Kent Smith News

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today issued a statement following a Statehouse press conference Thursday morning, where he joined lawmakers Rep. Jeff Crossman (D-Parma),  Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and UAW workers to support legislation to extend unemployment benefits and food assistance to union workers fighting for fair wages, better benefits and safer working conditions. The call comes amid a nationwide strike by UAW employees, who reached a tentative labor agreement Wed. on the 31st day of their strike with General Motors.

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today announced several town hall meetings across the 8^th House District beginning this Saturday, October 12^th at 2:00 p.m. at the East Cleveland Public Library to discuss the Ohio Promise legislative framework, bipartisan priority legislation, the FirstEnergy bailout, gun safety proposals and state takeovers of public school districts. Rep. Smith will also provide an overview of his legislative priorities and the recently-passed state budget before taking questions from audience members on issues related to state government.

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today issued a Public Service Announcement on the voter purge in Ohio.

“The Ohio Secretary of State has ordered a purge of registered voters from the voter roll,” said Rep. Smith. “I encourage all Cuyahoga and Lake County residents to check with their County Board of Elections to make sure they are still registered to vote. Don’t let ‘The Purge’ happen to you.”

*Editor’s note: The PSA can be viewed and downloaded here:

http://www.ohiochannel.org/video/rep-kent-smith-registered-voters-purge-psa

State Reps. Kent Smith (D-Euclid), John Rogers (D-Mentor-on-the-Lake), Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) and Mike Sheehy (D-Oregon) toured the critical Brandon Road Lock and Dam complex in Joliet, Illinois, on Friday with 25 other members of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus. Brandon Road Lock and Dam is a critical choke point to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today issued a statement on the state legislature’s duty to work together to address senseless gun violence and keep all Ohioans safe and secure in the wake of a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio this past weekend:

“The first, best step that we can take in Ohio to curtail senseless gun violence is to close all background check loopholes,” said Smith. “Today in Columbus, I agreed to co-sponsor Democratic priority legislation: Extreme Risk Protection Order (Russo, Sweeney), the High-Capacity Magazine Ban (Weinstein), and legislation Closing the Background Check Loophole (Robinson).

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today issued a statement in opposition to House Bill (HB) 6, a Republican-sponsored bill to bail out Ohio’s nuclear power plants and subsidize two additional coal-fired power plants that service the state. The bill also guts Ohio’s renewable and energy efficiency standards, which opponents say will hurt job growth in emerging clean energy industries.

Ohio State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) today voted in opposition to the finalized version of the state budget, House Bill (HB) 166. Today’s vote follows more than two weeks of Republican dysfunction and gridlock, which forced lawmakers to pass a short-term funding extension before finally compromising on a long-term deal late Tuesday.

“I voted no on the budget conference report because the public education policy got worse, rather than better, when compared to the version that was passed by the House several months ago,” said Rep. Kent Smith. “While the creation of new Academic Distress Commissions have been suspended, the three communities currently suffering under a, “Columbus Know Best” approach must continue to suffer under the leadership of unaccountable bureaucrats when the results suggest that these takeovers are not working. I hope this legislature will continue to restore local leaders and local voices in Youngstown, Lorain, and East Cleveland.”

Cuyahoga County House Democratic lawmakers today sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose seeking information from his office about the impact of moving the 2020 presidential primary from March 10 to March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. See the letter below.

 Ohio House Democratic lawmakers today applauded Wednesday’s passage of House Bill (HB) 80, the two-year state Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) budget, which contained a number of Democratic priorities, including benefits for first responders with PTSD and reforms to the state’s employee misclassification laws.

Ohio House Democratic lawmakers today announced a number of proposals, including safe storage, red-flag and background check laws, commonsense measures they say will better keep kids and communities safe. The package comes amid debate on House Bill (HB) 178, controversial legislation Democrats say is a solution in search of a problem.