Constitutional Modernization Commission Offers New Public Input Opportunity on Website

Release:

COLUMBUS—Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder (R-Medina) and State Representative Vernon Sykes (D-Akron), who serve as co-chairs of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission (OCMC), today announced that the OCMC website now allows public input in an effort to make the commission more transparent and accessible.
Members of the public are able to submit suggested changes, hot topic issues that need to be addressed, and items that they believe should be added to the Ohio Constitution. The Submit Your Ideas page can be found at: http://ocmc.ohio.gov/ocmc/submitideas.

“Public feedback is essential to the work of the Commission, and in a continuing effort to make our state government more open to the people, providing a means for Ohioans to submit their suggestions will help the Commission to be reachable by all of our citizens,” said Speaker Batchelder. “We greatly value public input and believe that the resources on the website will be greatly beneficial to those who are interested in updating Ohio’s Constitution.”
“It is so important to have civic engagement throughout this process,” said Rep. Sykes. “We greatly enhance our democracy when we can provide channels for Ohioans to interact with their elected and appointed officials on issues of importance. I look forward to seeing some of the suggestions and opinions as we move forward.”

The OCMC was established by the passage of House Bill 188, which was signed into law in July 2011. The Commission is charged with studying the Ohio Constitution, promoting an exchange of suggestions and respecting desired changes in the Constitution, considering the problems pertaining to the amendment of the Constitution, and making recommendations from time to time to the General Assembly for the amendment of the Constitution.

The Commission meets on the second Thursday of every month.