TEL Amendment will be on the ballot

From Ohioans for Blackwell

 

Ken Blackwell's Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) Amendment <javascript:ol('http://www.cftr.org');> will put the breaks on state government spending. State governments have never taxed and spent their way into prosperity, and the TEL Amendment will provide the guardrails to put our economy on the right track. Ken Blackwell's two opponents, Jim Petro and Betty Montgomery, want to maintain the status quo and are publicly opposed to the TEL Amendment.

 

Incase you missed these recent articles regarding the TEL Amendment, please review the articles below:

 

Blackwell group says it has enough signatures for ballot issue

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A group headed by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell says it will submit petitions containing 515,000 signatures for a vote on a constitutional amendment to cap state and local government spending.

 

Thursday, August 04, 2005  By: Associated Press
Blackwell group says it has enough signatures for ballot issue
From the Associated Press <http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/12301685.htm>:

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A group headed by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell says it will submit petitions containing 515,000 signatures for a vote on a constitutional amendment to cap state and local government spending.

 

The group needs 322,899 valid signatures of registered voters from at least 44 of the 88 counties to put the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot. The deadline for submitting the petitions is Aug. 10.

 

The proposal by Citizens for Tax Reform <http://www.cftr.org> would limit spending to the rates of inflation and population growth combined, or 3.5 percent a year, whichever was greater. It also would require voter approval of tax increases.

 

Blackwell, who is seeking next year's Republican nomination for governor, says the amendment is necessary to control spending and improve Ohio's economy.

 

His primary opponents, state Auditor Betty Montgomery and Attorney General Jim Petro, oppose it. The Democrats in the race, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, say the proposal would cripple government's ability to provide needed services.

 

Thursday, August 04, 2005  By: Dennis J. Willard, Akron Beacon Journal 
New group eyes state reform
From The Akron Beacon Journal <http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/12300177.htm>:

 

Brennan associates' nonprofit raising funds for amendment to limit spending

 

COLUMBUS - Associates of Akron industrialist and charter school entrepreneur David Brennan are behind a new nonprofit organization that is raising large contributions from unspecified sources to amend Ohio's Constitution to limit spending by the state government.

 

Ohioans for Responsible Government was formed on March 28 by three Brennan associates, and a recent campaign finance filing indicates that the organization is playing a key role in raising the money to place the ballot issue before voters on Nov. 8.

 

The group gave $225,000, or almost three of every four dollars raised, to Citizens for Tax Reform <http://www.cftr.org>, the committee created by Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and his associates to gather signatures and run the campaign.

 

''Mr. Brennan's interest in public policy issues and his commitment to sound fiscal policies for the state is well-established,'' said Tom Needles, a lobbyist for Brennan's White Hat Management company, which runs charter schools.

 

Brennan is one of the largest individual contributors to political campaigns in the state, and on at least two occasions he was involved in forming issue advocacy groups designed to influence Ohio Supreme Court elections.

 

Ohioans for Responsible Governments, the newest issue advocacy group, gave Blackwell's tax reform organization $55,000 on April 29; $30,000 on June 9; $30,000 more a day later; $40,000 on June 13 and $70,000 on June 24.

 

In turn, Citizens for Tax Reform is spending the money primarily to pay Arno Political Consultants of Rancho Cordova, Calif., to collect signatures for the initiative petition drive.

 

Arno needs to collect 322,899 valid signatures, or 10 percent of the total vote in the 2002 gubernatorial race, by Monday to place the issue before voters.

 

If successful, voters would be asked to amend the Ohio Constitution to tie increases in state government spending to inflation and population growth rates. In some cases, budget surpluses would be returned to taxpayers.

 

Gene Pierce, a tax reform spokesman, said his group was not required to file a report, but chose to voluntarily disclose the sources for the $302,000 raised by his organization.

 

''We have gone above and beyond the law to be transparent,'' Pierce said.

 

What is not transparent is where Ohioans for Responsible Government raised the $225,000 it gave to Citizens for Tax Reform.

 

Needles would not say where his group's money came from or how much Brennan was contributing.

 

Blackwell, who is honorary chairman of Citizens for Tax Reform, has in the past called for full disclosure of funding sources for issue advocacy groups.

 

Carlo Loparo, a Blackwell spokesman, said finance reporting laws distinguish between ballot initiatives and political campaigns.

 

Loparo said corporations, individuals, nonprofit organizations and unions are allowed to give unlimited contributions to ballot-issue campaign committees.

 

''They operate with very few restrictions,'' Loparo said.

 

Citizens for Tax Reform listed 16 contributions in 2005, including the five from Ohioans for Responsible Government. Two individuals and two companies also gave money to the tax reform group.

 

In 2004, the tax reform group, then known as Citizens for Tax Repeal, raised more than $117,000 from 725 smaller contributions.

 

Blackwell is lending more than his name to the effort to amend the constitution.

 

His campaign committee contributed $10,212.69 in in-kind contributions to Citizens for Tax Reform for office space and staff.

 

There is opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment. Another nonprofit, Coalition for Ohio's Future, has been formed to fight the issue.

 

Jenny Camper, a spokeswoman for that group, said her organization has no plans to file contribution and spending reports until required to do so by law.

 

Camper said the first report would be due in October if the amendment reaches the ballot.

 

By law, groups supporting or opposing an effort to go to the ballot with a constitutional amendment are only required to disclose monies raised or spent after the initiative has been certified.