Majority of Ohio Small Businesses Oppose Issue 2

Washington, D.C.—Today, the Job Creators Network released a new survey revealing that a majority of Ohio small business owners oppose the Drug Price Relief Act—better known as Issue 2. In short, it requires “the State of Ohio…to not pay more for prescription drugs than the price paid by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The poll of 500 small business owners was administered by Roosevelt Opinion Research between October 27th and 30th with a margin of error of five percent. Respondents came from nearly all sectors of Ohio’s small business economy. The vast majority of respondents have 50 or fewer employees.

View the results below and a summary of the poll here:

• 11.2 percent of small business owners support Issue 2.
• 50 percent of small business owners oppose Issue 2.
• 38.8 percent are undecided due to confusion about the impacts of Issue 2.

The lack of support from small business owners isn’t surprising. While Issue 2 will force a reduction in drug prices for state agencies, small businesses and private employers will be stuck paying the higher offset costs. At a time when small businesses are already experiencing ballooning healthcare costs because of the ACA, Issue 2 will only raise prices further. Issue 2 is bad for small businesses and bad for Ohio.

Alfredo Ortiz, President and CEO of the Job Creators Network, released the following statement:

It’s obvious that Issue 2 doesn’t have strong support among the small business community in Ohio. Not only are a majority opposed to it, but over a third are still confused about the impact such a policy will have on their businesses and the Ohio economy at large. However, the bottom line is simple. If passed, Issue 2 will only pad government coffers at the expense of small businesses and other hardworking taxpayers who are already subject to high healthcare costs brought on by regulations associated with the ACA. More regulations won’t help. They’ll only make it worse. I urge Ohioans to oppose Issue 2 on Election Day and encourage those who are undecided to not vote unless your decision is based in sound facts, not activist-pushed taglines.