Well over 1,000 enthusiastic supporters and opponents of the Senate's proposed collective bargaining overhaul enveloped the Statehouse this morning with cheers of "kill the bill" and "yes on 5," prior to the latest hearing on Senate Bill 5. The spacious Statehouse atrium was packed mostly with public union workers outraged at efforts to end collective bargaining for state workers and significantly weaken the ability for local workers to bargain for their pay, benefits and working conditions.
While a strong union presence was witnessed for the bill's first two hearings, they were joined today by more than 200 red-shirt clad tea party activists pushing for the bill's passage. The mix verbally clashed in the Statehouse rotunda, where the two sides did their best to drown out the other.
Meanwhile, the atrium had the feel of a rock concert or an Ohio State football game, as union supporters cheered loudly when Senate sergeants-at-arms led their leaders across the balcony and into the hearing room.
More than 50 witnesses are scheduled to testify today. The first dozen or so will be supporters, and then opponents, including police, firefighters and Ohio Highway Patrol troopers union leaders.
"This is a true test of democracy," said Sen. Kevin Bacon, chairman of the committee hearing the bill, during his opening comments.
The bill is not an attack on the middle class, public workers or jobs, Mike Wilson, head of the Cincinnati Tea Party, told a crowd gathered outside the Statehouse. "This bill is about math. Government has grown bigger than our taxpayers' ability to support it."
Rick Barry, a tea party member from Akron, said of public unions: "Their benefits are so much better than mine and their pay is so much better than mine, but they are still crying."
Wearing stickers that read "Taxpayer defender" and holding signs including those that read, "We're broke. Support SB 5," tea party activists said they wanted to show lawmakers that while they cannot compete with union numbers, there is support for changing collective bargaining laws.
The group is transitioning from holding politicians accountable to showing support for their actions, said Tom Zawistowski, executive director of he Portage County Tea Party. "We want them to know that if they do it, we will work to keep them in office."
He added: "We don't have any more money. We have to make some hard decisions."
The Highway Patrol did not report any incidents during the morning, though some women standing in the atrium were heard saying they were moving out because things were getting heated opposition.
