Democratic News

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) released the below statements in response to Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s late night directive on Friday ordering counties to throw out many of the provisional ballots cast in the primary election.

COLUMBUS— As many Ohioans will be called back to work in May, many will be faced with impossible decisions related to work, health and family as this ongoing pandemic continues: how to return to work when you have children at home and no one to care for them with daycares and schools closed; how to keep those high-risk individuals who will remain quarantined safe when workers return home; and what protections exist for workers in and out of the workplace or who do fall ill with COVID-19.

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.

House Democrats today announced $310 million in federal funds to support Ohio’s frontline workers, bolster the state’s publicly funded childcare programs, and help the state prepare for the November election, which will likely be held during the worst global pandemic in more than a century.

COLUMBUS— House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today following Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of Senate Bill (SB) 55 which would have reduced the penalty for violating a public health order during a pandemic to a minor misdemeanor and smaller fine.

COLUMBUS—On a call with statehouse media today, House Democratic leadership outlined their recommendations for a “responsible restart” for Ohio. This is based on the testimony they heard during the OHIO 2020 Economic Recovery Task Force proceedings, coupled with the feedback they received from constituents and local experts.

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and members of the House Democratic Caucus today sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton asking his office and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to issue guidance for schools to allow districts to start planning for the upcoming school year.

COLUMBUS— House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement today following Governor Mike DeWine’s evening address to the state of Ohio following eight straight days of over 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

COLUMBUS— State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose today seeking assurances that voters will be permitted to vote if they show up on Tuesday, April 28 and that their ballots will be counted. Mail delays are reportedly leaving a lot of Ohio voters without a vote-by-mail ballot. The deadline to request a ballot is tomorrow, Saturday, April 25, at noon.

State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati) and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose again urging him to include return postage on absentee ballot application forms and the absentee ballots themselves. State law prohibits boards of elections, but not the secretary, from paying return postage. COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in Ohio since the foursome last urged LaRose to take this step to encourage mail voting on June 18.

COLUMBUS— Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron), State Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) and State Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) today responded to inflammatory comments made by former colleague and current state Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) comparing Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton’s coronavirus response to that of Nazi Germany. The comments came Tuesday on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Acton is Jewish.

State Representatives Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) and Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) responded to statements made by Secretary of State Frank LaRose today at a Columbus bar suggesting he could not pay return postage for voters’ ballots and ballot applications without a law change. The Democratic lawmakers earlier sent him a letter along with Representatives Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown) and Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati)showing his authority to pay return postage and demanding he do so.