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By State Rep. Chris Redfern
July 29, 2014

Yesterday, I voted  to release $118,868 in state funding for upgrades to an outdated electrical system at the Ohio Veteran’s Home in Sandusky.

Old T8 lamps will now be replaced with energy efficient alternatives, saving the Veteran’s Home an estimated $61,813 per year.

The savings realized from the energy efficient lighting will create a payback on state investment in less than two years. Ohio-based LED Solutions was one of two lowest-bidders with the most potential for cost savings.

Any cost savings we can create for the Veteran’s Home means more resources can be dedicated to caring for the brave men and women who were selfless enough to serve our country. I’m proud of the work the home does for our veterans and our community.

Any investment in our state's veterans is a smart one.

 

 
 
Lawmaker highlights pending legislation to address recent Halliburton chemical spill concerns
July 23, 2014

Today, State Rep. Robert F. Hagan urged Gov. Kasich to support his legislation that would better inform communities and local agencies about chemicals used in regional fracking projects. In 2013, Rep. Hagan introduced legislation, House Bill 42, to require oil and gas companies in Ohio to disclose a full list of chemicals used in the fracking process to better serve local medical professionals and responders during spills and other accidents.

Recent reports indicate that Halliburton delayed for five days the disclosure of a list of harmful chemicals that spilled into the Ohio River. The chemical information is typically used by emergency responders to make efficient decisions regarding the health and safety of community members and the surrounding environment.

 

 
 
Bill would protect women from discrimination and their boss's interference in personal healthcare decisions
July 22, 2014

Tuesday, State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) and Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Charleta B. Tavares (D-Columbus) held a press conference announcing legislation to address the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. In that decision, the Court ruled that some corporations cannot be required to provide insurance coverage for contraception methods that would violate the religious beliefs of company owners. The development was widely panned as a setback to the personal liberty of hard-working American women.

 
 
Numerous contract violations warrant committee's review, says lawmaker
July 11, 2014
 

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, House Democratic Leader Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus) Wednesday released the following statement:

“Today’s anniversary is a sobering reminder that it takes monumental social action and sweeping government reforms to uphold the rights and liberties Americans hold sacred. There is no free market for our constitutionally-guaranteed rights. Rather, brave women and men throughout history fought tirelessly to compel their government to take action in order to form a more perfect union. And, whether it’s today’s fight for equal pay, access to the polls, workers’ rights or women’s healthcare rights, it is clear that many will be on the wrong side of history in the ongoing struggle for civil rights.”

 

 
 
Stagnant job growth keeps Ohio 41st in job creation from 2008-2014
July 3, 2014

National Public Radio’s economic series, Planet Money, today released a comparison of post-recession job gains and losses on a state-by-state basis from Jan. 2008 to May 2014. The comparison shows Ohio ranks 41st in post-recession job growth, with jobs shrinking by 2.4 percent in the Buckeye State.

The data is contrary to the Kasich Administration’s belief that Ohio’s economy has been a national leader in job growth under Kasich’s watch. The governor and his allies spent much of 2013 and the first part of 2014 saying Ohio was ninth in job creation nationally, a statistic widely panned as faulty for failing to disaggregate job growth based on Ohio’s labor force. Democrats often point to Arizona State University’s WP Carey School of Business for state-by-state job growth rankings. According to the university, Ohio finished 2013 as 44th nationally in job creation, and currently ranks 38th.

“This shows what many Ohioans and Democrats have been saying about Governor Kasich’s economy all along,” said House Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus). “His recovery for the rich is not creating jobs for the rest of Ohio. Tax cuts targeted at the wealthy aren’t creating the job growth Governor Kasich promised.”

The collapse of Wall Street in the fall of 2008 triggered a global economic recession that impacted states all across the country, including Ohio. Ohio began to recover from the Great Recession in March 2010 when the unemployment rate first started to drop. Over the next 12 months, and before any of Gov. Kasich’s policies were in place, the unemployment rate would continue to drop to 8.8 percent, from over 10 percent, by March of 2011. 

 

 
 
Bad economic growth, increasing local taxes mark one-year anniversary of budget
July 1, 2014

House Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus) and members of the Democratic caucus today marked the start of the state’s new fiscal year and the one-year anniversary of the largest General Revenue Fund budget in state history. Gov. Kasich signed the last state budget bill on June 30, 2013. At the time, House Democrats stood in opposition to the budget, saying the toxic mix of tax hikes on working and middle class Ohioans and funding cuts to schools and communities would not create the economic opportunity Kasich and his Republican colleagues promised.

Republicans used property and sales tax increases along with funding cuts to schools and communities to target tax cuts at the state’s top income earners—a policy they say helps the state’s economy. Still, Ohio’s job creation rate trails the national average, and the state ranks 38 out of 50 over the last year in job creation according to the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business.

 
 
Supreme Court rules that Hobby Lobby, corporations can limit healthcare coverage based on religious belief
June 30, 2014
 
Reports show shrinking workforce, lost jobs & stagnant job creation, wages
June 20, 2014
 
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