Ohio Politics Explained: What the August election may mean for abortion vote in November

Protestors packed the statehouse this week as Republicans pushed through a resolution asking voters to make it harder to amend the constitution. Ohio learned why the lottery director abruptly resigned, and the state House moved closer to banning transgender girls from female sports teams.

We break down what it all means in this week's episode of Ohio Politics Explained. A podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau that catches you up on Ohio's political news in 15 minutes or less.

This week, host Anna Staver was joined by reporter Jessie Balmert.

1) August special election

Ohioans are getting a special election this August to decide whether they want to make it harder to amend the state's constitution−three months before they're expected to vote on an abortion access amendment.

Republicans say raising the bar for constitutional amendments from 50% plus one vote to 60% will protect Ohio's founding document from being overridden with policy.

“It merely asks Ohioans if they want to approve a 60% threshold or not by voting in a free and fair election,” said Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville. 

But Democrats say spending millions of dollars to hold a special election rather than waiting for November proves that Senate Joint Resolution 2 is about moving the goalposts to block a majority of Ohioans from protecting abortion access.

"What I hear when the sponsors say we're protecting the constitution is that they want to protect the constitution from you, the people,” Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, said.

2) Transgender student athletes ban gets a vote

House Republicans took another step this week toward banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams in K-12 and college.

Known as the Save Women's Sports Act, House Bill 6 would ban all Ohio schools from "knowingly" permitting any student born as a male from "participating on athletic teams or in athletic competitions designated only for female participants."

And it would create a framework for civil lawsuits for student-athletes who believed they were denied opportunities or otherwise harmed by violations of this law.

3) Big changes for higher education bill

A controversial plan to change how faculty and students experience life at Ohio's public colleges and universities got a major rewrite this week.

"I think between the accommodations and clarifications that we've made, we're in a really good place," bill sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, said. 

The latest version of Senate Bill 83 would allow for some mandatory diversity training and partnerships with Chinese universities − two things that were banned in the original version. But it still won't permit professors to strike during labor negotiations.

"They know that the changes that were made were not sufficient," said Sara Kilpatrick, the director of Ohio's chapter of the American Association of University Professors. "They know the stakeholders still oppose the bill, and I think they intend to push forward anyway...They don’t seem to care."

4) Late-night text messages

A series of inappropriate late-night text messages sent by the former Ohio Lottery commissioner to an employee have shed new light on why Pat McDonald abruptly retired last month.

The messages, obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, came from an independent investigation into McDonald after the employee complained to the commission's human resources office.

In the exchanges, McDonald declared his love for the employee, calling the person a "gift from God" and saying, "I still have a major crush on you." He also sent romantic songs like Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere," where Stevie Nicks sings, "I want to be with you everywhere."

Listen to "Ohio Politics Explained" on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link in this article.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.