If you are anything like me, probably the only thing you know about State Issue 2 is from the $5 million in warm & fuzzy TV ads run by it's proponents, Big Agriculture in Ohio.

After reading this legislation, I can tell you it is a trojan horse. They say they are creating the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to protect livestock, family farmers and consumers. Yet, it specifies nothing about changes in how livestock (and their owners) will be treated.

What the ads don't tell you is Issue 2 is an amendment of the Ohio Constitution that gives this board, consisting of unnamed, appointed members, absolute control of livestock issues in Ohio. To quote directly from House Joint Resolution #2: "The board shall have exclusive authority to establish standards governing the care and well-being of livestock in this state, subject only to the authority of the General Assembly."

As a consumer, I object to losing my right to have any say in how the food I eat is produced. This board would be free to dictate any changes in livestock policy: They could do nothing (except draw their salaries, presumably funded by taxpayers); They could create a nightmarish tangle of paperwork; Or, they could order sweeping changes in the way livestock is handled. We just don't know, and we, the people, would forfeit our ability to do anything about it.

If I were a small family farmer I would be worried that the funding for this issue was largely furnished by Ohio's Mega Farms. When, in the future, a situation arises that pits the small farmer against Big Ag, who do you suppose this board is going to listen to?

Lastly, as a voting citizen, I am appalled that this is a constitutional amendment, making it a binding, permanent change, whose sole purpose is to take away our right to voice concern and vote on a very important issue that affects us all.
Passage of this amendment would set the precedent that any time a special interest group doesn't like what the Ohio Constitution says, they can just change it.

This November 3, vote to maintain your voice on livestock management and vote to preserve the integrity of the Ohio Constitution.

Vote No on Issue 2.

Jeffrey & Margaret Maurer
1365 Martin Rd.
Mogadore (Suffield Twp.), OH 44260
(330) 628-5633
jmaurer4@neo.rr.com