Voting “Yes” on Issue 2 is good for Ohioans, the middle class and even for union workers. Issue 2 is the ballot referendum on Senate Bill 5, which has public workers put more into their health coverage and pension, makes it non-mandatory to join a public sector union and gets rid of seniority for teachers in public schools.

Public sector employees do a great service for the state of Ohio and they should be paid fairly, but like a business — the state of Ohio only takes in a certain amount of money and spends a certain amount. Most local governments are having a hard time paying the benefits of these public employees and if they do not change this, they will have to get rid of many of these public employees or raise taxes.

If the local governments can bargain with the public workers to put more money into the health plan, then that would ease the pain of the local governments and allow them to keep the workers on. The state and cities want to keep fire fighters, teachers and nurses on staff because of the great services they offer to the citizens, but they can not be kept on if there is no money.

Raising taxes is also not a good thing because that would be a negative affect on the economic recovery, the middle class and families. Making it so that public employees can not be forced to join the union can only make the union represent you better. Right now when you are forced to join a union you, only have one choice of representation.

If there is a choice to not join a union, that only makes it so the union has to do a better job so that people will still want to join. If the union does a poor job of representing the workers, then the public employees will leave for a better option. This possibility will keep the union honest and make sure they represent you in the best way.

In Ohio, budget issues make it so the excellent teacher who has been there for only two years will be fired before a terrible teacher who has been there for 30 years. The practice of seniority in public employees must be stopped. It is doubtful that a public employee wants a terrible teacher teaching their kids so no Ohioan should be subjected to this.

Education in Ohio needs to be improved greatly so that the children can do well in math and science and improve the jobs market in Ohio down the road. Ohio is hurting economically and investing in education is a great way to get Ohio back on track. The best way to invest in education is to invest in good teachers and keep them on staff. Voting “Yes” on Issue 2 is the best way to get Ohio back on track and to build a better Ohio.

Greg Allison

Senior political science major

President of Kent State College Republicans