Ohio voters to decide constitutional amendment on May ballot that changes how congressional districts are redrawn by the state legislature, an issue that has garnered bipartisan support with greater Cleveland Black state legislators state Representatives Barnes, Boyd, Howse and Patmon and state Senator Sandra Williams supporting the upcoming ballot initiative ....State Representative Boyd and state Representative Nickie Antonio, a White Lakewood Democrat and also a supporter of the constitutional amendment, comment herein on the issue to Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.....United States House of Representatives members Marcia Fudge, Marcy Kaptur, Joyce Beatty and Tim Ryan are the only Democrats as to the 16 congressional seats representing Ohio

Ohio state Representative Nickie Antonio (left) (D-13), a Lakewood Democrat and candidate this year for the Ohio Senate in state senate district 23 , and state Representative Janine Boyd (D-9), a Cleveland Heights Democrat

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-Following the unanimous passage by the Ohio Senate on Feb. 5, the Ohio House of Representatives, on Feb. 6, passed Senate Joint Resolution 5 (SJR 5), bipartisan legislation that puts a constitutional amendment before voters in May to restrict congressional gerrymandering  regarding the redistricting of congressional districts, which, via state law and the Ohio Constitution, is done by the Ohio General Assembly.

The state House vote on SJR 5, dubbed by foes of it as a bipartisan compromise by the legislature, the League of  Women Voters and others that is not enough, was 83-10.

For clarification, state lawmakers adopt state laws and federal lawmakers, via congress, make federal law.

Both state legislative chambers, the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives, are controlled by Republicans, who are in the majority. 

The redistricting reform measure, supported by most Democratic state legislators and now ripe for the ballot after more than 30 organizations statewide participated in collecting the signatures needed to put the referendum issue before voters, now heads to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to be filed as a ballot initiative. 

Greater Cleveland state House Democrats who voted for SJR 5 include Black state Reps Janine Boyd (D-9) of Cleveland Heights, and Stephanie Howse (D-11), Bill Patmon D-10) and John Barnes Jr.(D-12)., all of Cleveland, and state Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21) of Cleveland, who is also Black.

“I had concerns over provisions that allow for the splitting of counties as well as the legislative process behind this [legislative plan], which saw a work group largely shielded from the public view," said state Rep Boyd in a press statement. "But after talking with constituents and [congressional] redistricting advocates, many of whom stressed the safeguards put in place during bipartisan negotiations earlier this week, I was convinced to vote in favor of SJR 5." 

Boyd said that "while I still have some reservations about this plan, I am hopeful that it is a step in the right direction to give the power back to voters and allow them to have a real voice over their [congressional] representation in Washington.”

The legislative resolution passed across racial and partisan lines.

“While SJR 5 is not a perfect piece of legislation, it is better than what we have now and I appreciate all the work that has been done by the committee legislators,” said state Rep. Nickie J. Antonio of Lakewood, a White Democrat and  candidate this year for state senate district 23.

“Ultimately, redistricting reform is about taking back our democracy and ensuring that the people have the opportunity to elect representatives who reflect their constituency rather than politicians selecting their constituents,"  Antonio said. 

The plan keeps the state legislature in charge of drawing congressional maps, but curbs gerrymandering and adds mechanisms in which the minority party, now the Democrats, would have more input than they have now.

Among other provisions of SJR 5, which was  sponsored by state senators Matt Huffman and Vernon Sykes of Akron, who is Black, the new plan provides for the formation of a commission in the event legislators are unable to adopt a new map due to partisan-driven discrepancies or otherwise and allows for the governor to veto the redistricting  map.

It also permits a citizen- led referendum on the map. 

And  while it still would allow the majority party, Republicans in particular, to devise new maps without relevant Democratic input, such new maps are limited to four rather than 10 years under the plan, among other restrictions.

Ohio currently has 16 congressional districts, down from 18 as to the revised map adopted by the by the state legislature in conjunction with the 2010 U.S. census, a population-based reduction that occurred with Republican state legislators primarily at the helm and that saw two former congress persons  lose their seats, including Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, also a former mayor who was forced to run unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose 9th congressional district now extends to Cleveland.

Former Congresswoman Betty Sutton, a lieutenant governor candidate on the Democratic ticket of former state attorney general and state treasurer Richard Chordray, also director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington D.C. who resigned last year relative to his bid for governor, was the other political casualty of the last congressional redistricting map, along with Kucinich, who, like Chordray, state Sen. Joe Rep Schiavoni and former state Rep Connie Pillich, is  also a seeking the Democratic nomination for governor this year, the primary election of which is May 8. (Editor's note: The candidates for the Republican nomination for governor are former U.S. senator and current state attorney general Mike DeWine, and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor). 

The GOP hold 12 of the 16 congressional seats in Ohio, and Democrats, namely Kaptur, 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L Fudge, whose majority Black congressional district includes the east side of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs, U.S. Rep Joyce Beatty of Columbus, one of two Blacks in congress from Ohio along with Fudge, and, Congressman Tim Ryan of the Youngstown area, occupy the remaining four congressional seats. 

Opponents expressed concerns over several parts of the proposed plan that they see as loopholes that, in extreme cases, state legislators say, could still allow partisan congressional district rigging. 

If approved by Ohio voters at the ballot box in May, the congressional redistricting process will be amended under SJR 5 as follows:

• Following completion of the United States Census, state legislators could adopt a new congressional district map if three-fifths of the legislature's total membership vote to approve, including one-half of the minority party members. This map would apply for 10 years.
• If the legislature proved unable to adopt a new map, a commission could be formed to adopt a map. That commission would include the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, and four legislators, two of whom would have to come from the legislature's minority party. A majority of the commission's members, including two members belonging to the minority party, would have to agree on a map. The map would apply for 10 years.
• If the commission proved unable to adopt a map, state legislators would be given a second chance to adopt a map. The map would have to be approved by three-fifths of the legislature's total membership, including one-third of the minority party's members. The map would apply for 10 years.
• If the legislature failed a second time, the majority party of the legislature, without support from the minority party, could adopt a map that would apply for four years.

Maps drawn by the legislature could be vetoed by the governor or a veto referendum campaign. If adopted, the amendment would stipulate the 65 of Ohio's counties could not be split during redistricting (18 could be split once, and the state's five most populous counties could be split twice)

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.