Support election administration and campaign finance reform.

Justice and Community Safety

Support juvenile justice, citizens’ rights, gun control, and reproductive rights.

Meeting Basic Human Needs

Support policies and programs to prevent or reduce poverty and to promote self-sufficiency for individuals and families.

Natural Resources

Support responsible and responsive management of our natural resources.

Education

Support equitable financing, uniform standards, 
and use of public money only for public schools.

• Taxation & Finance:   The League supports a constitutional revision that would:

• remove the fixed dollar limit with and provide a flexible limit tied to some indicator of the state's economic wealth;
• specify that the power to levy state taxes and determine their uses resides in the General Assembly. This necessitates removal of constitutional provisions dealing with earmarking of taxes.

• Judiciary:  Believes that the selection and tenure of judges are fundamental matters and therefore should be provided for in the Constitution. LWVO supports policies that promote the independence of the judiciary.

LWVO supports a constitutional revision to provide for:

• nomination of judges for Appellate and Supreme Courts by a nonpartisan or bipartisan judicial nominating commission that is carefully balanced and broadly based;
• appointment of judges by the Governor from lists provided by a nominating commission;
• inclusion of constitutional provisions to require appointive judges to run against their own records in noncompetitive elections.

• Term Limits:  LWVO opposes term limits for members of the Ohio General Assembly.  [Top]

APPORTIONMENT/DISTRICTING:  LWVO supports an impartial districting process that may include, but is not limited to:

• districting for Congress and state legislature based substantially on population equality with a variance of no more than plus or minus 5 percent among districts;
• use of a bipartisan commission comprised of an odd number of members to Congressional and state legislative districts that are compact, contiguous, bounded by a non-intersecting line and follow local political boundaries as much as possible;
• opportunity for citizen participation;
• no more than 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts within the Ohio leglislature.

STATE GOVERNMENT FINANCING:  LWVO supports the following tax principles as criteria to be used in evaluating individual taxes and the tax mix in Ohio. Taxes should:

• be fair and equitable;
• provide adequate resources for government programs while allowing flexibility for financing future program changes;
• be understandable to the taxpayer and encourage compliance;
• be easy to administer.

• Corporate Franchise Tax: As a source of state revenue LWVO support the corporate franchise tax especially because businesses should help pay for service received.

• Income Tax: As a source of state revenue LWVO support a personal income tax because it meets the tax principles particularly in that it is fair and equitable.

• Property Tax: LWVO supports:

• real property tax relief, financed by the state, in the form of the Homestead Exemption based on age, income, and disability income;
• elimination of the real property tax rollbacks, both across-the-board and for owner-occupied homes.

• Sales Tax: LWVO supports:

• a change in the base rather than a change in the rate of sales tax;
• application of the sales tax to nonessential services, tickets for professional athletic and entertainment events, and prepared food purchase for on- or off-premise consumption;
• exemptions for food other than prepared food, sold for off-premise consumption, prescription drugs, prosthetic and surgical devises, and items for direct use (components in manufacturing and agricultural use)

• Tax Mix: LWVO supports the state taxes that are currently in effect. If an increase in state taxes is needed, LWVO prefers the income tax as a source of revenue because it tends to be progressive rather than regressive.
  If a decrease in state taxes is called for, LWVO supports reducing the sales tax because it is regressive and less equitable.

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• the Board of Regents should be a planning and coordinating Board with broad policy-making powers;
• the Board of Regents should be appointed by the Governor with confirmation by the Senate;
• the legislature should establish appropriate criteria for Board members to ensure that the Board can function effectively and efficiently as a policy-making/planning body;
• the state should provide funding to ensure that all qualified Ohio citizens (i.e., those meeting certain academic standards) have access to higher education that provides general education and job preparation;
• academic qualifications, not ability to pay, should determine admission;
• priorities for a state funding system for public higher education should be to:

• provide a basic level of support to all public institutions of higher education;
• provide partial funding for capital improvements and maintenance, and;
• provide scholarships.

• principle that children (defined as under the age of 18 years) are not adults and that their treatment within the juvenile justice system should relate to their stage of development;
• rehabilitation as the purpose of the juvenile justice system;
• protection of children’s legal rights;
• the development, establishment, and enforcement of state standards for detention and treatment facilities. These standards should be continually reviewed for improvement;
• development within each county or multi-county region of a comprehensive system of children’s services for the prevention and treatment of children at risk as well as juvenile offenders;
• a system that utilizes the resources of the extended community to give each individual child a continuum of care;
• a comprehensive system that would require the intentional collaboration of the court, families, schools, and community agencies and organizations to create a holistic system for the benefit of children;
• provision of public innovative alternative educational services, K through 12, to address the specific and individual needs of children who do not perform successfully in, or face expulsion from, the traditional public school setting;
• philosophy of a restorative system of justice for children as a dispositional option for juvenile court judges;
• development and utilization of gender-specific treatment programs;
• rights of juveniles to unbiased treatment regardless of race or ethnicity.

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• joint, cooperative planning and administration along watershed lines and across political boundaries;
• stringent water quality standards accompanied by strong enforcement and means of implementation;
• adequate state financing, including incentives to local governments and industries for expediting water pollution abatement.

SOLID WASTE: LWVO supports 

• the philosophy that solid waste, from generation to ultimate disposal, must be purposefully and systematically controlled by all levels of government in order to provide efficient service, protect the environment, and achieve successful resource recovery;
• the strengthening, expansion, and enforcement of state solid waste laws;
• measures to forestall depletion of our natural resources and to recover nonrenewable resources;
• financing of solid waste facilities by a variety of methods, including user fees, or a combination of fees and/or taxes with state and federal aid, and the use of private capital whenever possible.

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HAZARDOUS MATERIALS:  LWVO supports state policies and programs which emphasize the following hazardous waste management options in order of priority:

• Hazardous materials transportation: LWVO supports, in order of priority:

• strict enforcement of container regulation
• mandatory reporting to state and local authorities of spills of reportable quantities, including those involving intrastate carriers;
• strict enforcement of placarding, labeling, and documenting requirements;
• permits for trucking companies carrying hazardous materials with ability to suspend or revoke such permits;
• routing requirements for certain selected extremely hazardous materials.
• state-regulated training for drivers and loaders;
• collection, coordination, and analysis of data;

• Right-to-know/emergency response: LWVO supports:

• strong enforcement of laws and regulations;
• more concentration on prevention of accidents involving hazardous materials.

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LAND USE: LWVO supports 

• both urban revitalization and farmland preservation and the curbing of suburban sprawl;
• an enforcement system that includes a method of appeal or arbitration and has a position on eminent domain.

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INTERBASIN TRANSFER OF WATER:  As the waters of the Great Lakes basin are interconnected, the present and future condition of the Great Lakes’ ecosystem should be a primary consideration when weighing the water needs of other areas. LWVO supports:

• ample and effective opportunities for informed public participation in the formulation and analysis of proposed projects;
• evaluation of all economic, social and environmental impacts in the basin of origin, the receiving area, and any area through which the diversion must pass;
• examination of all short- and long-term economic costs;
• examination of alternatives including, but not limited to, supply options, water conservation, water pricing, and reclamation;
• participation and review by all affected governments;
• accord with international treaties;
• procedures for resolution of intergovernmental conflicts;
• responsibility for funding to be borne primarily by the user with no federal subsidy, loan guarantees, or use of borrowing authority of the federal government unless the proposal is determined by all levels of League to be in the national interest;
• an enforceable intergovernmental agreement with supervision separate from implementation and with assurances that any mitigation offered to alleviate any adverse impacts be financed.

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