Democratic News

Rep. Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) testified before the House Government Oversight Committee Thursday on two bills that would allow for more House business to be conducted virtually and to require face masks during House committee meetings and floor sessions. 

State Reps. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) and Jamie Callender (R-Concord) testified before the House Finance Committee Thursday on House Bill (HB) 1, their bipartisan legislation to modernize Ohio’s primary and secondary school funding formula. HB 1 is identical to HB 305, the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan, which overwhelmingly passed the House in December, 87-9 with 72 co-sponsors. 

Ohio and Mississippi lawmakers are partnering to fight voter purging in Mississippi. The Mississippi legislature is advancing a copycat of an Ohio “use it or lose it” purge process and Ohioans are offering a strong cautionary tale and shining a light on key details that Mississippi must consider.

Sponsors of the House Democratic legislation to repeal the House Bill 6 energy bailout issued statements after Generation Now Friday signed a guilty plea admitting involvement in a multi-million dollar bribery and racketeering scheme to pass and protect a $1 billion corporate bailout. 

State Rep. Jeffrey A. Crossman (D-Parma) today issued a statement in response to news reports that the political nonprofit Generation Now at the center of the House Bill 6 is expected to enter a guilty plea to a federal racketeering charge. According to reports, this is “the third person or entity to admit to corruption as part of a sweeping federal bribery investigation into the passage of House Bill 6, the nuclear bailout law.”

State Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson), Ranking Member of the Ohio House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today renewed his calls to remove Republican State Rep. Larry Householder (R-Glenford) from the Ohio House of Representatives following Generation Now’s guilty plea to federal racketeering charges. Generation Now, along with Rep. Householder and four co-conspirators, was first charged seven months ago in response to a $60 million bribery and racketeering scheme centered around the passage of House Bill 6.

State Reps. Jessica E. Miranda (D-Forest Park) and Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) announced the introduction of their emergency legislation, House Bill (H.B.) 32, to halt the collection of student and medical debt owed to state higher education institutions and hospitals operated by those institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and State Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) are pressuring Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) to convene the Unemployment Compensation Improvement and Modernization Council in the near future. The council was formed following the enactment of House Bill (HB) 614 last year but has not had a single meeting.

State Reps. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) and Jamie Callender (R-Concord) today introduced House Bill 1 – key, bipartisan legislation to modernize K-12 school funding across Ohio. The bill is virtually identical to last General Assembly’s House Bill 305, which was a school funding reform proposal that passed the House with overwhelming support late last year.

House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement as House Republican leaders pushed a House floor vote on House rules that would stifle the voices of Ohioans in committee hearings and on the House floor. Democrats say the changes silence legitimate concerns of millions of Ohioans.

House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) issued a statement on House Democratic budget priorities for the 134th General Assembly, which include coronavirus relief, healthcare modernization and education funding. The governor released his initial plan Monday.