Democratic News

Ohio state Rep. Alicia Reece will lead a discussion on race, representation and important policy issues, like the threat of so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws and anti-voting legislation, at the National Urban League’s annual conference in Columbus TODAY at 2:30 p.m. in the Greater Columbus Convention Center Room C171.

Reece, the moderator of the Young, Black and Elected – New Era of Leadership panel, will be joined by Black leaders from across the nation, including DeSoto, Texas Councilwoman Canidce Quarles, and Louisiana state Rep. Katrina Jackson.

“When the Black community sees progress, we all, as Americans, share in that progress and the new opportunity that comes from it,” said Reece.  “But we can’t make progress in this country when fundamentally flawed laws like so-called Stand Your Ground and anti-voter restrictions sow fear and justified racial violence in our communities. With these emerging threats to the basic security and safety of communities throughout our nation, the only path to a brighter future begins with action.”

So-called “Stand Your Ground” legislation is being considered by the Republican-controlled Ohio House of Representatives, and could be up for a vote as soon as Sept. 19 during one of the House’s “if-needed” sessions.

In response to Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office*, state Reps. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) today called on AG DeWine to re-do the investigation into sexual harassment at the Statehouse in light of new information tainting the original investigation of state Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati).

“The conflict of interests here is glaring,” the lawmakers wrote in a response letter to AG DeWine. “This latest conflict to surface shows that the investigation that exonerated Seitz is even more tainted than we first believed.”

A copy of the lawmakers’ letter is attached. 

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) today issued a statement following a recent federal court order requiring Secretary Husted to issue a directive reinstating the “APRI exception.” The court-ordered directive will require purged voters’ ballots to be counted in the upcoming central Ohio congressional race that will occur next Tuesday, August 7. 

State Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) today announced Ohio’s back-to-school sales tax-free holiday scheduled for this weekend, August 3-5, as a result of the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 226. The annual event helps lessen the sting of the 4.5 percent statewide sales tax hike passed by Republican lawmakers in the 2013 state budget. The hike has cost taxpayers almost $2 billion more since then, according to state revenue numbers.

“With so many Ohio families struggling to make ends meet already, the tax free holiday alleviates a bit of the financial burden that comes with back to school shopping,” said Galonski. “To be successful during the school year students and their families not only need to purchase class specific items, but also replace everyday use items. While a family may save a relatively small amount this weekend, those dollars add up so a student can have lunch money or be able to replace something later in the school year. Every little bit helps.”     

House Democrats today announced Ohio’s back-to-school sales tax-free holiday scheduled for this weekend, August 3-5, as a result of the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 226. The annual event helps lessen the sting of the 4.5 percent statewide sales tax hike passed by Republican lawmakers in the 2013 state budget. The hike has cost taxpayers almost $2 billion more since then, according to state revenue numbers.

State Rep. Michael Ashford (D-Toledo), a joint sponsor of House Bill 123, today issued the following statement in response to Gov. Kasich’s signing of the bill to crack down on predatory short-term lenders in Ohio:

As summer heats up and families flock to fairs and festivals, including the Ohio State Fair which opened this week, beefed up safety standards for amusement rides sit dormant in the Ohio House.

After last year’s Fireball amusement ride failure at the Ohio State Fair tragically claimed the life of Tyler Jarrell and sent seven others to the hospital with serious injuries, state Rep. John Patterson’s (D-Jefferson) attention turned to ensuring such a tragedy never takes place in Ohio again.

House Democrats today applauded the passage of House Bill (HB) 123, a bipartisan effort to enact consumer protections for the thousands of Ohioans who utilize short-term loans every day. Borrowers in Ohio currently pay some of the highest rates in the nation for payday loans, with estimated average interest rates at over 500 percent. 

Three years after it was exposed that Gov. John Kasich’s handpicked charter-czar David Hansen, husband of Kasich’s chief of staff, was illegally changing charter school grades to allow failing charter schools to draw down on more taxpayer funding, little has happened at the Republican-controlled Statehouse to crack down, once and for all, on Ohio’s largely unregulated charter school industry.

“Three years after Governor Kasich’s handpicked charter school head was caught defrauding taxpayers, an historic amount of tax dollars continue to flow to Ohio charter schools,” said Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), the lead Democrat on the House Education Committee. “Instead of wholesale changes to hold Ohio charters accountable to the same standards and rules as traditional schools, the legislature has, in effect, loosened standards.”

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) today denounced the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) of Ohio’s decision to raise salaries of its employees, including highly paid executives, by 3 percent while a three-year freeze on cost of living adjustments (COLA) for retirees is in place.

As workers and retirees from across the nation gathered on the Ohio Statehouse lawn today to speak out for pension protections for hundreds of thousands of retired American workers, Ohio House Democratic lawmakers spoke out in support of American retirees and urged the Ohio legislature to take up legislation, House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 8, that would urge members of congress to protect coal miner pensions.