Ohio voters are deciding whether that state will implement a collective bargaining law similar to the one that Governor Walker pushed in Wisconsin last spring. Wisconsin’s law went into effect this summer. Walker, in DePere Tuesday, said it’s saved the state from financial disaster. He said if the Ohio law fails to get enough support in Tuesday’s referendum, it’s because voters in the Buckeye State weren’t able to see how much it could help. “Wisconsin, Ohio, two completely different states,” said Walker. “The law hasn’t gone into effect in Ohio because of the referendum. In Wisconsin we’ve seen many months now of positive results from that. They didn’t get to see any of that in Ohio.”
AUDIO: Governor Scott Walker (:38)
The collective bargaining laws in Wisconsin and Ohio stripped nearly all collective bargaining rights from public union employees. Walker said the outcome of the Ohio voting shouldn’t change many minds about the effectiveness of the law here. “Those that favored repealing that law out spent proponents of that by about three to one,” said Walker. “Our reforms are working, Ohio’s never had a chance to work.” Wisconsin’s collective bargaining law allowed the state to demand higher pension and health insurance payments from public union employees, without going through the negotiating process.
Rick Schuh, WHBY