First Step Toward Lead Paint Referendum Taken

The Columbus Dispatch blog The Daily Briefing reports that a group has filed the necessary documentation (with 1,000 signatures) in order to begin circulating signature petitions to get a lead paint referendum on the November ballot.

The referendum would reverse a controversial law passed in the lame duck session, now scheduled to take effect on October 31st, which would prevent future lawsuits on broad public nuisance grounds against an entire industry like those filed by some Ohio cities against lead-based paint manufacturers. The law also limits non-economic damages that can be awarded in consumer protection lawsuits to just $5,000.

Gov. Strickland (D) tried to veto the measure on the day he took office, but the Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that his attempted veto was invalid. However, responding to a request from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D), the high court subsequently ruled that the 90-day clock for getting a referendum on the ballot did not start until August 1. That means that referendum proponents have until October 30th to collect 241,366 valid signatures in support of the referendum.