© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
2018 was a big election year in Ohio. Republicans held onto all five statewide executive offices including governor and super majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate. But there were a few bright spots for Democrats, among them the reelection of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and the election of two Democrats to the Ohio Supreme Court.With election 2018 over, the focus now shifts to governing. Stay connected with the latest on politics, policies and people making the decisions at all levels affecting your lives.

Union Leader Blames Politics in Ohio Supreme Court's Kidney Dialysis Ruling

Photo of a kidney dialysis patient
SHUTTERSHOCK
Anthony Caldwell with the Service Employees International Union 1199 says his group might try to get the measure on the Fall 2019 ballot.

A union that intended to put a measure capping kidney dialysis costs on the Ohio ballot this fall said it isn’t giving up, despite a ruling from the state’s top court that won't allow the measure to come before voters  this November.

Anthony Caldwell with Service Employees International Union 1199 said he was shocked by the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that invalidated petition signatures submitted to put the proposed constitutional amendment on the fall ballot. 

“This is clearly politically motivated and legislating from the bench, which is what the Republicans have railed against for years, and now they are doing it in this case,” he said.

Caldwell said the voters should have had a chance to decide this issue, which he asserts would lead to better (and less expensive) care for patients.

The Ohio Renal Association, which opposed the amendment and brought the suit, had already bought ads against the measure when the court handed down the decision.

Caldwell said his group may try again for the Fall 2019 ballot.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.