Melanie Miller News

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) announced the introduction of House Bill 687, a bill to improve voting so Ohio can hold a safe and accessible presidential election this November as the global pandemic continues. The bill is a strong contrast with the GOP’s HB 680, introduced last week by Rep. Cindy Abrams, which would repeal voter access provisions like the hard-won last three days of early voting and the mailing of applications to all voters.

COLUMBUS- State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today announced that House Bill (HB) 595, her jointly sponsored legislation with Rep. Jeffrey A. Crossman (D-Parma) to require higher education institutions to release student transcripts regardless of student-owned institutional debt, received a first hearing in the Ohio House Higher Education Committee.

COLUMBUS- State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today announced that House Bill (HB) 521, her legislation to require the Chancellor of Higher Education to create and distribute informational materials to public service organizations regarding federal student loan forgiveness programs, received a first hearing in the Ohio House Higher Education Committee.

COLUMBUS— House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron), House Minority Whip Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), and State Representatives Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) and Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati) released their proposal for holding a safe and accessible presidential election this November as the global pandemic continues.

State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) announced today the passage of House Bill (HB) 404, sponsored by Sweeney and Rep. Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield), to allow state university trustees to attend meetings virtually. 

COLUMBUS—State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) announced today that the Ohio House Higher Education Committee voted in favor of House Bill (HB) 404, sponsored by Sweeney and Rep. Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield), to allow state university trustees to attend meetings virtually.

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose challenging his order telling county boards of elections that they must throw out many of the provisional ballots cast in the primary election. Secretary LaRose in a Monday night social media post said he opposed House Bill 197, the COVID-19 relief bill passed in March that also contained primary election cleanup provisions, and he accused the three Democrats of not reading the bill.

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.

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) responded to a letter from over 60 advocacy groups containing election policy recommendations for best practices, particularly in emergency situations like the country is now facing. The three representatives make up the House Democratic Caucus’ Elections Working Group which has been monitoring election challenges and crafting policy proposals to ensure elections remain safe and accessible. The coalition’s letter focused on expanding mail voting and providing adequate in-person voting opportunities, two top priorities of the House Democratic Caucus and its Elections Working Group. 

COLUMBUS— State lawmakers returned to the Statehouse today to address the COVID-19 crisis and provide immediate relief to everyday Ohioans. State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) released a statement today following the unanimous passage of an omnibus bill (HB 197) that would prohibit utility shut-offs, waive state testing requirements, freeze EdChoice eligibility, extend voting in the primary election, postpone the state income tax filing deadline among several other measures.

State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today joined Democratic colleagues to outline several key priorities as lawmakers return to the Statehouse this week to take up emergency measures to address the public health and economic crises facing the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.