OEA has endorsed the Voters First Amendment, which takes redistricting both for Congress and the Statehouse out of the hands of career politicians and puts it into the hands of Ohio voters by creating an independent 12-member citizens redistricting commission. Delegates to OEA’s Spring 2012 Representative Assembly looked deeply into the Voters First Amendment, and I want to thank them for their support in passing a New Business Item to support it with a special dues assessment. We did not ask members to undertake this expense without first considering everyone’s point of view. Throughout an extensive debate on the dues assessment, delegates had well-reasoned positions on both sides, keeping the debate civil, constructive and focused on the issue. All delegates wishing to speak had a voice on this issue. Following Saturday’s debate, a majority of OEA RA delegates passed the dues assessment by a resounding voice vote. It’s important for all of us to understand how we carry out the dues assessment: • The $22 dues assessment is for regular active members. An $11 dues assessment applies to Education Support Professionals. Students and retirees are exempt. Most members will pay between 50 cents to $1 per pay period. • The dues assessment will be collected for one year only, from September 2012 to August 2013. • The dues assessment will pay for expenses related to the gathering of petition signatures, the actual campaign for passage and any related legal costs. • At the end of this school year, the We Are Ohio dues assessment expires. Then, in September, a smaller assessment for Voters First goes into effect. • “One-time” does not mean or imply OEA will never return to members again for special funds. It only means that the duration for this assessment ends after one year. Now, we will continue our effort to gather signatures, and we will ramp up our efforts to educate even more members and friends about this key issue. Voters First helps OEA go on offense! This changes our approach from constantly defending against attacks by extremist Ohio legislators – on everything from school budget cuts to curtailing our collective bargaining rights. Now we have a proactive solution that puts our opponents on defense. They will have to try and justify gerrymandering and backroom deals to help their friends. Our message is clear: The Voters First Amendment will put more power in the hands of the people, not the politicians. It will give regular Ohioans a stronger voice in our democracy and provide them more control over their representation in Washington and Columbus. Letting incumbent politicians draw the lines for Congressional and Statehouse legislative districts is like letting the foxes guard the henhouse. For decades, politicians have protected their jobs and their friends through backroom deals on re-districting. This amendment puts a non-partisan citizen commission of Ohioans in charge. The Voters First Amendment sets up a 12-member commission to re-draw districts for the 2014 legislative elections, with four Republicans, four Democrats and four Ohio voters not affiliated with a political party. Politicians, lobbyists and political insiders would be prohibited from serving on the commission. They would have specific guidelines to re-draw districts that fairly reflect Ohio’s split political make-up. The commission would need seven members – more than the four from either party – to make a majority decision. ###OEA Task Force Will Explore New Political Action Crisis Fund Many members have asked me why we proposed dues assessments two years in a row, rather than setting up an ongoing political contingency fund. Also, they asked why OEA is coming back for more money after the one-time dues assessment for the fight against Issue 2. Referendum campaigns are expensive, but they can only be avoided if we elect genuine supporters of public education. The Voters First Amendment can, however, deter some extremist attack legislation. Politicians will have to appeal to all voters in order to compete, rather than just win their partisan primaries, so that could well result in more moderate leadership. Recognizing the financial strains on our members and the frequent need to meet difficult political challenges I will organize a new OEA special task force to explore the formation of a new political action “crisis fund” for ballot issues. The task force will consider how to make the crisis fund flexible, powerful and cost-efficient. I will charge the task force with reporting back to the OEA RA in December 2012. Thanks for everything you do! ### Patricia Frost-Brooks President