The SHOCKING Truth Behind Ohio's May Primary Ballot

Speaker A: 00:00:00

The following is an episode of the Grassroots Freedom Initiative Podcast. This episode is the audio from videos released on our YouTube and Rumble channels.

There may be times in this episode when we refer to information displayed on the screen that is impossible to provide in podcast format.

However, links to the video version of this episode, as well as links to sources mentioned in this episode can be found in this episode's show Notes now the Grassroots Freedom Initiative Podcast Are you aware there's an Ohio bond issue on the primary ballot in May? It's for $2.5 billion with spending limits of $250 million annually. Supposedly it's necessary for the health and well-being of Ohio's infrastructure.

We'll bet most Ohioans haven't heard about it and know almost nothing about it. That's intentional. It's taxpayer abuse. A great strategy might be to vote no on it. Here's why.

Our elected representatives who support it will tell you it's just a replacement for what's already in place. But expiring. Like many things in Ohio politics, it has indications of rigging, manipulation and possibly corruption.

And the replacement argument is a poor excuse for running a shoddy operation.

What business says hey, let's sign a multi-billion dollar contract renewal because our previous multi-billion dollar contract is expiring, not one because that would be stupid. Is the product or service still needed? Should we be procuring it another way? Are we paying a fair price?

Rarely are these questions asked, and even more rarely are these questions answered by our elected officials. Voting no on the ballot issue in May might be a great way to snap them out of their financial scrutiny slumber. They work for us.

They have a fiduciary responsibility to us. Let's remind them. The first question is why is a bond issue needed? Why not make these expenditures part of Ohio's biennial budget?

The bonds are secured by taxes paid by Ohio taxpayers. Why bonds? Ohio's annual budget is about $85 billion. 250 million is 0.2% of Ohio's annual budget. That's right, 0.2%.

Not 2%, not 1%, not even one half a percent. It's two tenths of 1%. So why a bond issue with all the expenses associated with it?

Our next question is why have lawmakers who quietly and rapidly passed legislation allowing for this issue to go on May's primary ballot, why have they been so quiet about this?

Have you heard many, if any, of them talk about flew through the legislative process from start to finish last November and December in just over a month as house Joint Resolution 8, it speeded through the lame duck session.

Since Ohio's constitution requires a balanced budget and does not authorize the state to go into debt, the issue, if approved by voters in May, changes Ohio's constitution to allow for the state to borrow by issuing bonds.

Once again, we're going to trample on Ohio's constitution, adding more pages to what is already 139 pages and includes insanity, like I kid you not, a list of tax parcel numbers for a casino district in Cuyahoga County to play games with taxpayer money.

Matters like this should not be handled by constitutional amendment that reeks of corruption and is perhaps a good reason to consider voting no on this issue in May. Finally, no discussion of this issue would be complete without asking the question why now?

The expiration of the last bond issue and associated spending has been known for about a decade, 10 years why wasn't this on the November 5th presidential general election ballot last year?

When more people vote, when voter turnout is the highest, why schedule it for the ballot of a primary election in a non-presidential and non-gubernatorial year when turnout is about the lowest it can possibly be? It's intentional. It's to improve the chances the issue passes under the radar, so to speak.

General elections bring out a broader and less predictable electorate, including more casual or independent voters who may be skeptical of tax increases. In contrast, primary elections tend to attract party loyalists and interest groups who may be more likely to support public funding measures.

In general elections, levies might get lost in the noise of high profile races, presidential races, governor races, or congressional elections. Voters overwhelmed with political ads and polarizing issues may vote “NO” reflexively on tax measures.

In a primary, the ballot is often shorter and less contentious, giving a levy a better chance.

If you are tired of being treated poorly by your elected representatives being manipulated in this manner, voting no on this issue in May might be just the thing to send them a loud and clear message that we're no longer accepting. They're ignoring us. It's time we forced them to listen. Think about it.

This video is brought to you by the Grassroots Freedom Initiative, or GFI for short. If you're not already on our email and text lists, please be sure to join our network of thousands of Ohioans.

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