The Democrat challenging Governor John Kasich is taking his message on the road. As WYSO’s Emily McCord reports Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald was in Dayton Wednesday to talk about women’s issues and the state budget.
Fitzgerald spoke to a small group of Dayton residents to talk about cuts to Medicaid and Planned Parenthood and other restrictions on abortion that were signed by Governor Kasich into the state budget. He continued his message that there are still ways to challenge those measures. One way he says is through what’s called an initiated statute that would force Ohio lawmakers to discuss the issue. Fitzgerald says the provisions in the budget are out of step with mainstream Ohio voters.
"It isn’t what just was passed. It was that they did at the eleventh hour and they did in a way that was specifically designed and calculated to not have this public discussion," says Fitzgerald. "And what we just said a few days ago was ‘let’s at least have a discussion about this and let’s see if people are interested in challenging this'. That’s why the Ohio constitution is designed the way that it is so that if a legislature really gets out of balance, the people can reign them back in."
If the initiated statute is successful, lawmakers would have four months to respond. If they failed to do so, opponents could put that legislation to voters in November 2014, That’s the same time Fitzgerald would be facing off against Governor Kasich in an election.