Last year, you and I were cheated.

The legislature swindled us out of the consumer protections that residents of this state had enjoyed for 30 years.

Our elected officials limited the amount companies that cheat customers might have to pay if they're sued.

The legislature changed the law at the request of the car dealers' lobby, but the damage limit applies to retail sales, predatory home loans, home repair contracts - almost any transaction a consumer makes.

But even worse, the legislature cheated us out of having our say: It refused to allow any public testimony before it voted.

Pick up your pen.

It's time to get our law - and our legislature - back.

A coalition called VETO SB 117 has launched a petition drive that would give voters a chance to repeal three major changes to our state laws - changes made by the lame-duck 126th General Assembly at the behest of lobbyists for several big-money industries.

If you're a registered voter, sign a petition.

Better yet, circulate one. Rules and petitions are available by visiting www.yourohiorights.org, e-mailing info@yourohiorights.org or calling 1-866-529-8386.

The odds, as always, are stacked against us consumers.

The state Supreme Court has given Ohioans only 60 days - rather than the customary 90 - to collect the 241,366 signatures needed to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot.

It's a huge challenge. Voters in at least 44 counties must sign for the referendum to make the ballot.

But just by signing their names, Ohioans have a chance to send a powerful message to Columbus - and that message needs to be delivered now.

In the next year, the legislature will act on critical issues for consumers, including credit freezes, electric deregulation and payday lending. These issues pit the interests of consumers against those of big-money lobbies.

Our legislature needs to know that we, the people, refuse to remain last on its list of priorities.

You only have to look at the skullduggery around SB 117 to see that's exactly where we are.

The 126th General Assembly knew we wouldn't like its monkeying around with the Consumer Sales Practices Act, so the legislature did its dirty work behind our backs. It waited until the end of 2006, just as it was about to adjourn, and crammed the changes into an unrelated bill, a scheme that allowed the leadership to avoid holding public hearings.

On Dec. 14, our legislators stayed up late to ram an amended SB 117 through both houses in a single night. It was Christmastime for special interests.

The car dealers' lobby got a sharp limit on the damages courts can award to defrauded consumers.

Always before, a judge could order cheating companies to pay triple damages when a consumer proved the company had used deceptive tactics. That trebling sent a powerful warning to those few companies that couldn't figure out the concept of fairness. It said that if you cheat customers and you get caught, you're going to feel it in your wallet.

By capping noneconomic damages - those awarded to compensate victims for stress, humiliation and aggravation - at $5,000 and forbidding courts to treble those damages, the Legislature has effectively limited the overall penalties companies would pay for deceiving consumers.

Car dealers sought this change because one of their own was successfully sued over a widespread practice called spot delivery - also known as a "yo-yo" sale. This is where car dealers allow a customer to leave the lot in a car believing he has acceptable financing but then call him back a few days later - hence the yo-yo effect - to tell him the only financing that could be secured was at a much higher interest rate. (Car dealers get a bigger commission if they sell a higher-priced loan.) A customer who refuses this new deal often is accused of breaching the contract, and the dealer pockets his deposit.

When the courts ruled that this practice was deceptive, rather than change their ways, car dealers got the legislature to change the law to limit damages courts can award to wronged consumers.

Legislators and car dealers have tried to justify the change by saying that the potential for large damage awards dissuades businesses from coming to or remaining in Ohio, but what a crock that is. If there's really a company out there that says, we can't do business in Ohio because we'll have to pay too much for cheating customers, why would we want it here?

Beyond the moral issue, there's this: Economies built on trickery are not sustainable. All you have to do is look at the economic implosion triggered by the predatory-lending industry.

SB 117 started as a lean little bill to help crime victims use evidence from criminal cases in civil court (a provision the referendum would leave intact). But the General Assembly loaded it up with presents for its friends.

It added a gift for the insurance industry that makes it more difficult for consumers to pursue suits against insurers who act in bad faith.

It squeezed in a provision making it harder to use public-nuisance laws to sue manufacturers for environmental damage.

Even if you have mixed feelings about the contents of SB 117, you should be appalled at the General Assembly's arrogant disregard for the democratic process.

Ohio's Constitution, which calls for one subject per bill, was ignored.

The requirement that the legislature hear testimony from the public before it acts was ignored.

The objections of two attorneys general - outgoing Republican Jim Petro and incoming Democrat Marc Dann - were ignored.

Only the lobbyists were heard.

We must speak louder.

Pick up a pen.

Sign a petition.

Let's put government for the people back on the agenda.

© 2007 The Plain Dealer

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