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State Representative Jim Buchy…
I Stand By my Vote
for Collective Bargaining Reform
Since returning to the Ohio House of Representatives, I have enjoyed
company with so many constituents. The hospitality shown to me
and the time I have been able to spend in each community of the 77th
House District is much appreciated. Since late February much of
my time has been spent with constituents talking about the balanced
budget passed in Ohio and collective bargaining reform.
Government must live within its means and we need a smaller government
that stays out of our lives. For that reason it was without
hesitation that I supported legislation that would give our local
governments and citizens control over their own budgets. Ohio is
out of money and the public in many cases is not supporting tax hikes
to fund the exploding size and cost of government. I stand behind
my vote in favor of Senate Bill 5.
Senate Bill 5 was part of the five part plan to turn this state
around. In particular, Senate Bill 5 amended collective
bargaining laws for the first time in 28 years. This is necessary
reform that I believe would have kept young people in this state and
would have primed the pumps for Ohio’s comeback. Throughout the
process I communicated with my constituents and your concerns were
brought back to my colleagues who made changes in the bill as a
result. One of those changes was allowing citizens to have the
final say on a controversial contract by an up or down vote of the
community.
Once SB 5 became law, my efforts were you united with other state
leaders to bring the facts of the law around the state. I met
many of you at community meetings, in service clubs, and at public
events. I had visits with local police chiefs, fire chiefs,
sheriffs, mayors, city administrators, teachers and school
superintendents. I urged support for Senate Bill 5 because these
reforms would allow public employees to remain on the job even when
budget times are tough.
On Tuesday, the voters in Ohio rejected Issue 2 overwhelmingly.
Interestingly, the entire 77th House District turned it down by only
573 votes out of over 46,000 votes cast. The people spoke and I accept
their decision.
My plans are to remain in communication with constituents as we work in
Columbus to solve our budget problems and promote job growth in
Ohio. We will work on many topics over the coming months that
must be addressed. I will personally be promoting changes to
agricultural law that would promote cleaner water in our farmland
without increased regulation. We will likely tackle pension
reform, capital improvements, continued job creation, and changes at
the local government level to reduce high operation costs.
Ohio is too great of a state to sit back and let her fail.
Tuesday night presented more challenges in fixing this State but I look
forward to many opportunities to take new steps to turn Ohio
around. We are lucky to live in a state with a great
history. As your State Representative I will work to find ways to
keep young people in Ohio and get the economy pumping once again.
Paid for by: Citizens for Buchy, Dave Wolters, Treasurer, 2191 Oak
Street, Maria Stein, Ohio 45860
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