Democratic News

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) released the below statements in response to Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s late night directive on Friday ordering counties to throw out many of the provisional ballots cast in the primary election.

COLUMBUS— As many Ohioans will be called back to work in May, many will be faced with impossible decisions related to work, health and family as this ongoing pandemic continues: how to return to work when you have children at home and no one to care for them with daycares and schools closed; how to keep those high-risk individuals who will remain quarantined safe when workers return home; and what protections exist for workers in and out of the workplace or who do fall ill with COVID-19.

State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose today demanding that provisional ballots cast on Tuesday, April 28 be counted. Mail delays and confusion around the primary changes left some Ohio voters without a vote-by-mail ballot and no choice but to vote a provisional ballot in person on Tuesday. The three members make up the House Democratic Caucus’ COVID-19 Elections Working Group.

House Democrats today announced $310 million in federal funds to support Ohio’s frontline workers, bolster the state’s publicly funded childcare programs, and help the state prepare for the November election, which will likely be held during the worst global pandemic in more than a century.

COLUMBUS—On a call with statehouse media today, House Democratic leadership outlined their recommendations for a “responsible restart” for Ohio. This is based on the testimony they heard during the OHIO 2020 Economic Recovery Task Force proceedings, coupled with the feedback they received from constituents and local experts.

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and members of the House Democratic Caucus today sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton asking his office and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to issue guidance for schools to allow districts to start planning for the upcoming school year.

COLUMBUS— State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose today seeking assurances that voters will be permitted to vote if they show up on Tuesday, April 28 and that their ballots will be counted. Mail delays are reportedly leaving a lot of Ohio voters without a vote-by-mail ballot. The deadline to request a ballot is tomorrow, Saturday, April 25, at noon.

COLUMBUS— Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron), State Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) and State Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) today responded to inflammatory comments made by former colleague and current state Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) comparing Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton’s coronavirus response to that of Nazi Germany. The comments came Tuesday on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Acton is Jewish.

COLUMBUS- Today, State Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) sent Attorney General Dave Yost a letter questioning why Ohio did not sign on to a States Attorney Generals’ letter to George Ervin Perdue III, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), urging Secretary Perdue to immediately suspend the rulemaking process for the Proposed Rule entitled, Revision of Categorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Ohio House Democratic Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) Monday was named to the Governor’s Minority Health Strike Force, which will bring together state and local officials, public health advocates and community leaders to address health disparities among Ohio minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic.