There are questions about whether Ohio voters will see an issue on the ballot this fall that, if passed, would put restrictions on clinics that provide kidney dialysis. First, the group backing the referendum effort fell short of signatures, and now supporters of the measure are facing a lawsuit.
The Service Employees International Union is backing a proposed constitutional amendment to require more oversight of dialysis clinics and limit how much they can charge patients.
The union’s Anthony Caldwell said the petition was rejected because it was about 10,ooo signatures short of the nearly 306,000, but still they have time to collect more signatures.
“Ten-thousand signatures in 10 days is doable, and we look forward to getting those signatures so we can put this issue before voters,” he said.
Gene Pierce speaks for the Ohio Renal Association, which filed a lawsuit over the proposed amendment, saying the union group violated the petition process.
“They’ve paid very little attention to the laws that govern this that are put in place to ensure ballot integrity,” Pierce said.
The union group calls the legal challenge “frivolous.”
