Democratic State Reps. Glenn Holmes (D-Girard), Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) and Adam Miller (D-Columbus) today announced legislation to help Ohio workers, their families and local communities affected by large-scale closures and mass layoffs. The proposal comes on the heels of GM’s announced plans to shutter is Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant, which would result in the direct loss of 1,500 jobs. 

The Ohio Controlling Board on Monday approved the release of 9.9 million dollars from the Healthy Lake Erie Fund to Lucas, Lorain, and Ashtabula Counties for projects related to the management of dredge material. The funding comes in support of state officials’ goal to end all open-lake dumping of dredge materials by 2020 to mitigate the devastating environmental impact of the practice.

”I am happy to announce $4 million of the total release of funding will be dedicated to the construction of a Black River dredge facility in Lorain ,” said Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain). “This needed funding will help ensure that necessary preservation of the Black River and Lake Erie is taking place. Maintaining these bodies of water is essential for creating jobs and strengthening our local economy.”

State Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) today introduced new legislation to legalize the growing, cultivation, production and sale of industrial hemp in Ohio.

“Hemp is not the same psychoactive plant that is too often confused with marijuana,” said Ramos. “It is a crop, a fiber already grown and used around the world to manufacture paper, clothing, and a whole host of products we use every day. Banning hemp would be like banning cotton. We can all benefit from the many uses of hemp, but we must first rid the stigma of this versatile fiber as an illegal drug. Immediately ending its prohibition would provide Ohio farmers with an edge over farmers in other nearby states.”

State Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) last Thursday called on state leaders to follow the longstanding Ohio law that recognizes Election Day from noon to 5:30 p.m. as a legal state holiday in the Buckeye State. The legal holiday designation for Election Day was reaffirmed in 1953, but has been state law for 128 years, dating back to Gov. James Edwin Campbell’s signature of Senate Bill 174 in the 69^th Ohio General Assembly.

“The fact is that part of Election Day has been a legal holiday in Ohio for 128 years.  We simply have not been following the law,” wrote Ramos in a letter to Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislative leaders.* “I am requesting that you use the power of your office to follow Chapter 5.20 of the General Provisions of the Ohio Revised Code to close state offices not related to elections on Election Day at noon.”