Democratic News

Ohio House Democratic lawmakers today applauded the passage of House Bill (HB) 80, the two-year state Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) budget, which contained a number of Democratic priorities, including benefits for first responders with PTSD and reforms to the state’s employee misclassification laws.

Ohio House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus) andHouse Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) today issued a statement following Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s announced support for ending the state’s statute of limitations on rape. Boggs and Galonski are sponsoring a proposal this legislative session to modernize Ohio’s rape code, including lifting the statute of limitations on rape. 

Central Ohio House Democratic lawmakers, including Assistant Minority Leader Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus) and Reps. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester), Erica Crawley (D-Columbus), David Leland (D-Columbus), Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville), Beth Liston (D-Dublin), Adam Miller (D-Columbus), and Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), today issued a statement in support of the nearly 500,000 LGBTQ taxpaying Ohioans who call the Buckeye State home. The statement follows controversial remarks from House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford), regarding the permissive use of libraries for LGBTQ events.

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) today announced the House Democratic screening panel tasked with finding a replacement for the 63^rd House district seat, previously held by Glenn Holmes (D-Girard), has recommended Gil Blair (D-Weathersfield) to fill the remainder of Holmes’s term.

House Democratic lawmakers today largely voted against House Bill (HB) 6, legislation to bail out several energy corporations and all but eliminate energy efficiency and renewable energy standards in Ohio.

State Rep. Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) today released the following statement following the passage of House Bill (HB 137), which she joint-sponsored alongside Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana). HB 137 would require employers to provide written, printed or electronic pay statements to their employees:

“Ohio is one of only nine states that do not require businesses to provide their employees with regular pay statements even though employers are still required to keep track of how much they pay their employees.

House Democratic lawmakers today unveiled the Clean Energy Jobs Act, their proposal to protect existing jobs, grow new ones and invest in Ohio’s clean energy future. The announcement follows the latest changes to House Bill (HB) 6, which Republican lawmakers amended to bail out more corporations and all but eliminate energy efficiency and renewable energy standards in Ohio. The bill passed out of committee Thursday.

State Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) today issued a statement following the latest changes to House Bill (HB) 6, which Republican lawmakers amended to bail out more corporations and all but eliminate energy efficiency and renewable energy standards in Ohio.

Ohio House Democratic lawmakers today announced a number of proposals, including safe storage, red-flag and background check laws, commonsense measures they say will better keep kids and communities safe. The package comes amid debate on House Bill (HB) 178, controversial legislation Democrats say is a solution in search of a problem. 

State Reps. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and state Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) today criticized a new Republican bill that fails to outlaw all instances of rape and assault in Ohio, regardless of when they occurred.

Instead, new legislation from Statehouse Republicans, House Bill 249, narrowly ends the statute of limitations for civil claims relating to sexual misconduct by physicians of land grant universities between the years of 1978-2000, a carve-out specially tailored to the more than 150 men who claim they were sexually assaulted by Dr. Richard Strauss while attending The Ohio State University 19 or more years ago.

“Rape and sexual assault destroy lives and take a part of victims’ freedom and individual liberty that they can never get back,” said Sobecki and Galonski in a joint statement. “We’re proud to continue leading the fight to ensure all victims of rape and sexual assault receive justice. We’re disappointed, but not surprised, that this bill misses that mark so terribly by failing to protect the many other Ohioans around our state who are equally deserving of justice.”