Eric Kleefeld August 18, 2011, 5:33 PM

The Ohio labor and progressive-backed political group that is behind the referendum to repeal Gov. John Kasich’s new law, which would weaken collective bargaining rights for public unions, has a response to his offer on Wednesday for compromise: We’ll sit down and talk — after you repeal the bill in its entirety.

“We are asking you for a fresh start, and that fresh start must begin with a full repeal of Senate Bill 5,” the group declared in a letter released Thursday, with emphasis in the original.

“A complete repeal of Senate Bill 5 would go a long way toward creating an environment for compromise, restoring trust in government by the electorate and setting the table for meaningful negotiations about creating jobs, rebuilding Ohio’s economy and moving the state forward.”

As such, it seems as if the most likely scenario is that the bill will not be repealed, and the referendum will go forward this November — with the bill’s opponents currently ahead in the race.

The law has not actually taken effect, but was put on hold by the petition process that triggered the referendum for this November. A recent Quinnipiac poll from this past July showed that repealing the bill had a lead of either slightly under or over 20 points, depending on the wording of the question.

Normally, triggering a repeal referendum required organizers to collect signatures equal to just six percent of the total votes in the last gubernatorial election, with additional requirements that they be sufficiently spread out with at least three percent of the gubernatorial vote across at least half the counties in the state. That meant the threshold was only 231,150 signatures — but organizers fired their opening political salvo by collecting far more than that, thus creating a greater base for the actual campaign.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Democratic Party is already making hay of Kasich’s seeming break in resolve, with a fundraising e-mail to supporters crowing about his sudden calls for compromise. Key quote:

It is obvious that we have Kasich on the run. He knows that the people of Ohio don’t support SB 5. But we can’t stop now - we have to continue to call out John Kasich’s dirty tricks and we have to continue to get the word out about SB 5 until Ohioans have the chance to repeal it in November - which they will.

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2011 Elections, John Kasich, Ohio, We Are Ohio