Democratic News

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.

By his own admission, Republican Auditor of State Dave Yost is now indicating he gave the now-defunct online charter school ECOT taxpayer funded awards for outstanding financial records while the same records show ECOT was writing taxpayer-funded checks to students to take standardized state tests and attend commencement ceremonies.

“If Auditor Dave Yost was doing his job and really looking at ECOT’s financial records during the last seven years, why would he let ECOT use taxpayer dollars to pay students to take tests and attend graduation,” state Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) questioned. “The crooked irony is that Auditor Yost was taking thousands in campaign donations from ECOT and giving them clean audit awards while they were paying off students with your tax dollars.”

After cutting almost $1 billion from local schools and $2 billion from communities throughout the state, Ohio Republicans announced today additional funding for the state’s budget reserve fund. House Finance Committee member and state Rep. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement in response:

“It is time for Ohio Republicans to be honest about their political game-playing with Ohio’s state budget reserves. Though the previous administration made tough decisions to put Ohio in a stronger place during the global financial recession of 2009, Republicans today continue to fill the fund with money that has been cut from local communities and schools throughout the state. That’s not governing or making tough decisions, it’s passing the buck to local taxpayers with new and increased levies to make up for the failure of leadership at the state level.”   

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) today announced he sent a letter to Richard Stensrud, executive director of the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, asking him to rethink the recent decision to cut cost-of-living pay to SERS Pension holders while giving SERS administrators a three-percent pay increase.

Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) issued the below statement in response to Secretary Husted’s orders to resume his voter purging after the November 2018 election.

State Rep. John Boccieri (D-Poland) criticized some of his colleagues today for going out of their way to punish cities for extending vital services. House Bill 602 sponsored by Rep. Michael Duffey (R-Dublin) penalizes municipal corporations who extend water or sewer service to communities outside its territory at a higher charge. The penalties in the bill cover a range of consequences including a 20-percent reduction, to outright forfeiture of all Local Government Fund (LGF) distributions from the State of Ohio. The bill makes the municipality ineligible for state water and sewer development assistance. 

“My colleagues are finding new and innovative ways to cripple the economic engines of our state,” Rep. Boccieri said. “Ohio has sixteen metro areas that constitute eighty-one percent of the state’s population, eighty-four percent of the state’s jobs and eighty-seven percent of the state’s economic output. Many water and sewer lines are extended for economic development and financed through a rate system that is included within the development package.”

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) will honor Bellaire High  School’s Cole LaRoche with a Statehouse Resolution Monday, July 9 at 6:00 p.m. for his achievement as the 2018 statewide track and field champion in the shot put throw.

“It’s important that we take every opportunity we can to support and honor the achievements of students and student athletes like Cole,” said Cera. “They are the future leaders of our community and state.”

With a top throw of 55-feet and 11-inches, LaRoche is Bellaire’s first male state track and field champion since 1990.

Cera will present the Resolution at Bellaire’s School Board meeting.

State Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) today announces House Bill (HB) 1, her bipartisan legislation to modernize Ohio’s domestic violence laws, will officially become law tomorrow, Friday, July 6. HB 1 will allow victims of dating violence to obtain civil protective orders against their attacker, a protection currently allowed in every state except Ohio and Georgia.

“I am thrilled that House Bill 1 will become law tomorrow,” Sykes said. “By working together with advocates, survivors and fellow lawmakers, we have closed this outdated loophole in Ohio that will not only help victims to live without fear of their abuser, but also save lives.”