Democratic News

House Democratic lawmakers Reps. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland), Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights), Jeffrey A. Crossman (D-Parma), Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland), Phil Robinson (D-Solon), Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood), Kent Smith (D-Euclid), Monique Smith (D-Fairview Park), Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland), and Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) issued the following statement as the Biden administration announced today that Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center has been chosen as a mass vaccination site, with the ability to administer 6,000 vaccine doses each day over eight weeks beginning March 17. 

House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today as state officials announced a number of regional mass vaccination sites across Ohio, which will be able to administer up to 1,000 vaccines a day beginning later this month. Sites include Akron, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Marietta, Maumee, Wilmington, Youngstown and Zanesville. Another four mobile sites will open in Ada, Athens, Mansfield and Steubenville. 

House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) and House Finance Committee Ranking Member Rep. Erica C. Crawley (D-Columbus) issued statements following the passage of House Bill (HB) 74, the state’s two-year transportation budget. Democrats fought against the governor’s proposed cuts to public transit funding in the bill, securing $193.7 million over the next two years, double the governor’s proposed investment. 

House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued the following statement after Gov. DeWine’s Thursday evening address to Ohioans:

COLUMBUS— In a virtual press conference today, State. Rep. Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood) announced he will be reintroducing the Ohio Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation that would protect LGBTQ+ Ohioans from discrimination in employment, housing and accommodations. Rep. Skindell has sponsored or co-sponsored versions of the Ohio Fairness Act every legislative session since 2003.

COLUMBUS – Rep. Erica C. Crawley (D-Columbus), the ranking Democrat on the House Finance Committee, issued a statement today on the committee passage of House Bill (HB) 74, the state’s two-year transportation budget. Democrats opposed the governor’s proposed cuts to public transit funding and fought to secure $193.7 million over the next two years, doubling the total investment over the governor’s initial proposal.

Today, House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) celebrated Ohio’s Statehood Day today in honor of its 218th birthday. On March 1, 1803, Ohio’s General Assembly met for the first time in Chillicothe to take up the state’s business.

State Reps. Michael Sheehy (D-Oregon) and Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown) today responded to the 9th Circuit ruling in favor of labor unions representing rail workers and personnel, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the International Association of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART), in TRANSP. DIV. OF INT’L ASS’N-SMART V. FRA, litigation initiated in response to an order by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) purporting to adopt a nationwide maximum one-person crew rule and to preempt any state laws concerning that subject matter, a known unsafe practice.

COLUMBUS— Today, Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) applauded the House passage of House Bill (HB) 93, legislation to modify the state’s address confidentiality program (Safe at Home), a long-held Democratic priority that allows victims of domestic violence, stalking, rape, human trafficking, or sexual battery who fear for their safety to keep their address confidential and out of the public record. 

State Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) today gave sponsor testimony before the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee on House Bill (HB) 3, also known as Aisha’s Law, to address high-risk and lethal domestic violence. HB 3 was initially unveiled as bipartisan priority legislation in the 133rd General Assembly, and was passed by the Ohio House on May 20, 2020.