Abby Levine gets it. In response to the Ohio Senate's passage of HB 690, which basically guts Ohio's new Fair Minimum Wage, Abby says:
my anger over this is not simply that millions of hardworking Ohioans are losing a significant, and long overdue raise. It’s really that the legislators are ignoring their constituents. When people vote on something - people who you represent - you have to respect it, no matter how much you disagree.
"jam," a reader who commented on Abby's blog, argues that the legislature is free to undo a popular referendum if the legislature finds the referendum unwise:
When a referendum achieves something that a majority in the legislature thinks is wrong, they have every right — and perhaps even an obligation — to work (within legal channels, of course) to undo the referendum.
The missing assumption in jam's defense of the legislature is that they have the power to undo the referendum. That assumption is not correct.
Ohio's new Fair Minimum Wage is in the constitution. The constitution says that the legislature cannot pass laws that restrict the new Fair Minimum Wage. Exempting groups of employees from the wage restricts their rights. Therefore, the minimum wage legislation (HB 690) is not constitutional. In the conflict between the legislation and the constitution, the constitution will win.
jam correctly notes that the supporters of Issue 2 can mount a court challenge to the new legislation. True. However, litigation is expensive. Most likely employers will pay the tab, since they have to pay their employee's legal fees in minimum wage litigation. In addition, no one will really know if the exemptions are valid or invalid until the litigation is over.
So, Ohio's lame duck legislature not only thumbed its Republican nose at Ohio's voters and the people they voted to benefit. They have hobbled Ohio's employers with uncertain exemptions and certain litigation costs. That is poor policy and legislation.
