Kent Smith News

COLUMBUS—State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) released the following statement today as the number of Americans that have died as a result of COVID-19 reached 150,000.

COLUMBUS—State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today called for the resignation of Republican Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R-Glenford) following federal charges that he engaged in a $60 million bribery, racketeering scheme. This is the second FBI investigation into House GOP leadership in three years.

COLUMBUS –State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) yesterday held a virtual community town hall as part of the Ohio Promise Virtual Town Hall Tour, a series of digital events this summer where local lawmakers provide a Statehouse update on issues including COVID-19, jobs and the economy and racial justice.

COLUMBUS—State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued a statement today following Gov. DeWine’s executive order to require facemasks in several Ohio counties, including Butler, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Huron, Montgomery, and Trumbull. Each of the counties falls within Level 3 of the state’s new Public Health Advisory System, which was unveiled July 2. Level 3 indicates very high exposure and spread of coronavirus.

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today signed onto a concurrent resolution urging Congress to designate June 19^th a paid federal holiday. This date is to be known as Juneteenth Independence Day in recognition of June 19, 1865, when news of the end of slavery reached the southwestern states two months after the end of the American Civil War.  

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued a statement following Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling which held LGBTQ workers are protected from workplace discrimination under federal law.

COLUMBUS—While Ohioans were sleeping, House Democratic lawmakers were offering two amendments on the House floor late Thursday and early Friday that would have prohibited the sale, display, possession or distribution of Confederate memorabilia at county and independent fairs, following a similar rule instituted by the Ohio State Fair in 2015. The motions came during floor debate on House Bill 665, which made several other changes to laws on local and county fairs.

COLUMBUS— Ohio House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron), are responding to the thousands of concerned voices being raised in cities and towns throughout Ohio by announcing today their preliminary legislative plans to combat police brutality. The proposed bills would prohibit profiling, tear gas, and the use of quotas by all law enforcement agencies, as well as call for the independent investigation of officer-involved shootings and the creation of databases to better track problematic behavior and employment history of law enforcement officers.

COLUMBUS—Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued a statement today as Republican lawmakers voted yesterday to fast-track legislationthat does little to prepare the state’s Boards of Elections to safely conduct a presidential election amid the worst global pandemic in more than a century.

COLUMBUS—Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) released a statement today following the weekend’s protests throughout the state: