Ohioans for Fair Drug Prices wants the state to pay no more for drugs than the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, which pays at least 20 percent less than the state does. They say they’ve gathered enough valid signatures for the issue to be sent to state lawmakers for action, and have accused Secretary of State Jon Husted of delaying the proposal at the orders of drug makers. Joshua Eck speaks for Husted.

“We received a complaint about the petitions that the secretary reviewed and thought that it was worth looking into; the complaint was that some of the petitions had been mishandled.”

The complaint came from the pharmaceutical industry’s chief lobbying group. If the signatures are certified, lawmakers have four months to act or the group can gather more signatures and put the issue before voters.