Democratic News

COLUMBUS—House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) today released a statement following the dangerous and partisan attack on Dr. Amy Acton by House Republicans:  

COLUMBUS— State Representatives Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) today sent a letter to Secretary of State Frank LaRose challenging his order telling county boards of elections that they must throw out many of the provisional ballots cast in the primary election. Secretary LaRose in a Monday night social media post said he opposed House Bill 197, the COVID-19 relief bill passed in March that also contained primary election cleanup provisions, and he accused the three Democrats of not reading the bill.

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 – Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) and State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) today responded to the House passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Higher Education Destruction Act: 

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.

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus), president of the House Democratic Women's Caucus and several other women of the Ohio Democratic Caucus Tuesday held a press conference honoring Women’s History Month. Each member highlighted legislative priorities Democrats are fighting for that empower and support women across Ohio. 

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 — State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) today issued the following statement concerning Tuesday’s House Workforce and Higher Education Committee second hearing on Senate Bill (SB) 1:  

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 – Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) today responded to Governor DeWine’s State of the State address:

COLUMBUS – The Ohio House Democratic Caucus today helped pass the bipartisan Ohio Transportation Budget (House Bill 54) through the Ohio House of Representatives. The budget’s appropriation of $11.5B is a significant investment into the future of Ohio jobs, connecting the workforce to the worksite, and the bill will improve roads, bridges, and transit systems across Ohio. 

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 – State Reps. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) and Desiree Tims (D-Dayton) Thursday introduced the Reproductive Care Act. 

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.

COLUMBUS – The Ohio House Democratic Caucus today sent a letter to Governor Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost urging them to not appeal Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook’s ruling that the governor violated a statue in 2021 when he refused to accept $900M in federal unemployment during the pandemic. The ruling, if not appealed by the attorney general and if the funds are distributed by the governor, means 300K Ohio families will be eligible for meaningful financial support.

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.

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Ismail Mohamed (D-Columbus), Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus), Anita Somani (D-Dublin), and Cecil Thomas (D- Cincinnati) today held a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse with community advocates, reaffirming their support for Ohio’s immigrant population and condemning the harmful attacks made by the federal administration and state legislation. 

COLUMBUS- Today, State Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) sent Attorney General Dave Yost a letter questioning why Ohio did not sign on to a States Attorney Generals’ letter to George Ervin Perdue III, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), urging Secretary Perdue to immediately suspend the rulemaking process for the Proposed Rule entitled, Revision of Categorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).