Canvassers for the campaign to get a $15 minimum wage measure on November’s ballot are focusing on low-wage workers and residents who are not registered to vote.
Mariah Ross, campaign manager for Raise the Wage Ohio, said the campaign’s mission is an easy sell to both groups.
“When people find out that we’re getting this issue on the ballot, they do want to vote themselves a raise in November,” Ross said. “We’ve registered over 10,000 people statewide. Many of them are new voters.”
The campaign has collected more than 400,000 signatures to date, she said. They’ll need roughly 443,000 verified voter signatures by July 3 in order to get on the ballot. The campaign wants to collect 700,000 signatures to leave a cushion. Elections officials routinely reject signatures for reasons ranging from signatures not matching those at the local board of elections to those not written in ink.
People are extremely receptive when we’re out there in the field. Too many Ohioans, or their family and friends, are living in poverty or struggling to keep up with the increasing cost of living
Mariah Ross, campaign manager for Raise the Wage Ohio,
A quarter of the petition signatures are from Cuyahoga County
Ross said voters in Cuyahoga County have so far accounted for about a quarter of the people signing to get the measure on the ballot. While the campaign is targeting low-participation voters, a cross-section of voters have signed, she said, adding that she is confident that the campaign will get 700,000 signatures.
“People are extremely receptive when we’re out there in the field,” she said. “Too many Ohioans, or their family and friends, are living in poverty or struggling to keep up with the increasing cost of living.”
The campaign is headed by One Fair Wage (OFW), a nonprofit focused on raising the wages of restaurant workers. Ross is the ballot initiative director for OFW.
The campaign began collecting signatures last year, but canvassing cooled during the winter.
“We went on a bit of a pause due to the weather, but we are re-ramping up,” Ross said.
Recent efforts include opening offices in Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.
How the $15 minimum wage ballot measure differs from a state bill that would raise the wage
Raise the Wage Ohio wants voters to approve an amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would raise the minimum wage to $12.75 on Jan. 1, 2025, and $15 on Jan. 1, 2026. Ohio’s minimum wage is currently $10.45 an hour. The amendment would basically revise one in the Ohio Constitution, which voters approved in 2006, that raises the minimum wage annually based on the inflation rate.
A bill recently introduced in the state legislature would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2028. Like the amendment, the bill calls for annual minimum wage increases based on the inflation rate. $15 minimum wage: The differences between Ohio’s competing proposals gives details about the ballot measure and the bill.
The bill was introduced by Republican state Sen. Louis Blessing III of Colerain Township, near Cincinnati. He believes raising the minimum wage too soon could have a negative economic impact.
Steve Stivers, president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, agrees.
“Sen. Blessing’s proposed bill — as compared to the potential November ballot measure — is far more palatable for employers, and the Chamber much prefers to legislate these types of policies [rather] than to amend them into Ohio’s constitution,” he wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland. “We are continuing to examine and discuss this bill with our membership in order to understand what impact it would have on Ohio’s economy.”
Are larger political motives driving both efforts for a $15 minimum wage?
Ross questions the timing of Blessing’s bill. She believes there is political intent behind his introducing S.B. 256.
“Even Republicans understand how popular the minimum wage is going to be on the ballot,” she said. “The fact is that it will likely help in not only getting Sen. Sherrod Brown reelected, but other progressive candidates. Republicans are concerned about that. And that’s why they’re willing to do anything to get it off the ballot. But of course, that won’t work.”
Ross’ comment had to do with potentially confusing voters by having two $15 minimum wage initiatives at the same time. Even if Blessing’s bill passes, it can’t prevent the constitutional amendment from being on the ballot.
Blessing said political intent was not his motivation for introducing S.B. 256.
“It is most assuredly not a political ploy, but instead a good faith effort to give the electorate what I perceive them to want while minimizing as many harmful side effects as possible,” he wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland.
He said turnout for the ballot measure shouldn’t be viewed in partisan terms but in the context of voters who would gain by the amendment passing.
“As for election turnout, I would surmise that any ballot initiative that seeks to increase earnings is likely to increase turnout for those who stand to benefit from it,” he wrote.
1 million Ohio workers could benefit from the increase
Raising the minimum wage could have a ripple effect among lower-wage workers, according to a recent Policy Matters report. Half would be workers making less than less than $15 an hour and the remaining would be those making up to $17.25, said Michael Shields, the economist who authored the report.
“We know that oftentimes employers will adjust their pay scales when the minimum wage goes up, so that they can retain workers who have a little bit more experience,” he said.
Ross said this is among the reasons she believes low-wage workers need a pay hike sooner rather than later.
“That’s a lot of people,” she said of the 1 million. “There is always talk about statistics and numbers, but it’s important to recognize these are actual people. They’re not just a number. These are people living their lives and raising families. They need to earn more for the work that they do.”
The report also found that the lowest-paid Ohio workers would see their wages increase by $3,400 a year.
All racial groups would benefit from increasing the minimum wage, the report found. Shields said 30% of Black and Latine, or Hispanic, workers would get a raise and 33% of those who identify as “other races” would as well. Among white workers, 17% would get a raise, as would 16% of Asian workers.
Shields said there is a reason Black and Latine workers stand to gain.
“They would disproportionately benefit from this ballot measure because they are disproportionately harmed from structural racism that still exists in our labor market,” he said.
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