Democratic News

State Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) today announced the release of over $700,000 for the expansion of the Sit Together and Read – Ohio (STAR – Ohio) 10-county program to help reduce the risk of future disabilities for children in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) classrooms. The state funding will be used to further Summit County’s reach and development of the “Sit Together and Read” program to 525 students in the first year of the program’s operation. Funding was made available for the program through the state’s “Straight A Grant.”

State Rep. Heather Bishoff  (D-Blacklick) responded to today’s news that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will join the U.S. Department of Justice in opposition to the proposed healthcare insurance merger of Aetna and Humana. DeWine’s involvement comes after Ohio Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor rubber-stamped the merger in May of this year, following the Blacklick lawmaker’s request to her for public hearings due to  concerns of increased consumer costs, lower-quality service and an overall reduction in Ohioans’ access to healthcare that such a merger could bring.

“I am pleased Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine agrees with my concerns that the proposed merger of Aetna and Humana could reduce access to healthcare for Ohio families,” said Bishoff. 

State Rep. Michael Sheehy (D-Oregon) today announced the release of over $3 million to the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio as part of the Infant Mortality Pathways HUB Model Demonstration Expansion grant program in Toledo. The program is designed to combat Toledo’s abysmal infant mortality crisis by targeting outreach programs and services to at-risk women.

“Infant mortality is still a heart wrenching reality for too many families in our community and throughout our state,” said Sheehy. “I am pleased to see the state’s continued investment in proven programs like the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB that connects potentially at-risk women with quality resources and practices to ensure they give birth to happy, healthy babies that live to see their first birthday.”

State Rep. Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) today applauded the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for their work with “Buckeye Build,” while saying state and federal inaction has made affordable housing in the Cleveland area and throughout the state hard to come by. Recent reports show that, though the nation as a whole has experienced a decrease in the number of Americans losing their homes, more Ohioans continue to lose their homes to foreclosure.

“Though affordable housing is out of reach for too many Ohioans and our state continues to be a leader in the number of people losing their homes to foreclosure, I am pleased Habitat for Humanity has managed to build over 180 houses over the last 25 years while engaging politicians to raise awareness and get their hands dirty,” said Howse. “As Ohio’s GOP continues to provide tax cuts for the wealthy while Cleveland and many cities across the state are in dire need of assistance, Habitat for Humanity is working hard to offer some of our most vulnerable populations a path towards economic stability.”

State Rep. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) today released the following statement regarding the recent vote by the Cleveland City Council to allow transgender Ohioans to choose whichever restroom, shower, or locker room aligns with their gender identity, without fear of discrimination:

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) sent the below letter to Secretary of State Jon Husted providing an analysis of the effects of rejecting ballots from ‘purged’ voters in Hamilton County and requesting records to determine the extent of the problem statewide.

“Ohioans who play by the rules are being purged from the rolls and their votes are not being counted as a result. It happened in my county, it happened in Hamilton County, and it happens in every county in our state. People who have properly registered to vote and who are eligible to vote in Ohio are being struck from the rolls arbitrarily. We need to fix this problem immediately and make sure no one is deprived of their fundamental American right to vote.” said Rep. Clyde.

State Reps. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) and Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) today announced a new proposal to fight pay discrimination in Ohio by establishing a toll-free equal pay hotline, an easily accessible, anonymous resource for Ohio workers to report wage discrimination and gather more information to find out if they could be victims of pay discrimination. 

In a letter sent last week to Speaker Rosenberger and other state leaders*, Rep. Greta Johnson (D-Akron) called on the legislature to convene a task force or special legislative committee to establish a unified statewide strategy for addressing heroin and fentanyl addiction and abuse in the state. The letter comes amidst numerous overdoses that claimed the lives of citizens in Akron last week and in Columbus over the weekend.

“We have begun to address the opiate addiction epidemic destroying our communities, but not at a rate fast enough or with an approach thoughtful and thorough enough to successfully reduce the pain and burdens faced by families and communities across the state,” said Johnson. “We must bring everyone to the table – elected officials, lawmakers, law enforcement and healthcare professionals, advocates, and community members to coordinate an effective and unified strategy to take back our state.”

House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) today issued the statement below regarding the introduction of House Bill 583, legislation to limit the rights of public employees to collectively bargain: 

“Five years ago, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Senate Bill (SB) 5, an attack on working families across the state that would have limited workers’ ability to speak with one voice to negotiate for fair wages and safe workplaces. 

State Rep. John Boccieri (D-Poland) today expressed his frustration over Congress’ majority vote against funding efforts to prevent the spread of the Zika virus after county health department officials announced that two Mahoning County residents have tested positive for the harmful virus. Federal legislation that reached the Senate floor Tuesday would have appropriated $1.1 billion to fight the mosquito-borne Zika, but Republican lawmakers inserted several various last-minute provisions that forced their Democratic colleagues to block its passage.

“This dangerous virus is in our homeland now – it’s past time to get serious about this epidemic,” said Boccieri. “We’ve got to be able to test people and prevent the virus from spreading. Part of the funding that the majority of Congressmen and women voted against would have been appropriated for testing, which could involve utilizing our mass aerial spray mission at the Youngstown Air Reserve Base. While citizens back home are getting sick, Congress is scoring political points. I believe we need to vote on a clean bill, with no other unrelated provisions on Obamacare or anything else.”