Melanie Miller News

House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) issued the following statement in response to the state auditor’s request that management companies, charter school sponsors and vendors reimburse the state when a charter school itself is overpaid for services that were never rendered, as was the case with a $60 million finding against the failing online charter school, ECOT:

“The state auditor is right to pursue overpayments to any and all parties that wrongly receive tax dollars for services that weren’t provided. The General Assembly should be inspired by the auditor’s appetite for following the money, and elected officials at all levels should look closely at how they may have personally benefitted from the free flow of taxpayer dollars to charter school operators and then to campaign accounts.” 

State Rep. Thomas E. West (D-Canton) expressed outrage regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to support Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s voter purge. Department attorneys filed an amicus brief on Monday reversing the Department’s previous position by arguing that Husted was legally permitted to unregister voters who have not voted for six or more years.

“I am outraged that the Trump administration has chosen to attack the most fundamental right of every citizen living in a democracy,” said West. “Nobody should be punished so dramatically for choosing not to vote in a given year. Jon Husted and Donald Trump do not have the right to strip Americans of our rights just because we do not vote as often as we can.”

This decision from the Department of Justice comes in the wake of President Trump’s creation of a voter fraud commission, which recently received nationwide pushback in its efforts to collect the private information of every registered voter in the country. According to the ACLU of Ohio, the Trump administration’s decision to support voter purge measures undoes decades of efforts from the Department of Justice to prevent similar efforts.

“This is not a partisan issue. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have fought for decades to protect the right of every citizen to vote,” said West. “It really is sad to see the Trump administration support Jon Husted’s movement to disenfranchise millions of voters across our country. Unfortunately, this is quickly becoming part of a pattern of voter suppression from this White House.”

The Supreme Court will make a decision on the case this summer.

State Rep. Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati) today announced her position on the updated Ohio Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan which will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in September.

Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, is the federal requirement for states to submit plans regarding the use of federal educational funding for school curriculum.

“After several revision and updates, there is still much work to do, and Ohio’s ESSA proposal is not perfect,” said Ingram. “However, there has been some improvement in the overall plan, and there is now much more agreement in certain sections of the proposal than there was during the debates in April.”

Every State educational agency had the choice to submit its ESSA proposal in either April or September. Ohio’s plan is being prepared to submit by the September deadline.

Ohio’s ESSA plan can be viewed online at www.educationa.ohio.gov/ESSA.

State Rep. Thomas West (D-Canton) today announced that Canton, Ohio has been selected to host the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus’ 50^th anniversary celebration this fall. African American state lawmakers from all across Ohio will convene in Stark County for the two-day event on October 1-2 to recognize the important milestone and chart a course for the future for the historic legislative organization. 

“I am thrilled to host my OLBC colleagues here in Canton and show off all that is great about our community,” said state Rep. Thomas West, the co-chairman for the event. “Exciting projects like the Pro Football Hall of Fame development, its African American apprenticeship program and significant events like the OLBC 50th Anniversary are all evidence of Canton’s positive momentum. We encourage all elected officials on the local, state and national level to join us for this wonderful evening of fun and enlightenment. This event is a once in a lifetime occasion, which is why we have invited the governor as well as leaders from both the House of Representatives and Senate to attend and share this experience with our community.”

State Reps. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) yesterday introduced legislation to better protect victims of domestic violence from their abuser by requiring those convicted of a domestic violence crime or served a civil protection order (CPO) to temporarily turn over their firearms to law enforcement.

“Separating deadly weapons from a domestic abuser weakens their power over the victim. By stopping gun violence before it starts, we can stop burying innocent people who should have been legally protected under a CPO,” said Antonio. “It’s common sense: domestic abusers should not have access to guns.”

COLUMBUS—State Representative Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville) announced today she will hold her July in-district meetings on Friday July 12^th in Marysville and Monday July 15^th in Marion.  Meetings are available on both dates from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with walk-in hours from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. These meetings are a great way for constituents to have their voice heard and to meet their State Representative.

COLUMBUS - State Representative Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville) today introduced legislation to create a Folds of Honor license plate. Folds of Honor of Central Ohio is an organization that that awards educational scholarships to children and spouses of service-men and women who were killed or disabled. Funds from the sale of these license plates would help fund scholarships.