So that necessitated this language. In an anti-union bill. I guess Ohio Republicans are really anti-union!...




 *****  SB 5, unfortunately, did pass in the Ohio Senate yesterday.

Which State Senators voted for SB 5?
 Ohio Senate:

 03/02/2011

Yeas - 17

Bacon	Beagle	Cates	Daniels
Faber	Gillmor	Hite	Jones
Jordan	LaRose	Lehner	Obhof
Schaffer	Stewart	Wagoner	Widener
Niehaus

 

Nays - 16

Brown	Cafaro	Grendell	Hughes
Kearney	Manning	Oelslager	Patton
Sawyer	Schiavoni	Seitz	Skindell
Smith	Tavares	Turner	Wilson

 I've linked the names of the state senators who voted for SB 5 just in case you wanted to let them know how you feel about their support for the anti-middle class bill.