Democratic News

Democratic lawmakers and members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus today applauded The City of Cleveland’s decision to sue the state to challenge Republican-led legislation that prevents local communities from setting hiring standards on publicly financed projects – a possible violation of Ohio’s “home rule” guarantee in the state constitution.

Ohio Legislative Black Caucus President and state Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati) responded to today’s federal appeals court decision backing Ohio’s elimination of “Golden Week,” a period in which voters were able to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day. The appellate ruling overturned a district judge’s finding that eliminating “Golden Week” had violated the Voting Rights Act by disproportionately impacting African American voters.  

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel decision overturning the district court and upholding Senate Bill 238’s elimination of the first week of early voting:

“I am very disappointed in this decision from the 6^th Circuit panel. The Court ignored the intensive fact-finding done by District Court Judge Watson and applied a test that would appear to allow voting restrictions straight out of the 1950s. The facts uncovered by the lower court remain: there was no sufficient justification to eliminate the first week of early voting and the burden falls disproportionately on Ohio’s minority voters.”

Republican lawmakers today used procedural tactics on a little-known administrative rulemaking panel to derail new rules that would have given the state authority to close the poorest performing, for-profit charter schools in Ohio this year. The rules, proposed by the Ohio Department of Education, stem from the legislature’s near-unanimous approval of the much-lauded House Bill 2 in February.

“This is a clear case of Republican charter school industry allies doing everything in their power to derail, disrupt and delay new reforms that would help hold charter schools to a reasonable standard of achievement,” said Rep. Greta Johnson, a Democratic Akron legislator on the state rulemaking panel. “It is incredibly frustrating that higher standards born out of bipartisan, statewide consensus can be derailed by legislators who are closely aligned with these failing schools.”

State Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) today announced the release of $1,805,477 in state funds to assist state agencies in the creation of the Medical Marijuana Control Program for fiscal year 2017. This past May, lawmakers passed House Bill (HB) 523, bi-partisan legislation to legalize the use of certain forms of medical marijuana in Ohio to treat a variety of illnesses and injuries. 

With a looming Aug. 24 deadline to apply for funds through the federal Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grants, State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) gathered with over 20 childcare experts and providers from across the state today for a news conference call to urge other Head Start providers to pursue the federal grant while the Toledo lawmaker fights for the reversal of a new Kasich Administration restriction that prohibits layering state and federal funds for early childhood education.

“I don’t want people to lose hope. Our children’s future depends on us pushing forward, collectively with one voice to say we will not back down,” said Fedor. “We will fight for our future. We will fight for our children.”

State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) today called on Gov. Kasich to put a stop to an administrative rule change effective Sept. 6 that will negatively impact Head Start/ childcare partnerships across the state by leaving them with fewer resources to provide critical enrichment opportunities to vulnerable, low-income Ohio children and their families. Lucas County Commissioners and leaders along with Lucas County, Cuyahoga County and Summit County Democratic lawmakers joined Republican state Senators Peggy Lehner, Shannon Jones and Bill Beagle in writing to Gov. Kasich to ask him to reverse the administrative rule change. 

“Just as the new school year is set to begin, the administration is changing the rules in order to cut millions of dollars in Head Start and childcare funding,” said Fedor, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee. “We must get back on track to advance our early initiatives across our state.”

State Rep. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) today called on Gov. Kasich to put a stop to an administrative rule change that would leave child care centers across the state with fewer resources to provide critical enrichment opportunities to vulnerable, low-income Ohio children and their families.

The state estimates the rule change will cut $12 million in state funding to pre-school providers throughout Ohio, not counting hundreds of millions of lost dollars in federal grants for early childhood programs. 

State Rep. Heather Bishoff  (D-Blacklick) this week joined former First Lady Dr. Frances Strickland, President of the Reynoldsburg City School Board Joe Begeny and Innovation Ohio Education Policy Fellow Stephen Dyer for a public forum to discuss the state of education in Ohio as students, teachers and parents prepare for the upcoming school year. The local community leaders discussed education funding for Ohio schools, public school oversight vs. charter school oversight and statewide testing standards.

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) recently joined more than 100 state legislators from 32 states and both major political parties to learn about emerging environmental issues at the 2016 National Issues Forum hosted by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL). The event promoted collaboration between state legislators and provided essential educational resources regarding the pressing environmental and conservation issues currently facing the country.